Hi! Im a brand new svslearn student and this is my first time posting to the forum. I had some technical newbie challenges learning how to post, and getting my account set up. Now I know to check all the tech stuff twice a few days before a contest deadline instead of 30 minutes!

Even if I’m not eligible for the contest, I’d so much appreciate any feedback about my illustration. The part I found most challenging and an area I wish to grow in is character faces and expression.

Doing this illustration and finishing it gave me such a confidence boost that I can start my journey to become an illustrator. I haven’t made art in many years, although I went to art school about 15 years ago, I let life get in the way of my artistic dreams.

The superstition I chose to draw is from India. Legend says that if you walk under a tree wearing perfume, ghosts will follow you home. These ghosts are women with backwards feet, no mouths and really tragic back stories. I chose to play up their witchy-ness to make them more kid friendly. I was inspired by Indian prints and miniatures paintings for the ornamentation, colors, and style. I’m also a big fan of German woodcuts. I used Procreate on my iPad to make it, and had so much fun getting to learn this program, and working digitally in general.

31 drawings seems intimidating. How has anyone gotten over that mind hurdle?

I guess that’s about how many pages are in a children’s book?

@xin-li I totally agree with you! Thinking about style kind of creatively paralyzes me, but thinking about how to express a story or what influences me, or anything actionable is way more useful.

This podcast got me to go to the library and get some books I will do master copies of and composition studies of to fill up my creative bank account.

If you can use Procreate on an iPad with Apple Pencil, it is awesome and a 1 time purchase that’s pretty reasonable ($30ish) for an awesome program with a really active community around it. It’s pretty good at being intuitive.

Affinity designer is also pretty easy to use, but a little more complex feeing than Procreate, but that could just be my personal preference.

I think photoshop can run on your surface tablet, so if you have a nice pen, just do that. Keep it easy! There’s always some sale, so sign up for their emails.

What’s helped me learn the drawing programs are YouTube videos, and knowing I don’t have to use ALL the tools and all the bells and whistles. It’s ok to just use the built in brushes and pick like 1 or 2 favorites and go from there. Like at the art store, I want to buy all the paints and markers and stuff, but I can’t, so I just draw with what I really need.. same is true for all those options in a program. They tempt me because they are free, but I know it’s better if I pick just a limited edit.

Also, have fun! If it isn’t fun, pick a different tool. It’s about the art, not the tools.

@Aleksey oh wow! I never thought of that! That does make them even spookier!

@chrisaakins I like the texture in the background. It adds interest, makes it unique, but doesn’t take away from the flowers or other items.

Hi! Im a brand new svslearn student and this is my first time posting to the forum. I had some technical newbie challenges learning how to post, and getting my account set up. Now I know to check all the tech stuff twice a few days before a contest deadline instead of 30 minutes!

Even if I’m not eligible for the contest, I’d so much appreciate any feedback about my illustration. The part I found most challenging and an area I wish to grow in is character faces and expression.

Doing this illustration and finishing it gave me such a confidence boost that I can start my journey to become an illustrator. I haven’t made art in many years, although I went to art school about 15 years ago, I let life get in the way of my artistic dreams.

The superstition I chose to draw is from India. Legend says that if you walk under a tree wearing perfume, ghosts will follow you home. These ghosts are women with backwards feet, no mouths and really tragic back stories. I chose to play up their witchy-ness to make them more kid friendly. I was inspired by Indian prints and miniatures paintings for the ornamentation, colors, and style. I’m also a big fan of German woodcuts. I used Procreate on my iPad to make it, and had so much fun getting to learn this program, and working digitally in general.