Thanks to all my helpful forum friends on this one.

I'm loving everyone's interpretation of this month's prompt. So inspiring.

I really like the Octopus theme because you can get a lot of movement with the tentacles, and point to things of importance. Any critiques are welcome and appreciated. ~ Johanna

Here's my Old and New contribution, with my characters from last month's Octopus theme. This illustration had a lot of challenges but much thanks to the valuable feedback from @kevin-longueil @gary-wilkinson @jason-bowen @kathrynadebayo, it's one of my stronger efforts.

Johanna Kim

This illustration was technically challenging for me every step of the way, but I think it's time to let it go. I'm really enjoying everyone's different take on the prompt. Good luck and stay safe, everyone:)

Time to let this one go...fly away little illo. Kudos to my fellow SVSLearners @Gary-Wilkinson @RHirsch @demotlj @Miriam @Sofie_designed @Adrian-K for helping me make this a better piece through their feedback and suggestions.

As usually happens, I revisited my illustration and felt compelled to make changes. Please excuse my re-submission.

Love the super-charged creativity in all the submissions. Really inspiring to see.

@ShannonBiondi Thanks so much:) I wonder if you might suggest in your directions at top that in addition to uploading hi-res images to the Google folder, that we all share lo-res versions to this feed as well, as inspiration to each other.

Here's mine:)

@Lee-White Thanks so much for the clarifications! I hadn't realized about the Q&A sessions.

@Lee-White Thanks for your response, Lee. I understand better now, and truly appreciate the enormous value this comprehensive class offers. But to reiterate one of my questions, will this class be available for purchase or free viewing as an SVS member after the class is over, without the weekly Zoom sessions, of course?

Will this course be available for SVS members after the class is over, or can we only access it if we enroll now?

Also, I listened/watched the preview videos explaining what this course is about, but I'm still unclear on one thing. How is this course content different from the previous published videos already provided to SVS members, aside from the Zoom sessions with instructors. Is it more that this course is structured better, so that all the various teachings are distilled and more easily accessed in one place? In other words, this course is a more curated and enhanced compilation of SVS's teachings?

I don't think that being overly dramatic is an issue for picture books. (See Creepy Carrots, by Peter Brown.) But if you're going to add in a film noir look, you'll have to handle the darks with care. Your piece looks great, but I can see what your friend is trying to convey. I wouldn't go to that extreme, but maybe try deepening your shadows even more, particularly in the right-side for the room only, and the ceiling particularly?

You have so many great pieces in your portfolio. The three you've chosen are excellent, but all these pieces feature a ton of characters at about the same size. Perhaps switch one of these out for the bath scene or the Halloween scene, both of which have one really distinctive large shape that captures the viewer's attention from a distance?

Hi Katie, congrats on your first PB. Is there anything you're wanting us to focus on in terms of feedback?

The rendering looks beautiful, so my questions and notes to you are more focused on the story being told. What story is being told, not just for this scene but for the overall book? You say they're going on a journey--and that usually entails a problem to start, that's then resolved at the end. What emotions are you wanting to convey with this scene? They all are smiling, so they seem happy. But then why are they being sent off on a journey at night? I'd think that maybe there's a problem that needs to be resolved, and if so, shouldn't they be expressing anxiousness or determination instead?

The kids are rendered well, but what are their ages? They seem on the older end of the picture book reader spectrum (3-8 years), venturing into middle grade. Is that your intention?

And the path they're walking on--shouldn't it be wider where they are? Or they should be smaller? The path reads like a road for cars on the right, but like a sidewalk on the left. They seem to be in a forested area, so wouldn't it be a rougher dirt path?

Just some things to think about. But the overall look of this piece is really beautiful and dreamy. I like the palette and the clouds and stars and the moonlight on everything.

These look amazing! Well done!

This was a tough one for me. Really loving the creativity in everyone's pieces. Happy New Years!:)))

@Joe-Hanson-Tannous This is SO adorable. Love the floating eyebrows and shape.

@miranda-hoover Was curious to see what you came up with (since I'm a fan:). Love this character. So cute. With the leaping pose, I wonder if it would read more like it's in motion if you imagine a character a leaping character like Nintendo's Mario, where there are objects it's leaping over or past. Because as it is now, it's leaping up but not traveling very far. It needs a little bit of setting reference. Then the sitting pose--the legs look a bit like a beard. Perhaps the legs could be more cross-legged, or straight forward so we can see its cute feet undersides? And yes, definitely have it sitting on a bit of snow or ground or rock.