Posts made by Carmanda

@Coley Maybe play with the positioning of the snowflakes a little to help reinforce movement in the piece, like they're being blown around in the wind rather than simply falling down? More deliberate placing of them will also aid in reducing the "too much" feeling.

Another thing to consider, to pull focus more on the Marriage Mobile, would be to have areas further away from it go a little darker, so the lights on the cart look brighter. Maybe deepening the shadows on the characters too, pulling more contrast to their faces? You don't have to push it too hard, if you're keeping a kind of soft feel to the piece, but just a little more push of the darks will make those lights stand out better.

@Griffin A potential way to make the hammers work is a subtle shift of the character's pose, so he's turned more toward the viewer, the hammer coming more toward us also. I also agree with @gavpartridge about adding some more dynamism, and maybe having the focus of all three characters in the same direction so that it reinforces that they will be working together to solve whatever problem they're facing.

@Coley Thank you so much! It's been a minute since I've shaken off the writing dust, but since joining an online roleplay guild it's been drawing me back into its weirding ways.

Tried to fill the "spot illustration" hole in my portfolio.

@NessIllustration My hope is that if this was in fact an emotional reactionary video that reached what ends up being an incorrect conclusion of plagiarism, Alphonso would address his viewers himself with an explanation and apology. It still might not convince everyone, but it could undo damage that another lawyer situation wouldn't. People are still salty about trademarking Inktober, even though a) he explained and apologized for the unintended effects and b) you KNOW you take a risk if you use someone else's IP, especially a logo.

@George-Broussard My impression from watching the mob is that a lot of the angriest/most vocal are unfamiliar with Jake's work beyond the "guy who tried to take Inktober from us by trademarking it" impression from last year. If they had been following his work and contributions, I think there'd be a little more willingness to wait and see what the official word is, and a little more benefit of the doubt. As such, they've decided Jake Bad >: ( without even having the full story behind last year's Inktober incident, much less any information on his overall character and contributions, or more concrete proof of these specific accusations.

@Coreyartus I just saw that and it's so frustrating. They're not even going to wait for a response from Chronicle? Just "oop people are mad so let's destroy this thing that's related to it before we find out for sure if the accusations are true."

@carolinebautista Exactly exactly exactly; the general public doesn't have enough information or evidence or full understanding of copyright either way to decide this. Even a lot of the small-time artists who just sell on Etsy typically go the route of privately contacting violators of their copyright to give them a chance to respond or make right before smearing them across platforms. To go straight to riling up the internet mobs does permanent damage, even if it is proven that the similarities are not close enough to violate copyright. I mean, there are still people who resent him for the DMCA mess of last year, even after the explanations and apologies were made.

To do this to an artist with as much community influence as Jake also does damage beyond his own reputation. Inktober has had a big impact on small creators for years, not only by creating an opportunity for learning and habit building but also by creating the opportunity for visibility on social media. If this had been handled more professionally, even if Jake did actually plagiarize there could have been a settlement made, an agreement come to, something to make it right without tearing down everything else he's built on his own.

I agree with @Joanne-Roberts about the dress and the shirt colors not quite matching with the image. Your lion is adorable and has a real sense of volume and perspective, and so the other characters look a little flatter in comparison. I've done some quick edits, lowering the saturation on the dress and shirt a little and adding a touch of lighting to match the beautiful rendering you did on the lion's mane. I've also done a few rough/quick redlines to help a little bit with the perspective issue. You have a strong top-down angle but the flat edges of the dress and the scarecrow's joints make them look out of perspective, especially compared with the road, lion, and sign.
Hope this helps!

For the whole layout, maybe have the yellow brick road continue onto the back and end in an illustration of something like the house with the feet sticking out of it? Otherwise, I'd agree with @fpichel that the illustration as a vignette alone is very strong and not to worry about the whole layout for portfolio.

Doing more work with my character Coffee now that summer camp season is finally done.

The shapes on that frog are * chef's kiss *

Number 3 stands out to me the most. I like 1, but I think the text placement weighs it down toward the bottom a little bit too much.

Originally had a whole different thing going for this and got about 3/4 of the way through when at some mysterious point the top three layers merged (a problem for my overpaint-and-clean-it-later approach). I took it as a sign to pivot to the new concept my brain tossed out mid-shading on the old piece and ended up here.

I really like the story in your second idea, and the thumbnail on your first one has a lot of action and fun to it! There's still a lot of August left to keep poking at these ideas. Mastering perspective is by no means a barrier to entry!

Welcome from a fellow Southerner! I'm also working on online shyness here. Looking forward to seeing your drawings here! Being surrounded by creative people working hard has always helped me get out of creative slumps, so I hope your funk cannot withstand the power of this community!

For me thumbnails are the sketching without knowing where I'm going stage of things, so I find them pretty relaxing. I've found them super helpful for developing a vague idea or finding story elements I didn't expect or initially plan. I also use them a lot for days when I don't have enough brain to focus on a piece but still want to draw. Their short-form nature lets my slippery-focused mind stay calm and feel productive and then I save them (in a sketchbook if physical, in a specific sketch folder if digital) to discover later when looking for a project to work on.

I don't thumbnail for every piece I do; sometimes I am in casual drawing mode and just Do A Thing, but my pieces and stories I thumbnail for usually come out a lot stronger.

Maybe adjusting the shapes/proportions of the young one to make it look a lot younger could help push the story too. Right now they look the same age/same size, with the younger one farther off. If you give youngster a bigger head proportional to the body and generally rounder/youthful shapes, it'll help a viewer understand that that one is little and learning.

Also my first entry to this challenge. Everyone's work looks gorgeous!

Couple more progress shots, still a long way to go.