One of the many nights my sister and I spent hidden away in blanket forts reading fairy tales by flashlight. (Watercolor and Colored pencil on Arches 300lb cold press)
I tried to keep it simple since painting glowy light is very new to me, but might revisit this again after I watch some more classes and feel like I can add all the things I wanted to.

Keep to the path through the wood and don’t ever stop!

Materials are watercolor, Colored pencil, cut paper, and chalk. I don’t have any digital capabilities so I’m experimenting with ways to use traditional art and still have the depth and dimension I want.

I asked my 10 year old what she would do in a mushroom village and she didn’t even hesitate, “play hide and seek!” So, here it is. Hide and seek in the mushroom village. I should have done the whole thing bigger. Sorry if it’s a bit blurry. It’s watercolor, colored pencil and cut paper. No digital because I don’t know how. ️

I’m not sure if I took this one too far... but I got a little excited. Does a poster style mashup with Labyrinth count? I did a few more than 4 characters.

I've actually been planning and sketching and working this one out in my head for quite a while. I love cut paper and tiny things so I made this candy tin illustration/ diorama (inspired by Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere")this month. It feels like you open the lid on a tiny magical world. I'll definitely be making more. It took a lot of planning to figure out how I wanted the layers and then I had to paint and place all these impossibly small elements, but it was really fun.

Here’s mine! Aside from seeing the growth over a year, highlights for me include actually finishing the Draw 50 things assignment, having Mindy Kahling share my sketch on her Instagram, and participating in MerMay.

I also can't figure out how to post more than one photo at a time. Grrrrr. Me and technology.

This little sketch was probably my most honest and vulnerable piece this year. And, as unplanned and quickly done as it was, I love how simple and true it is.

How to draw everything. First three exercises.
I think these all need to go on my “warm up” work list. They freak my brain out a little... which is good.

@DLArmantrout I have to read this again when my left brain can turn on. I’m getting ready to start perspective for the second time.

@NessIllustration

Expression study. Smiles are so hard!

@Lovsey thank you so much!! And you are totally right! Now that I’m looking at it with that feedback, those two things make so much sense. It looks like an image that was cropped too close. And you’re right! If she was holding something, she might cram it closer to her chest and a few things would maybe break or drop, but she probably wouldn’t just let go. I was using a reference photo, but the photo was just a person being scared and they weren’t holding anything so I had to kind of imagine it all. Okay, now I definitely want to redo this! It’s crazy how stuff like that didn’t catch me in the thumbnail. I guess it just takes experience. Thanks for taking so much time. ️️

@lora_chaudavis thank you. I want to work more on drawing interior spaces that are packed full of things and look like “used spaces”. I feel like it’s so easy to draw rooms that are way too big and empty when you’re just learning. I’m glad you like it. ️

These look so great! Congratulations on all the things. Books and babies.

Forgot to post this to the forums when I finished it. I’m trying to do Potter Week, though I’m too slow for daily prompts,so I’m spreading it out. But, I posted the first one on Instagram and I just don’t like it... though, of course, It’s got a bunch of likes on it. Isn’t that the way it goes. I really want to understand what is off about it and I’ve kind of got a couple things... 1. I think I need to draw through and crop the image to make sure the composition makes sense. Something isn’t right about their placement in the room. 2. Coloring. Gahhh. This is where I feel like I need to save for a digital set up or switch to doing shading etc with my pencils and painting over. I’m just so much more comfortable with pencils. I try to think through colors a lot, but everything ends up flat and muddy Unless I’m painting trees. 3. Gesture, she’s supposed to be startled because Fred and George just apparated behind her. Shes dropping the dishes. It’s not reading right away.
I didn’t say anything negative on insta about it. Because that’s annoying. But I’m posting here. Incase any of you had some tips to make it better. I’m not sure I’ll redo this one, but I want to understand what needs work. Thanks for listening if you stuck with me this far. I had middle of the night asthma issues and decided to post this while I was half asleep and drinking my tea. Rambling...

What @TessaW said. The forum is a great place to post things. You’ll get some great feedback from the other students... some people even do draw overs. And it does happen every now and then that one of the teachers will give some tips.

@Kevin-Longueil This is super cool. I love that you can see her reflected in the shoe. I am kinda drawn more to the one on the right with all the yellow. I'm not sure if its making a natural focal point, but my eyes keep drifting to that one.

I like version 2 as well. And I love that you did the characters first. Such a good idea. They look so consistent too.