Here is my entry for this month. I have been busy with other projects, and didn't get to do the last two months...but I wanted to get at least one Yeti in before the theme changes.

I just wanted to share some exciting news! A book I illustrated last year was nominated, and shortlisted for the IODE Jean Throop Award. It is a self published book, but it is shortlisted with 4 other books, one by Scholastic and three by Kids Can Press. What an honor to be listed with these big publishers!! Here are a couple of illustrations from the book. If you are interested the book is called SCRUB: HOW SIMPLE SOAP SAVED THE DAY and was written by Suzanne Belliveau.

Oh, I think it worked this time.
My submission for the January contest prompt.

BIG TROUBLE!!! The school bus is never the best way to transport your projects to school!
Digital art in Photoshop.

Here is my entry for 'Nightfall'. I decided to keep the canoe. I am not sure if it qualifies, but I was also attempting the "Draw 50 Things" drawing from Will's video. At one point I did count, and had more than 50 items, but I am now sure if 50 of them made it through the final edits. If anyone wants to count, let me know!

Hi Everyone, I am new to to SVS and digital painting. Here is my entry for the February Octopus Contest.
It is my first full digital painting, so I would love someone to critique it.

I have been working for a long time to choose a style for my portfolio, and I think i have finally settled on this. I would love to hear people's opinion. Could you see this type of drawing in a children's book? Is it too simplistic? Does it look too digital?

I just finished this spread for a new book project I am working on. Hoping to finish the full book soon!

I had a university professor who told me I should have a whole sketchbook fill of pictures of eyes!
I spent a lot of time worrying about hands and feet (and eyes) in my illustrations...and then one day I was looking at a children's book and noticed how bad the hands were. This led me to look at more hands in more books. They arent good! Noone is good at hands and feet.
Every time I look at a book now, I always check out the hands and feet. Do you know how many 4 and 6 fingered hands are out there. Lots! Dont worry about yours. They cant be any worse. Worry about composition. Light and shaddow. Color choices. Those are the things that matter.

I have done a little more work on this... (a little work that took a long time!) I think some of it will be easier to make out now. I have shaded the foreground section just to visually separate it while I am working.
My biggest question at this point is about the linework on the bear. I have used a solid line to outline everything so far, but a sketchy-furry line for the outline of the bear. Does that look ok? Should I do a solid line?

@Kevin-Longueil thanks! That looks like a lot of fun. I don't have an iPad, but I will look for a similar program for the computer.

Hi Everyone.
I am working on simplifying the design concept for a book I have been struggling with for years.
The story is about a boy named William who feeds a hungry snowman in his yard, which attracts more snowmen. Every time he turns around, the number of snowmen in his yard has doubled. By the end of the book there are over 500 snowmen. (You can probably understand why I am struggling with this.)
I have had this idea to solve the problem by greatly simplifying the design concept for the book. This is an illustration from early on in the story, when there are only 8 snowmen, and William is just realizing what he has gotten himself into.
I am liking the design this way for a couple of reasons. First, I like the way William, and one snowman looks nice and empty and roomy, then as the story progresses, it fills up more and more with lots of snowmen. The conflict in the story comes in when William's yard is so full that the snowmen are blocking the access to the house. Second, since the day I though of the idea for this book, I wanted the pages to have a border, so that as there got to be more and more snowmen, they could start sticking out of the border, emphasizing the idea that they cant all fit into the space.
This brings me to the thing I am not so sure about. Is this to simple of a design? Does it still look like a story book If I don't draw the house, the fence, the tree, etc. into the background?

I think they are all great, and your character is developing well. You should keep the initial sketches handy, as I think the first character in the 2nd row will be a fantastic Hero, just incase one of the future assignments in this set calls
for drawing him/her.

Your painting is really great, and it looks like you have put a lot of work into it. I always hate to make suggestions for changes on anyone's work when it is clear that they have put in a lot of time. But I am also trying to be more active in the forum here, because I believe critiquing the work of others helps me learn, as well as helps others.
With all of that being said, I have a few suggestions.
First, if your story needs to show the character in a ruined carnival ground, leave the Rollercoaster. I don't think the carousel really expresses this on its own, because it could be taken for a fancy garden gazebo.
Second when I look at the photo my eye is drawn first to the sky where the sun is setting behind the mountains. From there my eye wanders through the forest and finds the character and rides. I know it would be a considerable amount of work, but I think moving the sun so it is setting behind the viewer and off to the left a bit, you could have it lighting the character, tree and carousel nicely, leaving the Rollercoaster in the shadows a bit, so you can still see it enough to have the information in the setting, but it won't stand out so much.
I hope that this helps.

@jenithornhill Here it is again with some color blocked in. Thoughts?

I am working on a character design for the March Traveller contest.
I am thinking that if my character lives in a valley, and valleys usually have rivers in them, he probably exists in a culture that was formed around river life. A river otter seemed a good fit. I am trying to make him look like he exists in that world.
What do you think? Any feedback in appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I just wanted to share some exciting news! A book I illustrated last year was nominated, and shortlisted for the IODE Jean Throop Award. It is a self published book, but it is shortlisted with 4 other books, one by Scholastic and three by Kids Can Press. What an honor to be listed with these big publishers!! Here are a couple of illustrations from the book. If you are interested the book is called SCRUB: HOW SIMPLE SOAP SAVED THE DAY and was written by Suzanne Belliveau.

I just finished this spread for a new book project I am working on. Hoping to finish the full book soon!

@holleywilliamson I think it looks good and it well balanced. I wouldn't try to add any cooking accessories incase you end up ruining that. It does look like he is juggling the food and tossing it into the pot.

1 2 and 7...but you could include them all!