New member intro and portfolio piece critique

anya.macleod

Hi everyone!

I’m new here, my name is Anya, I’m from Adelaide, (any other aussies on here?) I’m working on my portfolio to start submitting to agents next year, I’m recently trying to transition into children’s book illustration, for most of my life I’ve been more of a realistic painter, so it’s a constant battle not to slip back into that style, as I want to aim for more stylised. I don’t personally know any illustrators or even pro artists so I’m really looking for constructive critique and would absolutely love to find a mentor that is a pro children’s book illustrator!

Anyways, here is a piece I’ve just finished that I’m not sure about, any critique welcome!

Cheers,
Anya

TessaW

Anya, welcome to the forums!

This piece is so cute. I love the color palette you've used and the way you've stylized the turtle- it's so appealing! If I could offer a few points of critique:

The image quality looks a little fuzzy, like the file hasn't been optimized for web viewing when you saved it.
I think the girl's expression and overall pose could use a little more care to really sell us on the excitement of spotting the pearl. Perhaps turn her head a little more toward the pearl and have her non-pointing arm with a little more tension in it.
The turtle's gaze is looking away and taking us out of the composition. It makes me a little unsure of their relationship. Is she trying to point out the pearl to the turtle? Is the turtle just a random bystander? I'd consider making the turtle look at the girl so our eye can flow more easily through the girl, pearl, and turtle without leaving the scene, and think of a way to make their relationship to each other more clear.

Thanks for saying hello and sharing this beautiful piece with us. Hope to see you around!

Chip Valecek

@anya-macleod welcome to the forums! You just became friends with a boat load of Illustrations by posting here I think @TessaW gave a great crit. I second the girls expression. I know that could be hard because all we really can read is her eyes. Maybe making them larger like they are bugging out of her head.

anya.macleod

@TessaW thankyou so much for your feedback! I agree this image is really fuzzy, my original file was too large to upload, I need to figure out how to downsize without losing quality.
I totally see what you mean about the girls expression and pose, and the turtles gaze, I will definitely take that on board and make some changes!

anya.macleod

@Chip-Valecek thankyou so much for your feedback! I definitely see what you mean regarding her expression, I struggled with only being able to include her eyes, i really like your idea of making them bigger and more suprised looking, I'll try that!