Hello, everyone!

My name is Stevan Petrov and I am happy to say that I have been working professionally on different creative jobs full-time for about three years now. Initially I had worked in game development, later on producing cartoons and for the last year I've been freelancing over Upwork and offline. I've had a stable income all these years, however, so far, let's say, 40% of my career was pure illustration and concept design (mostly while I worked on producing cartoons), but the rest was mostly combination of photomanipulation/illustration/graphic design and I am not pretty satisfied with that and I think I know what is the problem.

After listening to some of Will Terry's videos, I've come to realize that if anything is a problem with my portfolio, it's that I've never had a style which I could consistently follow (too much experimentation plus not enough clear vision of what type of illustration I'd like to do and focusing too much on technical details instead of story and emotion etc) and also particularly lack of characters which appear in different scenes to prove I can draw those consistently.

You can check my portfolio here, but I am looking forward to creating a completely new one, so it's not really that important to me any more: stevanpetrov.com

I have decided to attack those two main issues by simplifying my style to a certain degree and practicing expressions. Along this, I am trying to combine it all with my love for writing.

I have listened Will Terry on Youtube and I am probably going to subscribe to SVSLearn to fill the gaps I have in my understanding of illustration. Aside from that, I am coming from a really small town and I've never actually developed own network of illustrators (but mostly graphic designers and animators), so I am very enthusiastic in terms of interacting with you people in the forums and helping you out as much as I can with the knowledge I have acquired so far.

Speaking of forums, I have a question: which category should I choose to post my own artworks I'd like to receive feedback for?

That's it, I'm looking forward to getting to know you people!

PS. Here's one of the characters I have developed with the goals in mind mentioned earlier (no feedback needed atm, I will post four other illustrations with this rabbit in the appropriate forums for feedback later).

@nessillustration Hello, Ness!

I'm from Serbia (Eastern Europe), thanks for asking!

Thank you for the advice about category and the comments on the artwork, I have received some critique on it earlier and I'll share it in the Artwork category soon.

@nessillustration ohh, haha!! That's very nice!! I had assumed that it was the name! haha

@chip-valecek Hello, Chip! Thank you very much!!

@nessillustration ohh, haha!! That's very nice!! I had assumed that it was the name! haha

People, you are truly amazing!

Instead of writing a reply, I'll try to fix stuff and post them here.

Thank you so much!

Hello, I'm looking for a feedback on these four illustrations. I will provide you with what were my intentions with these, so that you could give me a focused critique on it.

• I am trying to improve my portfolio by showing that I can draw characters in multiple scenes as I've heard from Will Terry that it's what art directors are particularly looking for.
• Along with this I am trying to convey believable expressions.
• I have attempted having some textures in it as I have noticed that children book illustrations tend to follow that.
• As for the style, I am aiming for the simplicity of this artist: http://hollie-mengert.squarespace.com/ However, I have a feeling that for the characters I would like to strive for Wouter Tulp feeling. So what I wonder is – is Hollie's style suitable for the characters that I would like to lean toward Wouter's style? I will certainly keep the characters simpler than Wouter's as I doubt I can pull off the anatomy. What do you think about that decision? Is it a correct one?

I am honestly asking you for as sharp critique as needed on all mentioned segments and possibly on anything else that you might notice to be off, particularly the fundamentals. I have no problems hearing even the harshest comments.

I have already asked for critique earlier and these are the remarks I have received:

• My textures look random
• I should draw more from life
• I should not try to emulate other artists
• The expressions are not pronounced enough with the rabbit, and I should use his body and eyes to emphasize that.

I have to admit I feel stuck regardless of these comments I have received (except for expressions), because one of my greatest troubles with art have been that for the first two years, I had avoided any stylization and focused instead on studying anatomy, perspective and other things, and then I've realized I can draw nothing that looks even remotely stylized, that I am too bound by what things truly look like. After I had realized that, I have attempted to find inspiration in other artists and have gathered about a dozen that I like, but now I am confused about what is the proper stylization and which elements can be combined from different styles. I am having troubles recognizing what is regarded as a particular characteristic of a particular style.

Thank you very much.

@nessillustration Hello, Ness!

I'm from Serbia (Eastern Europe), thanks for asking!

Thank you for the advice about category and the comments on the artwork, I have received some critique on it earlier and I'll share it in the Artwork category soon.

Hello, everyone!

My name is Stevan Petrov and I am happy to say that I have been working professionally on different creative jobs full-time for about three years now. Initially I had worked in game development, later on producing cartoons and for the last year I've been freelancing over Upwork and offline. I've had a stable income all these years, however, so far, let's say, 40% of my career was pure illustration and concept design (mostly while I worked on producing cartoons), but the rest was mostly combination of photomanipulation/illustration/graphic design and I am not pretty satisfied with that and I think I know what is the problem.

After listening to some of Will Terry's videos, I've come to realize that if anything is a problem with my portfolio, it's that I've never had a style which I could consistently follow (too much experimentation plus not enough clear vision of what type of illustration I'd like to do and focusing too much on technical details instead of story and emotion etc) and also particularly lack of characters which appear in different scenes to prove I can draw those consistently.

You can check my portfolio here, but I am looking forward to creating a completely new one, so it's not really that important to me any more: stevanpetrov.com

I have decided to attack those two main issues by simplifying my style to a certain degree and practicing expressions. Along this, I am trying to combine it all with my love for writing.

I have listened Will Terry on Youtube and I am probably going to subscribe to SVSLearn to fill the gaps I have in my understanding of illustration. Aside from that, I am coming from a really small town and I've never actually developed own network of illustrators (but mostly graphic designers and animators), so I am very enthusiastic in terms of interacting with you people in the forums and helping you out as much as I can with the knowledge I have acquired so far.

Speaking of forums, I have a question: which category should I choose to post my own artworks I'd like to receive feedback for?

That's it, I'm looking forward to getting to know you people!

PS. Here's one of the characters I have developed with the goals in mind mentioned earlier (no feedback needed atm, I will post four other illustrations with this rabbit in the appropriate forums for feedback later).