@juliekitzes, If anyone is having trouble seeing the whole image at once, they can click on the image (I like to open it in a new tab).

I like the way you created the contrast of light and dark areas, & the different textures. Nice job!

@Heather-Boyd, You can do whatever you like. It's more likely to be favored by the judge(s) if it follows the rules closely, but—you never know.

Plus, the ultimate goal is to practice art and create portfolio pieces, so [insert a "follow your heart" sort of thing here ]. Do what works for you. I'm sure it will be fun for everyone to see—whatever you choose to do.

Wow! Your miniatures are perfectly realistic!

This Jeff character reminds me of Dwight from (the US version of) "The Office" tv show. (Are you sure he's not the Assistant to the night manager? Ha, ha! )

The forum is a good place to put your art out there & ask for feedback. I've received some valuable help and advice from the members here. It's a great group!

I love how detailed and specific the classes are here, too! I really enjoy how SVS offers technical information and intellectual concepts & advice. I also appreciate how they talk about the way things relate to the real world.

I'm kind of sporadic on here (due to my health), but I'll look forward to seeing you around. Good luck with your book--that will be an exciting project!

I missed the live critique, so I'll have to see if it's been posted. It would be fun see an entry from you on the next contest!

@Aaron_T, They've done really specific ones before—it just varies.

@Nyrryl Cadiz - Great job! Your work has a nice warm glow that gives it a loving / friendly feel.

@Aleksey - I agree, the "To" field is the last thing to fill in after everything has been double-checked!

Also, when copying & pasting, a good practice would be to never include the name in the selected text that you are copying.

@NessIllustration - I am guessing that dismissing someone who accidentally used the wrong name has less to do with offense taken and more to do with the fact that they don't know what kind of a worker the applying artist is, and they too are trying to make an educated guess with only so much to go on. So when one artist makes an obvious mistake, it is kind of a no-brainer to go with someone else who paid more attention to detail. However, I agree that they still should have been nice and professional. At the very least, not responding at all would be better than being rude. I'm happy things turned out in the end!

By the way, gmail has an "undo send" type of button that shows up--just for a few seconds, though. You hear so many stories about wishing emails could be un-sent--I think e-mail providers should make this a standard feature!

I think using the eyelashes to designate females is something that works.

Just thought I'd throw it out there, though that many boys & men have beautiful, long, dark lashes. We just perceive it as a female trait, since so many women paint their lashes with mascara and draw attention to their eyes with make-up (and sometimes posturing ).

Years ago (I think in my late teens or early twenties), a friend invited me to take photographs for a park district's promotional material.

It was pretty casual. I don't think we even really set a price--which was good, because it kind of fell apart since neither side knew what we were doing. I knew I could legally photograph anyone in a public setting, but didn't have knowledge or experience of what kind of releases or permission you'd need for advertising.

On their end, they didn't give me any guidelines past a "people enjoying parks" kind of idea. No number of images, what they'd be used for, etc. I think I took some pictures, but suffered from a lack of direction. But I am happy that I was honest and let them know from the beginning that I wasn't a pro. Looking back, I should have asked for advice from a teacher. I think at the time, I would have been hesitant to bother him, but now I realize he would have been thrilled to give me advice.

My recommendations would be to do research and ask the client lots of questions, especially if they don't seem to know what they want, and to ask others for advice or help.

I live with chronic illness as well (Lupus, plus a couple other auto-immune illnesses, & my medications have taken their toll, so I also have Osteoporosis and GI issues). So I know that health issues can be challenging.

For me, I just don't have the stamina to draw or create art as often as I would like, and I get discouraged at lack of progress as well. I know that even at my healthiest, I wouldn't be able to sustain an art career (I struggled with just an office job).

But I've found that if I don't do something creative at least every once in a while, I find myself feeling unhappy & I don't feel like myself anymore. It might be drawing, or making a simple stuffed animal for a niece or nephew, or something else. I have to accept the fact that I'm not going to be on the fast track for developing my skills, but I can still do something. It just makes me happy to create something, and it's a fulfilling part of my life. It helps me to not hold myself to a certain standard. It's ok that it's just a hobby, and I'll stay in a "beginner" stage. I can still enjoy it, and it can still make others happy when I share my talents with them.

I think if you keep coming back to drawing, there's something in you that's pulling you to it, but only you can figure that out for sure. My advice as you think about it is to allow "hobby" or even "occasional hobby" to be options in the spectrum of how much time & effort you decide to spend on art in your life.

I may never be a master, but I can still bring some small amount of beauty and joy into the world, and that is worth something.

@Aleksey, good insights & thanks for sharing your picts. The expression on the tiny bird made me laugh.

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen
I think these two look like they belong in the same story & they are both adorable!

I agree with @Nyrryl-Cadiz about adding some fur texture lines to the black areas of your cat.

I'm also noticing that if you look around at the edges of the dog, it's fairly dark all the way around & the shading comes into the body a bit, but the cat isn't dark all the way around the edges, and the shading is much lighter (except for underneath the body / behind the legs). So maybe you could try lightening it up on the dog, or darkening the edges and shading on the cat--or go for compromise and moderation & do a little bit of both.

I think the character's eyes look good together. One thing I'm seeing about them though is the dog's pupils look like they have a rougher edge, and the cat's pupils are have a much smoother edge. Making them more similar to each other may help give a consistent feel.

It looks like this will be a very cute project! I hope you share more of it with us!