I'm putting together the last of four "seasonal" riffs that I apparently fell into after doing two tangentially thematic one offs for fun. I was trying out Max Ulichney's new watercolor brushes and just sorta kept going... hehe... I dunno what they could possibly be used for, but I'm really enjoying myself.

This is cute!!

One thing I would suggest, to increase the depth and form of the monster is to ponder the impact of the light. Try finding some source material that indicates what it's like to play videogames or watch a movie in a dark room. You might find that the room itself becomes a bit more suggestive and not all the body of the monster might be see-able... In other words, I'd push the lights and darks a bit more, because it looks like you're leaning in that direction (the walls are all dark blue and shadowy)...

Just a thought.

@Finn, everyone is right about the Display tablet aspect of things... If you've never worked with much digital stuff before, if you get a non-display tablet it will require you to develop a level of hand-eye coordination to become effective at expressing what you want. Many people have overcome that hurdle, but with today's cheaper display tablets it might not be as necessary as it was in the past...

Wacom just came out with a Wacom One display tablet... It's pretty cheap. If money is an issue...

In general, the larger the display tablet (13", 16", 22", 24", 27", 32"...) the more you can use your shoulder and upper arm to do your work. Smaller tablets are more oriented toward wrist movements, and would require you to zoom in on your piece more than larger tablets would.

My personal preference is the iPad Pro. It seems to have less parallax and more responsiveness. But it's an OS that isn't Linux... There is a Wacom Linux project, though. Just an FYI.

Kara, I wonder if moving to a value sketch might be a good thing? It's hard to tell from the sketch how you're going to handle light, depth, etc.

Could you use your photo in a paint program to play with possible greyscale value thumbnails without having to actually do anything to your original canvas? Or print your picture out a couple times and play with some black/grey colored pencils before committing to anything?

Just a thought.

I can't offer anything about different media in your portfolio. I've heard both sides of the argument. BUT, I can say that more and more artists are simply creating different sections on their websites if they care about differentiating between them. AND that more and more multimedia is being used all the time, so perhaps keeping them separate isn't necessary anymore... ?

Yes, I completely echo, @demotlj's thoughts--having her in a coat in the snow would be brilliant. And a relatively easy fix with a bit of research.

I can't address the interior space, but you're off to a wonderful start!

@Jenna-Jenks , there is room for everything here. We've had posts where artists share fabric prints, maquettes, spaceship models made from random found pieces--I myself have posted theatrical costume designs which are only loosely related to illustration and are "storytelling" in a fourth-cousin-twice-removed sense...

But something I've learned in the short time I've been here on these forums:

Regardless of your particular style there are ways to use it to tell a story. If realism is your thing, then figure out how to use that natural inclination to help tell a story. There are LOTS of realistic artists that have used their styles (yes, styleS--because realism can be a lot of different things) to help tell all kinds of wonderful stories in wonderful ways. You may love creating portraits, but look at how much story the likes of Rockwell, Leyendecker, and Sargent put into their work. A "simple" painting of a person becomes a novel in the imagination of the viewer. No one can say they don't look at their work and claim they don't know volumes about the subject in them. Lean into your storytelling. Guide your viewers. Ponder the advice of the fabulous, inspiring, empathetic, trustworthy participants here on these forums. You have permission to have a viewpoint in your pieces--opinions, feelings, thoughts. That's the bridge you can cross to make your expressions have a deeper meaning than just authentic reproductions. You are more than a pencil filter, or human camera, or organic algorithm. Lean into all that possibility. Own it.

I bet you'll find you're more of a storyteller than you thought, and it can be a tool to help you create more intriguing work, and you'll be able to exploit your social media in a new and interesting way.

Just my 2¢.

Phill, I think this is a really interesting piece. It intrigues me because I think there is obviously a story behind this image that I'm not aware of... It raises SO many questions: What is that thing? What's important about the jewel? Is that a rabbit? is that creature from under water?

I'm personally not sure how to offer advice because I don't quite know what's happening enough to determine whether your storytelling is effectively communicating what you want. Also, because I don't know that context, I can't offer you any sort of technical advice either... For example, I'd say the top half/background of your image is a bit bright if you want a "glowy light effect" from the jewel... But I don't know if the story actually needs it to be... I'd also say that you could probably enhance the "roundness" or "form" of the large creature in accordance with the level of depth you've suggested in the red-caped figure, because it seems a little flat? Maybe?

I can say the plants and level of detail you've got throughout that you've got so far is gorgeous. It looks very refined thus far. I'm just not quite sure whether that's good... or bad... or how someone can help you... hehe....

This was a REALLY interesting podcast on so many levels. I'm startled to the core regarding how similar the illustration field is to the theatre field and the presence of so many gatekeepers. I feel the pain. WOW do I really feel the pain. It is a slippery slope between "collaborating" and "deference." Feeling like you have a lack of agency to do anything is profoundly disheartening.

Listening to this has really made me step back and examine just exactly what it is that I think I'm doing. Jake's point regarding how much time a person has left to live really made an impact on me. I'm just a couple years younger than Will, and I really have to ponder what I'm putting out there in the world and what I want to do with the time I have left.

This was a good one, guys. I am going to have to listen to this a couple more times. Because the things that I thought were pipe dreams for the future can't be deferred much longer. And I am so very very tired of my own lack of agency in my own career field. Time to get down to it and just do it.

I would be very VERY interested in more classes and discussions around a wider variety of illustration fields, as we are all learning it is impossible to simply have one income stream and illustrators are often required to do a number of different tangential endeavors in order to survive in today's world. Lee's art fair and gallery experiences are incredibly interesting to me, and I would love to hear more about them. Will's conventions. Jake's non-children's-book work. These tertiary fields are becoming more and more braided into the central core of the life of a career illustrator (or even part-time hobbyists). I don't think a person can go into illustration anymore without assuming they are going to be a substantive part of their income. Professional actor training, for example, sometimes includes major discussions on the logistics of temp jobs, the ins-and-outs of living a spartan lifestyle, the variety of acting-related opportunities, and so forth. It feels like full-time illustration relying upon one particular thread to weave a tapestry is a thing of the past.

Thanks for doing all you do! It's really helpful to hear you all hash these things out!! You're really making an impact and a difference. Thank-you!!!

Wow, that's so much clearer!! And swift!! Kudos!!

It's lovely! I like how you've captured the fur! Fur isn't easy to do. Very nice!

I wonder what would happen if you made the darks a bit darker? That might help suggest a source of light a bit more to accompany the lovely highlights you've got going on around the cat's outer fur edge.

You obviously have the capacity to see detail and recreate it. That's hard for some folks! Well done!!