"I can't wait to pitch this to my boss tomorrow".
"NO!."

Hahahaha loved this scene, loved the light humor of the entire story.
I would love to see a cover, you should submit it!

I love the concept! It's really fun! I would add more bananas (could there be a small street further back? Or bananas running between the houses?) to enhance the idea of a crowd that is panicking. Right now, it looks more like there is a small group that is being scared off by the gorilla. I also agree with the feedback shared by others: more details on the bananas would be interesting to make them pop out from a less defined background (which is probably not a main focal point and is already working well). Great work!

Same situation! It will also be the first time for me!

I am planning to go as well! I live in Milan, so it will be quite easy for me to get there and I am also happy to meet anybody who is planning to land in/stop by Milan.

@Braden-Hallett I went to a big bookstore in Milan this week, one that has a huge section dedicated to children's books. I've spent a couple hours looking at picture books and book covers, taking photos and noting down names of illustrators that I found visually interesting. I am building a simple Excel database of those names and looking at their websites. Plus I looked at the work of illustrators whose work I was already familiar with. I find Pinterest full of inspirations, but also tiring and not really the best if you want to discover the name of the artist and be able to look at their overall portfolio.

@Meta yep I see all these things as well, except maybe for simple backgrounds... I mean yes, they aren't super complex either, but I like that they have details to look at and that the images are quite busy overall. As for compositions, I do like variety! I like when an artist is capable of changing the point of view to support the narrative in the best possible way and get the message across. I would love to achieve that in my own portfolio!

Here's my dream portfolio! Nature and everyday life scenes are a red thread for me. Also a little bit of magic here and there.

Other key features for me are: soft shapes, 'unexpected' proportions (of body shapes or landscape elements), asymmetric and dynamic compositions varied (and quite-but-not-too-much accurate) use of perspective, bright (but not overly saturated) colors, contrast, presence of primary colors (although I love black and white too), analog (or analog-looking) media), with a particular interest for gouache, watercolor and pencils, presence of patterns and textures (I LOVE patterns and textures), generally no outline (except for black and white).

I am loving this exercise, it was a good confirmation of things that I consciously like in other people's illustrations, but also a great source of inspiration. I will try to set aside some time to study these visual techniques and create small swatches or samples of the different traits.

@Meta In my understanding it's this:
https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ACYBGNQY38JF6bAMDDVqftI5oX119JoykA:1573038520656&q=sweet+16+bracket&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjujPeRudXlAhX58OAKHZY3CtoQsAR6BAgHEAE&biw=1654&bih=840

Super fun challenge this month! Looking forward to it!!
Quick question: how will the sweet 16 bracket be applied to this contest? Will the winners of each round be publicly announced or will it be mostly an evaluation tool for the jury?

@Heather-Boyd Sounds good, I will do that! I have seen your thread..definitely super interesting for me as well.