Hi guys! This is scary for two reasons:

• First proper post on the forum, hoping it's in the right place and "the done thing"
• First time posting artwork outside the social media bubble of lovely existing fans or design-focussed communities... and in a space populated by illustrative storytelling professionals.

So hey. With that out the way, here's an illustration I did a little while ago for a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons. He needed something to represent his character - a dwarven alchemist who leaves his dusty books behind to travel the world in search of new creatures to study and dissect! He has a particular fascination with Mimics, and keeps the baby one on his belt as a pet (the little treasure chest creature). He's less about the lab and all about living life in the field, defending himself when he needs to and taking advantage of learning opportunities only found in the wild.

I'd love to know what you guys think. Did I capture the gist of the story? Are there any glaring issues with the concept or execution? I also have a process video on YouTube if anyone's interested in that kind of thing.

Wouldn't it be fun if the PS4 Spider-Man got involved? At the height of his powers with one hell of a set of gadgetry, and THAT costume :smiling_face_with_open_mouth:

Hey guys, as the new year looms into view and we all think about our projects for 2021, do you have any goals for your artistic development?

For the last couple of years I've been working on my use of colour. But next year I'm going to take a step back and work on the underpinning drawing skill and push my shapes more, as well as getting braver with solid blacks and drawn material details. I want to shift the balance from using colour to make decisions, to it simply being compliment to an already functional illustration.

That's my Art Resolution. What's yours?

Hi everyone, I'm Jim. Just joined the forum after hearing about it on the 3 Point Perspective podcast. Long time follower of Jake Parker and Will Terry via YouTube. I've been looking for a social space online dedicated to art and illustration for a while now, so here I am!

About me... I'm from the UK, specifically Newcastle in the north east of England. I draw cartoony stuff. I used to freelance full time but now I balance a full time job with some freelancing. The full story is much longer than that of course!

Anyway, hello. Nice to meet you all and I look forward to getting to know people.

This is beautiful work, it has a timeless quality to it. I'd love to see how it looks after you've dropped a couple of gradient maps on it to colour the values.

There's nothing to stop you clicking the videos and skimming through to see what the content is like, before deciding what level you need to study at.

Welcome to the forum! Loving your work, really nice stuff.

@DaveLeekArt that's a great goal. I've concentrated way too much on digitally painting details and not enough on gesture, pose, composition and storytelling. Some of my favourite work online is so simple, yet works perfectly. I want that efficiency.

Love it love it love it! You're pulling out some awesome shapes and the linework is really nice.

Hi @RJWoodworth welcome! Some fun stuff there.

Absolutely loved this topic guys, and thanks for answering my question as well

Ooh nice find, thanks for that. I do a lot of Christmas themed stuff so this should be useful!

Ok cool, thanks guys. Glad I'm not just missing something obvious

I guess I'll put together a spreadsheet or something.

Hey guys, I don't know if I'm missing something but I can't seem to find a way on the SVS Learn website to effetively bookmark and organise courses I'm interested in taking. My dashboard just seems populated with random courses.

Does anyone use anything to do this? Like a spreadsheet or whatever?

Loving the composition and colour in your work, looking forward to seeing more!

Love it love it love it! You're pulling out some awesome shapes and the linework is really nice.

Yeah definitely check out any SVS courses that go into understanding light, because that will have a positive global effect on all your rendering, including shadow consistency and use of colour.

@DaveLeekArt that's a great goal. I've concentrated way too much on digitally painting details and not enough on gesture, pose, composition and storytelling. Some of my favourite work online is so simple, yet works perfectly. I want that efficiency.

@deborah-Haagenson nice, loving the idea of focusing on a different thing each month. Maybe I should consider something like that too. Using a different subject matter (landscapes, vehicles, characters, architecture etc) every month to keep things fresh while still working on the principles I mentioned earlier.

There's nothing to stop you clicking the videos and skimming through to see what the content is like, before deciding what level you need to study at.