Hey everyone! I'm so excited to be entering a monthly contest for the first time.

Let me introduce you to Twig. She's a brave, fierce girl from a miniature village of tiny elf-like creatures (leaves to scale!). When she caught wind of the goblins' plans to destroy her home, she took it upon herself to find someone who could help.

In my rendition of the prompt, the village is poor in a material sense, but rich in love. The elves are paupers who make do with what they find on the forest floor. Whereas goblins are typically depicted as groveling creatures of the lowest social class, they're snobbish, monocle-wearing posh folk in my story. They no longer value the resources that nature presents, and want to use the land the village sits on for their own purposes...

@AustinShurtliff This is my very first post in the SVS forums, so I hope I’m doing this right. The piece I’m sharing is of my final character designs for Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This is maybe the first piece I’ve ever made completely digitally, and definitely the first illustration I’ve made in black and white! I really tried to work outside my comfort zone.

1. How have you improved this year thanks to SVSLearn?
I only joined SVS a few months ago, but I’ve already made my way through several courses — Creative Composition, Children’s Books, Character Design, etc. Before I joined, I was struggling to teach myself everything on my own and getting caught up on where to start. As an aspiring picture book illustrator with no formal illustration education, I’ve really appreciated SVS as a resource. I’m still a beginner in this field, but SVS has helped me organize my creative process, which has been crucial.

2. How did SVSLearn impact the creation of this piece?
I followed the approach Anna Daviscourt laid out in her Character Design course, just with a different story (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) and time period (1940s). I played with simple shapes, proportion and wardrobe until I landed on these characters.

I'm making work in preparation for Mermay! These mar-babies make me so happy. I feel like I get closer to my truest artistic voice with every piece I make. But I still have so much to learn. Working my way through SVS classes on the side, starting at square one. (Literally. Working through David Hohn's basic perspective class right now, lol!)

@Julia Here's what I ended up with. You may not be able to tell, but I added very subtle highlights (that "white line" that Nadya was talking about) and shadows where the paper was cut. If you work with collage a lot it may be useful to enhance them afterward like this. In my case I was looking at the way the collage looked in person and adjusting the scan to match. Like I said, this is my first time trying to scan a collage like this, so I have a lot of figuring-out to do. Still doesn't look exactly how I wanted.

Hi fellow art folk,

I just made an iPad sketch for a project I’m doing in an astronomy class (I’m an undergrad). This piece will end up in gouache and collage, so the textures and line quality/weight will be totally different. But I’m trying to resolve the composition and color scheme before I paint. I like the composition (except maybe the stars, which will look different on paper) but am unsure about the color scheme. The dog’s sweaters have to be red and green, and the rocket should have some shade of red, as it is Soviet. The earth should also be some shade of light blue. But it doesn’t feel totally harmonious yet. Could use fresh eyes.

Thanks a bunch.

@kylebeaudette So cool! Makes me want to get out some clay.

@amandalo I love you. This is the best!! Mine started to venture away from kid territory though "the neighbor gave a gentle kiss to the neighbor. bonus feeling: naughty"

@Lee-White Hi Lee, thanks so much for your quick and thorough response, I'm SUPER excited about Children's Book Pro.

This may sound eager, but is it possible to "pre-order" a subscription, or to pay for it sooner than May 3rd? Without going into too much detail, I'm a graduating art student with the ability to request school funding for activities related to my professional development until May 1st. I'm not currently able to afford these services otherwise, and would make an ideal student for CBP! I had originally requested funding for a renewal of my SVS subscription, but would definitely prefer to use that money for Children's Book Pro, as I joined SVS to work toward children's book illustration.

I know that's a super specific question and you have a lot on your plate! Thanks again for your previous response.

@Georgios-Christopoulos Thanks so much! <33

@Lee-White Hi Lee, thanks so much for your quick and thorough response, I'm SUPER excited about Children's Book Pro.

This may sound eager, but is it possible to "pre-order" a subscription, or to pay for it sooner than May 3rd? Without going into too much detail, I'm a graduating art student with the ability to request school funding for activities related to my professional development until May 1st. I'm not currently able to afford these services otherwise, and would make an ideal student for CBP! I had originally requested funding for a renewal of my SVS subscription, but would definitely prefer to use that money for Children's Book Pro, as I joined SVS to work toward children's book illustration.

I know that's a super specific question and you have a lot on your plate! Thanks again for your previous response.

Hey folks. I have a few questions about SVSLearn's new "Children's Book Pro" platform, which probably can only be answered by moderators/instructors:

1. Is there a soft release date we can look forward to?
2. Is it included in our SVS subscription? And if so, why does it have its own website?

I joined SVS specifically for the children's book classes, so I've been anxiously awaiting Children's Book Pro. Thanks a bunch!

I'm making work in preparation for Mermay! These mar-babies make me so happy. I feel like I get closer to my truest artistic voice with every piece I make. But I still have so much to learn. Working my way through SVS classes on the side, starting at square one. (Literally. Working through David Hohn's basic perspective class right now, lol!)

@jakecrowe This is really cool! My attempts at vehicles are... questionable at best. I’ve always thought cars were boring and have avoided that course, but this makes me want to do it!

@amandalo I love you. This is the best!! Mine started to venture away from kid territory though "the neighbor gave a gentle kiss to the neighbor. bonus feeling: naughty"

@Jess-Weaver Thanks a lot! Yeah, texture is a big part of my work. I typically work on paper for that reason

@Jess-Weaver love this guy

@marek-halko I always love your work! The stars from the exhaust pipe are great

@Georgios-Christopoulos Thanks so much! <33