This is my first illustration submission. It's a bit of a different style from most of the work on here, but I love this community, the podcasts, the courses, feedback, etc, so I thought I'd start entering the monthly contests. I considered adding color but decided to keep it in black and white. It was done originally in pen and ink, traditionally, then I scanned it and added a few digital revisions.

It's about the things we try to protect our kids from, their imaginings at night, sure, but more powerfully, the hurt of the world. As a foster parent, this is something I experience a lot-- trying to shield these little ones from further trauma.

So I put a lot of work into this. There's a lot I like, but I'm not sure how the colors work. I took a couple of the color courses. Whew, overload! Hopefully I applied some of it well.

Which "haze" in the background looks best?

I think the anteater needs more detail along his face, since the lemur and jaguar have so much. And I think I need to put something on the pages of the open books. No idea what. Or how. Any references y'all could recommend for that? Any other critiques?

Thanks!

Hey folks,

My first post! I’m a high school English teacher, and aspiring artist on the side. Been listening to the podcast for a while and got a subscription to the site for Christmas! Im excited! I tried to take some of what I learned from the composition course and apply it to this piece. It’s a local art contest in my town, and it’s sort of an homage to some of my favorite things in town—the coffee shops, the aquarium, and the zoo.

Anyways, I was hoping I could get some feedback from y’all on the composition and anything else, before I do final line work and then color it. Also, I’m not confident at all in my coloring abilities, especially with digital work. I’ve taken the color theory course, but still feel at a loss when it comes to choosing my colors. Maybe it’s just experience/trial and error? Any recommendations with regards to colors, or maybe which other classes would help me most?

Btw a lot of the scratchy lines are more for contours and I won’t be doing final line work over those.

Thanks!
Daniel

This stuff has been really helpful for me as I work towards my own resolutions. And I’m a 9th grade English teacher, so in class we’ve been setting goals, and tracking habits—related to reading but also study skills, and any extracurricular interests or passions they have. I used some of these tips in class today! Most of them all started with goals that weren’t realistic, so these tips were perfect for freshmen too.

Excellent feedback from all of you! Really helpful. I’m going through it, processing it, and will play with the composition this week. Thanks!

This is my first illustration submission. It's a bit of a different style from most of the work on here, but I love this community, the podcasts, the courses, feedback, etc, so I thought I'd start entering the monthly contests. I considered adding color but decided to keep it in black and white. It was done originally in pen and ink, traditionally, then I scanned it and added a few digital revisions.

It's about the things we try to protect our kids from, their imaginings at night, sure, but more powerfully, the hurt of the world. As a foster parent, this is something I experience a lot-- trying to shield these little ones from further trauma.

Sweet. Yea I think you’re right...I’ll take down the saturation of the haze and stick with the yellow background as it seems to unify it more. I’ll try darkening the Jaguar too. I like the book suggestions! Thanks!

So I put a lot of work into this. There's a lot I like, but I'm not sure how the colors work. I took a couple of the color courses. Whew, overload! Hopefully I applied some of it well.

Which "haze" in the background looks best?

I think the anteater needs more detail along his face, since the lemur and jaguar have so much. And I think I need to put something on the pages of the open books. No idea what. Or how. Any references y'all could recommend for that? Any other critiques?

Thanks!

Excellent feedback from all of you! Really helpful. I’m going through it, processing it, and will play with the composition this week. Thanks!

Thanks a lot, Chris! Great to hear from another teacher and artist. Great advice. I’ll definitely check out coffee shop color schemes.

Yeah I was hoping that maybe with lighting, contrast, and color I could create a focal point. I wonder if that’s still possible with such busy line work. For example, I’m going to darken the Jaguar with his back turned to us and lighten the lemur eating the biscuit. I’m going to try to shoot for putting focal point on the lemur and anteater, but I’m not sure if the line work is too busy to pull that off. I was going for a lively coffee shop, but hoping I could pull that off without being overwhelming for the viewer.

This stuff has been really helpful for me as I work towards my own resolutions. And I’m a 9th grade English teacher, so in class we’ve been setting goals, and tracking habits—related to reading but also study skills, and any extracurricular interests or passions they have. I used some of these tips in class today! Most of them all started with goals that weren’t realistic, so these tips were perfect for freshmen too.

Hey folks,

My first post! I’m a high school English teacher, and aspiring artist on the side. Been listening to the podcast for a while and got a subscription to the site for Christmas! Im excited! I tried to take some of what I learned from the composition course and apply it to this piece. It’s a local art contest in my town, and it’s sort of an homage to some of my favorite things in town—the coffee shops, the aquarium, and the zoo.

Anyways, I was hoping I could get some feedback from y’all on the composition and anything else, before I do final line work and then color it. Also, I’m not confident at all in my coloring abilities, especially with digital work. I’ve taken the color theory course, but still feel at a loss when it comes to choosing my colors. Maybe it’s just experience/trial and error? Any recommendations with regards to colors, or maybe which other classes would help me most?

Btw a lot of the scratchy lines are more for contours and I won’t be doing final line work over those.

Thanks!
Daniel