This is my first doodle on my new iPad...I'm most comfortable with colored pencil, so I am going to try to work on that for awhile.

Hi,
First I have to say that I love this site, the courses and the vibe of the forum! Ages ago I went to art school to do medical illustration. Five years of teaching science and two babies later I have become a stay at home mom that wants to get back into art. The problem is that I can draw realistically, but I am painfully slow and I am not so great at storytelling through art. The courses have been excellent in that regard and I am hoping that this forum will continue to help me get better. I have written books for both of my kids and my goal is to illustrate them this year and I am hoping you guys can be my sounding board as I work through this project. So...thanks in advance

Looking at your work makes me want to be a better artist. Thank you for inspiring me with your work!

Hi,
I'm going to preface this by saying that my strengths lie in drawing and rendering one object. I am not good with making a unified piece with a whole composition, which is probably my problem.
But, I have started and restarted this same piece so many times and it never looks good. At this point I don't know what is wrong. Is it the sketch, the composition, the values, the colors? Or am I just stopping at the ugly stage and I need to keep working past it. Any comment would be helpful. Should I just work on something else?
Does anyone else just have a piece that wrecks your confidence and makes you want to quit?

You do such nice work!

I am amazed at how much life you have given to you ''stick" people. Wow!

I love the idea and the story behind it. I think the bear cub on the right is too aligned with the tree. maybe you could turn his head slightly toward the center of the composition so we could see a little bit of his snout.

That is amazing! Congratulations.

This might just be me, but have you thought about cropping out the tops of the trees? They seem like arrows drawing my eyes away from the action and off of the top of the page.

@evilrobot @naroth kean, thank you so much for the input. I really think I need to take your suggestions, especially pushing my colors to emphasize my focal points. I can also move the girl over except this is a book spread and I'm afraid of getting her too close to the gutter. It's a book spread for a personal project.

This might just be me, but have you thought about cropping out the tops of the trees? They seem like arrows drawing my eyes away from the action and off of the top of the page.

I love you style! Just to throw my 2 cents in. I like the two girls in the background. It makes me think that they are going to pick up their rabbit from its hare cut and lends some urgency to Lucy's problem. I don't think she needs the leash though. The angle of her right arm does throw me off a little bit.

That's amazing. Congratulations!

I love the idea and the story behind it. I think the bear cub on the right is too aligned with the tree. maybe you could turn his head slightly toward the center of the composition so we could see a little bit of his snout.

I like the concept of fixing complicated machinery with duct tape. With both of your characters facing off of the page I have a hard time getting 'into' the middle of your composition. Have you tried Lucy in the bottom left and Dad in the top right?

@Charlie-Eve-Ryan. Thank you very much for your input. Off to work I go!

I justed watched Lee White's business class and it is great! It was everything that I needed to hear when I was in art school. After watching it, I think that at this point in life I want to pursue educational book illustrations. Call me boring, but with twin toddlers, I could use an overly art directed path. Plus, before kids and after art school, I was a teacher so it just kind of fits.
In putting together a portfolio, do I include pretty much the same things that would be in a trade book illustrators portfolio? Does anyone have any advice or have someplace they can point me to for help?
Thanks!

You do such nice work!

I really love you thursday morning doodle. I like the others as well, but that one is so unique and charming. Have you tried doing a cutesy looking character. I have no idea what I am talking about in terms of children's books, but I would think art directors would want to see a little bit of cute

I really like this piece. Your painting style is really nice. You made it look like pastels. I am struggling with painting and it is nice to see that someone else has been able to push themselves to this quality of work.