Oooh! Nice color palettes!! Welcome!

I know the struggle. I think simple style looks finished when every line and every stroke in the image is as it should be. Every mark is deliberate. The third image (dog/wolf in red hood) is the closest to finished, whereas your unicorn doing math seems to be unfinished. Why does it read this way? Your overlay line (in black) seems too thin and not of the same quality/thought as the rest. It could be color choice, thickness, confidence, placement that makes it read this way.
Love the subject matter, and that third one is so darned cute and thoughtful.

@smceccarelli Love the collage, though the Gut & Gunstig label pops out (could be because I lived in Germany for 7 years), but I suspect also because of the red being so pure. Perhaps consider obscuring both this red and the Nutrixxion label since they both are their pure color and have no obscurity from ocean visibility or sun fading.

Also, can you tell me more about acrylic gel printing?! I was a printmaker and have not heard of this technique. Is it a way to transfer an image? What did I miss?!

@shiggins180 oh! I don't know how I missed that episode. I thought I was all caught up. Thanks for the link.

@heidi-ahmad sounds like the issue is not a platform issue, but a marketing issue. You have to tell people you exist otherwise they won't know. I would stick with Etsy b/c they have a built-in platform and built-in audience and the listing fees are cheap. The ads have been worth it to me, but you also have to balance a couple of things...

1. Who is your audience?
2. Are you serving them work they want to buy?
3. Are your prices sustainable?
4. Is the time and money invested worth your while?

@heather-boyd Love what's happening with the kingfisher and moose. The lion and whale could benefit from some of that amazing light/dark treatment you've successfully done in the others... but I suspect you'll take care of that when you take them to the next step. Excited to see what you do with Shapes 3D!

@shiggins180 Hi thank you for your reply. Which podcast are you referring to? The SVS one?

@riftweaver Thanks for taking the time to respond. I think that might be nice to hand-letter the text. Thanks for the insights.

@larry-whitler Thanks for the words of encouragement. Interestingly, I have a pretty thick skin having been a designer for a long time. The critique was not discouraging for me, but rather puzzling. I thought I understood what the reviewer meant, but after sitting on it for a month or so, I wasn't sure anymore. So posting here was putting it to to the peer-review test. I am always happy to learn and improve, and I know I've got a long way to go with the digital paint.

But, in terms of progress, I've already submitted 2 dummies to workshop and am working a bunch more... I keep on truckin'.

Don't wait. Just apply. At best you get the job. Yay! At worst they say no now. Regardless, they now know your name for the next time you send work and see the improvement you've made in the time you last applied.