Runaway Cupcake - New Piece for my Portfolio

[Jeremy Ross]

Hello everyone, I just finished an illustration for my portfolio titled, “Runaway Cupcake!”

I figured I should take a break copying book covers and make my own piece. The original idea of this piece came from Inktober traditional brush pen work (thanks @Jake-Parker). It’s amazing how productive I can be while taking my daughter to swim practice (love my iPad).

This piece was penciled and rendered in Procreate.

Thoughts?

[TessaW]

Hi Jeremy. Great job! I'm really impressed with how well you've conveyed his emotion, not just with the facial expression, but also with the gestures of the body and hands. I also really like the handling of the character vs the background- you've softened the background without overdoing it. The subtle texture over the smoother colors is a really nice touch. I also think that overall, the color scheme is pleasing and feels harmonious. I have a couple of suggestions- please feel free to ignore.

1. The way foot makes contact with the shadow, makes it look like he's stretching rather than running. I'd suggest shrinking that leg overall and making it "hover" over the shadow.

2. I'd also suggest making the shadow a dark purple instead of such a harsh black, so we keep the emphasis on the cupcake, and help our eye flow throughout the scene.

3. Perhaps make the door more open, so it's even clearer that he's escaping the cupcake shop.

Again, great job and thanks for sharing.

[Jeremy Ross]

@TessaW, thank you so much for the constructive feedback! I agree with your suggestions 100%!

I really appreciate you taking the time to not only respond, but to also do a quick draw over to “illustrate” your feedback.

Another reason this community is amazing.

[NessIllustration]

@Jeremy-Ross @TessaW gave you some awesome feedback on the drawing, covered it really well! All I have to add are a few pointers on another aspect: the composition.

1. It's better to have the action going from left to right, as this is a more natural path for the eye. Your cupcake escaping to the left feels just a bit out of place, so flipping it boosts the composition instantly and easily

2. I would separate the cupcake from the shop a bit more and give the image more breathing room. This allows to see more of the shop, and the door he just escaped from.

3. In a new slightly wider composition, in this case it would work really well to place the character at the thirds of the canvas. Always a structurally sound comp and in this case it's easy to achieve as well.

[Jeremy Ross]

@NessIllustration, very good points indeed! I’ll rework and post again.

Much appreciated!

[Jeremy Ross]

@NessIllustration and @TessaW , here’s the revision. I think your inputs improved the piece tremendously! Thank you so much!