Using this one to experiment with style a little bit
It's very long so you might have to click to see the whole thing

So I got carried away and did this in a day...

Adding another book cover illustration to my portfolio.

Hey everyone! Just joined and this is my first time posting. Going to try and do the challenge every month

Technically drew this at the end of June but never posted it. So here's some strawberry picking for you!

Submitting this cover again and another illustration from the story

Book cover project I'm working on for a local publisher here in Montreal.

Full bleed version:

Trim size with rough type mockup:

Hey! New student for the new year Here are some of my recent portfolio pieces

Montreal, Canada!

@NessIllustration Your portfolio looks great! I think there are quite a few pieces but if you don't want to remove any, that's up to you. I don't feel like it's a ridiculous amount and it's still pretty easy for people to scroll through or just gravitate towards the pieces they like best.

As for whether you should include things that you don't like drawing? My response would be no. Whatever you put in your portfolio is the kind of work you're going to get. The only reason to include a variety of subject matter is because it increases the potential projects you can get, but it's not worth it if those are not the projects you want! And in my experience, whenever I force myself to draw something that I'm not enjoying, it usually doesn't come out very well. You already can clearly draw lots of stuff that has a place in the market so leave the robot books to people like Jake who love to do that specifically!

Anyway, your work looks great and I think you're ready to be sending out some more emails

@Georgios-Christopoulos I agree that I like the composition of the second one better. As for readability, I think the line breaks do affect how people read it but it this case it just seems like the "pauses" make it more dramatic. So I don't feel like it takes away from the meaning. It just forces the reader to kind of feel that "slow-mo" feeling in the middle of the action scene which I think is the point

@xin-li Yeah, I agree that value design is very important, and the area with the most contrast definitely makes a natural focal point. I like doing very detailed illustrations with lots of little elements and patterns so value contrast and colour contrast are super important for readability and not making the image too busy.

Although I suppose there are exceptions to every rule. Like if the character was meant to look more like a silhouette? But I guess in that case it should be the darkest thing and create contrast in that way. And sometimes there are 2 or multiple focal points in an image but that can be hard to pull off. I'd say that these rules are important to learn as a guideline but at the end of the day, you have to use the tools that are most important for the image.

@Jacy13 I think the limit is how much the forum will let you upload but you should easily be able to save jpg for web that would be smaller, by reducing the artwork size or resolution

@xin-li Interesting exercise. I think about composition and framing a lot in my work and I personally think that's improved in your versions. The first one especially, since the characters are so small in the frame. For the Heikala one, I think your edits do improve readability and make her silhouette stand out but I agree with @ajillustrates that it changes the mood a bit, since part of the atmosphere was to have an overall dark image. If the artist wanted the character to blend in with the background and feel like part of the storm, then I think that was achieved. I personally prefer the contrast so if I wanted it to stay dark and moody, I would have maybe made purple clouds behind her instead of making them look lighter and happier, but keep the desired separation and silhouette.

@carolinebautista Thanks!

@Coley Thanks!

@NessIllustration Thanks! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where this goes

Thanks for the info too, that's very helpful! The agent just sent me the contract yesterday so I was going over that and by default it asked for SSN at the bottom. I followed up with her to ask about that as well as another point in the contract so I'm waiting to hear back. I know she represents other artists outside of the US so I'm sure she'll send me that form and stuff after I sign on!

After some googling, it seems I would just have to pay Canadian income tax as normal and declare any foreign income in Canadian dollars. But if anyone knows any other business/legal things related to working in other countries, please let me know!

UPDATE: I've been emailing with them and talked to Deborah on the phone yesterday. Seems like it's going to work out!

Just a quick question for anyone who knows contract/tax stuff: At the end of the contract, it asks for my Social Security Number or Federal Tax ID, since the money would be going through the agent in California. However, I'm based in Canada and don't have this info. For any illustrators getting work outside of their own county, do you know if I have to pay US taxes? Canadian taxes? Both? What info do I need to provide for my agent?

I followed up with her but since I'm waiting for a reply, I thought I'd ask in the forum and see if anyone knows.