The World Serpent
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I've been playing the God of War video game and was really inspired by the Norse mythology and storytelling. I made this illustration of the World Serpent greeting a friend who visits his lake. It could still be improved but it's miles better than I could've made a year ago!
My work has been turning out very comic-booky lately - does it still look marketable to elementary school chapter books (like Notebook of Doom or My Weird School)?
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@carriecopa that's cool, Carrie, strong contour lines , has kinda a 'Moebius' feel
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@carriecopa I like the subtle yellows and complementary color scheme a lot! I do think this could be marketable to that age group but maybe skew a bit older more like middle grade?
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This is really nice I like the serpent's face and the colors; not sure if you want feedback but the boat seems like it is sitting on the water not in it.
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@teju-abiola thanks, I'll explore the middle grade area more. I'm trying to figure out what market my style might fit in (while at the same time trying to develop a "style," woof). I don't want to do picture books. Maybe a middle grade book or graphic novel.
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@rcartwright thanks for your feedback! If I made another pass at this piece I would sink the boat down a little, make the snake's body where it touches the water thinner to better match the part sticking up in the lake, and just spend more time on the water effect in that area. Probably just changing all the dark ripple lines to light colors would help.
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@carriecopa Another thing you might want to try is thinking about the reflections on the water . You no when you see a sunset over the water how the ripples of sunlight reflect in a swath back toward you. You could try picking up the reflection of the white of the snake in the water back towards the viewer . The same thing with the shadows under the boat...kinda like this...
heres my attempt...
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@c-davies great examples, there always seems to be something more I could reference to make a piece better! I gave some attention to shadows on the lake but not brighter reflections. I rarely draw my characters in environments, and I want to be better, so everyone's notes have been very helpful.
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@carriecopa this is great! And I think it would work well in a chapter book. There are a lot of artists who are doing the novel/ graphic novel cross over thing. Tony DiTerlizzy with the Wondla books, Armand Baltazar with Timeless... even JK Rowling is coming out with fully illustrated Harry Potter books that are gorgeous. I think it’s a newer thing, but my kids and I love the chapter books that are fully illustrated. I say go for it.
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@pamela-fraley I've noticed more of the graphic novelization of middle grade books, and that might be a great fit for me! I recently picked up The Baby Sitters Club graphic novel and it kept the charm of the original story while making it fresh for a new audience. I'm also a big fan of those Harry Potter illustrated books, just gorgeous. And there's a book in the YA section called The Language of Thorns with cleverly illustrated margins that fill out as you read each chapter.
I think my next project should be illustrating a chapter of a story to see if I have any aptitude for it. Thanks for the support!