Hello creative legends!

[Elisheba]

Hi guys!
My name is Elisheba, a freelance illustrator based in India. I love art and my life revolves around it. I joined SVS Learn a few weeks ago and just love it. I mostly work with watercolours but also enjoy illustrating digitally.

I freelanced as a graphic designer for about 2 years but now I'm totally into illustration. I would love to get into the children's book / editorial illustration industry but I'm completely new to the illustration business. I hope that this amazing community will help me navigate the industry in the days to come and I can't wait to support the community here.

Excited!

[NessIllustration]

@Elisheba Hi Elisheba, welcome to the forums!

I took a look at your portfolio and I think you have very lovely pieces However, there isn't very much unity, almost every piece is a different style. I think it's okay to have both digital and watercolor (although maybe they could be separated into different sections) but even within one media, every piece looks like it has a different style. To get illustration work, it's very important to have a consistent signature style. Right now if an art director looked at your portfolio, they wouldn't be sure what kind of art they would get if they hired you. So it could be a good next step to start thinking about where you'd like to take your style, then make several pieces that are consistent with that If you want to get children's books work, it would also be good to show that you can do visual storytelling (showing a story in your image, not just a pretty picture) and also show examples of book spreads to demonstrate you know how to do the composition for one. You can take a fairy tale for instance and illustrate a few scenes to show you know how to make spreads. The good news is you're in the right place to learn all of this! There are great classes at SVS to develop your style and build your portfolio.

[Elisheba]

@NessIllustration Thank you so much for taking the time to look through my portfolio. I really appreciate the valuable advice. I too felt the need to stick to one style but I just love them all. Sometimes it's so hard to pick just one. Which style do you think resonates more with the children's book industry? And which do you think is the strongest piece in my portfolio? I would love to know.
https://thehuehub.wordpress.com/

By the way, I'm currently working on illustration spreads that tell a story. I'll update you guys once I'm done.

Thanks for all the help!

[carlianne]

@Elisheba hi welcome!!!

Your work is beautiful! I especially love the mushrooms and deer, beautiful color and styles.

I looked through your portfolio and I agree on the unity comment. However I was going to suggest trying more story telling in your portfolio. I suggest the visual storytelling class by Lee white. It's amazing and will explain what I mean!!

Exited to see more work from you.

[Elisheba]

@carlianne Thank you so much. I'm working on the storytelling part & I will definitely take the visual storytelling class. I would love to know which is your favourite piece out of everything on my website? Thank you for your valuable time.

[carlianne]

@Elisheba I actually think I like the deer the best but I don't see it on your site.

[Elisheba]

@carlianne Actually that was a piece done recently which I'm yet to upload. Thank you!

[NessIllustration]

@Elisheba I love the little bird on the branch I really like the simplification of shapes, and the thick watercolor is lovely.

[Elisheba]

@NessIllustration Thank you so much. That's one of my favourite pieces too!

[Neha Rawat]

@Elisheba Hello fellow Indian SVSian! So glad you joined SVS coz this place is going to really help you grow into the kind of illustrator you want to be. Your work is great already but it'll need some fine-tuning in specific areas like the others have mentioned. I would suggest to start taking the online classes and keep posting your work for feedback on the forums. Good luck!

[Elisheba]

@Neha-Rawat Thank you so much for the warm welcome Neha.