@kathrynadebayo Haha! Good point about the family seeming to enter from outside. That thought did cross my mind though I didn't address it. I'm glad you took the time to note it; I'll definitely have to figure out a fix. Thanks for your feedback, Kathryn.

@lenwen Thanks for your preference note. I'm glad because I like that one, too.

@hannahmccaffery @Chip-Valecek Thanks for your suggestions about the yawn. I will definitely take your helpful notes into consideration as I move forward.

@juliemillardart Great piece. Definitely says "Big" to me. It feels like the lighting needs to be better defined. Since the mice have clear shadows, then the elephants too should have clear shadows. It's tricky, though, because you want to be able to read the mice and they're currently so nicely defined at the bottom. When I first saw this, I thought of a circus setting, but then it could also be a zoo. In those instances, artificial lighting could be happening, like overhead ceiling spots of light. You could play around with having 2 subtle rays of light directed down to the mouse below and see what arrangement of elephant shadows works best.

@braden-hallett Very cool image. I'm particularly loving the way you've rendered the clouds.

@evilrobot Holy moley! Amazing.

@aleksey I like your drawing. I think the perspective of this piece is perfectly fine. I wasn't aware of an unspoken rule about characters looking straight at the camera, but a slight adjustment of the cat-owl's gaze, and the boy's gaze would add to the storytelling, which IS valuable in a portfolio. (i.e., the boy's eyes could be looking at what he's reading, with the cat-owl trying to read over the brim of his hat, or dozing; he and the cat-owl could be looking at each other)

@laurel-aylesworth Hi Laurel. I really love your idea and drawing. I hope you don't mind that I did a bit of a draw-over to show my suggestions. It's easier for me to think through my response. When I consider the values for my illos, I find it's helpful to shrink it way down, then adjust values at this scale. I know you didn't ask for additional assistance, but after I adjusted the values, I couldn't help but make some small tweaks here and there. I've noted all the changes I've made, which I think still honors your original idea and drawing, but makes it hopefully easier to read. Let me know what you think:)

Hi All: I returned to my thumbnail/values stage and made an alternative (B), which shows a different perspective. The idea is she's yawning and in doing so, pops the roof off the house. Would appreciate any feedback or preference between (A) and (B).

I'm aware that (B) still needs work to get the perspective correct (been having some trouble in this area) but just want to see if I'm heading in a good direction. Thanks in advance!

@hannahmccaffery Thanks so much for your notes, Hannah! I was planning to dress them all in pajamas, with clues as to what they were doing right before they rushed to Penny's room; hopefully it'll add to the storytelling. And your notes about the cat's positioning is spot on. I've been moving that cat around a lot:) But after a fresh look at my progress, I'm re-thinking the composition. It's not completely resonating with my creative sensor (located in my gut:) but I'll post an update later today.

@rhirsch Wonderful concept and your drawing looks strong. Looking forward to seeing your progress.