Best posts made by saciia_

Here are already so many cool book covers! So interesting to see how everbody has a little different approach. And thanks also to everybody who invested time to critique my composition

Here is my entry:

Hi

I decided to make a book cover for „The Jungle Book“ for the monthly art challenge. I had a flat and more simplified design in my mind.
I started just in black & white to concentrate on value and composition. Later on I will work with colours.
One of my concerns is if the animals + boy are too present? I anyhow like how bold they are but I‘m also not completely sure if it works all together and I just looked at it for too long now and need some fresh eyes

So, any critiques are very welcome and I give you complete permission to tear me apart

MADE WITH LOVE

Last year I found out about the SVS Forum and courses through the 3 point perspective podcast which I’m always listening to at work. I’m from Germany and I moved to Iceland 2016 because of my boyfriend and my current job was never supposed to be something I will do forever. I make jewellery and take pictures - it might sound interesting, but there is not much room for my creativity and it can feel very frustrating. Especially when I’m listening to the podcast and it just prickles in my fingers to draw something. I keep an idea book with me and try to realise as much as I can at home after work.
I guess as long as I’m in Iceland my chances to make a living as an Illustrator are very little since the costs of living are just ridiculous high here. But I hope things work out and we will move back to Germany soon and until then I want to improve and prepare as much as I can to have best chances for my pursued career

I look forward to get active here in the forum and also to give something back. I constantly send my family and friends my drawings and want them to critique...but honestly, I think they might start to get a little annoyed by it

Talk to you later

Saskia

@andersoncarman first, thank you for your detailed critique!
I’m thinking about replacing Bagheera with Baloo... since Baloo is a character people have immediately in mind when thinking about the jungle book, ...and you are right about his flat bottom, I actually tried to hide it with some leaves haha
I tried first to show Kaa’s full body but liked it more when a part was hidden, I think that’s sneakier, and he is sneaky isn’t he?
I keep the fire idea in mind...I’m also really unsure how to include it and if I do I will do it in a very subtle way.
Maybe it’s also good to say that the book is actually very different from the Disney movie which picks just it’s favourite parts from the book and puts them together in a new way. The book itself is separated in a lot of different tales and some of them are not even connected to Mowgli. That’s also a point that makes me a little bit unsure about the fire idea.
@Sas thank you for sharing your thoughts Saskia I will work on the details you mentioned! About the space above I liked that it gets a little bit airy, like the holes you have in trees when you look up a forest? But I will give it a try and see how it comes out
@Aleksey thank you! I will try to keep the values, even though I’m still a little bit scared that I will ruin it with colour. But I just take it as a challenge!
@CobaB Thank you! I’m glad you like it!

Hi I try to describe what came to my mind at first sight. The most catchy for me is number 3 ...my eyes are immediately drawn to it. It shows really nice contrast and also it gets darker there in the distance, it makes me aware there is something, it creates this slight nervous feeling in me - there comes a change in the environment. I know number 1 is your favourite but it seems like the most static, I also concentrate more on the landscape in the front instead of my eyes beeing led into the woods (which happens nicely in 3) and I also miss some contrast. Number 2 reminds me of a nice landscape photograph ...everything harmonious, anyhow soothing - but that’s not the feeling you want to evoke I guess. So all in all I feel like the higher the number the stronger the thumb. Number 1 looks definitely more friendly, maybe that´s also your intention, but I would try to add some darker values as well or maybe a slightly more leading path into the woods, because it just kind of leads out of the picture now. Okay, I hope that all made sense

@Aleksey thank you
@MichaelaH thank you for the tip! I will try that
@Jonas-Zavacky thank you, that’s good to hear

If you should choose one of the airplane versions you could always have the fox sitting somewhere in the distance so that you recognise him at second glance. I also like the left on the bottom the most, I think the composition is the strongest there. Otherwise you have a lot of good ideas here that could work as well! Look forward to see your progress!

@mzmolly Hi I think you show a good intuition where to place your objects in a harmonious way. I also like the colours you choosed - feels very happy and positive which fits to LOVE I guess I think you could give your illustration more depth by laying out the grassy field more diagonal into the background and not straight/ horizontal. You could strengthen that with some overlapping bumps or hills. It also could help to make the yellow background less intense - so your little guy and the cat will pop out more ️

Hi I know the problem you're describing. What helps me if I feel anyhow stuck is mind mapping. For me it's a good way to see which information is essential to include to evoke a feeling for the story and to see connections you maybe haven't seen before. I also like about mind mapping that you basically can go crazy! Maybe it could help you to move away from the images that are already running around in our heads.

That’s a really nice idea and I like the overall composition! The only thing that caught my eye were the two dark flowers in the front. They are in the same height and maybe you could try to move one of them more down. The O as a lilypad I would just leave open and just try both versions on the finished illustration ...I think it´s hard to say yet. I look forward to see how it will turn out

Maybe you could also just add a third flower on the right side

My favourite is also number one What I think you could add / change is to show more the speed of the butterlfy because he looks pretty chilled now, like he is maybe just accidentally by a horse race. His feelers and legs could be bended backwards and you could give him a more eager expression.

I have to admit I also like your coloured version a lot! Anyhow the mood is majestic and the last picture you postet seems very adventurous. So I think both are really good! Probably just depends on your story and character :face_savouring_delicious_food:

@Teju-Abiola Thank you so much for your valuable tips!... and I should have checked the spelling before posting!
It's the first cover I'm making and if it comes to type I still feel insecure about it. So I'm really happy you pointed it out.

Before and after: