@Raspencil Oh I haven't seen you around. Hi!

this is beautiful! i agree with @donnamakesart ,maybe darken the fence a little!! Awesome work!

Okay I've been neglecting this thread for almost a month now. I'm working on "I am Maganda". I'm going to work on 3 scenes I think might appear in the final (dummy) book. Maganda and her mother hugging next to the only photograph of her father. Maganda crying in class as everyone is calling her ugly. Maganda winning the beauty pageant as the other contestants are jealously shocked. Here is the sketch of the first drawing for composition. For this story I want to experiment with shapes, anatomy and perspective. I've always been inspired by Pixar but I've never integrated elements that we associate with their movies (fluid and exaggerated anatomy, cinematic views, etc.) Maganda's dad looks sorta realistic because he's kind of a caricature. His body and her mom's body are really exaggerated. For her mom, I wanted her to look like the typically lower class Pinay mother who works very hard, gets very little sleep but still has enough energy to love her only daughter. I hope it doesn't look too grotesque though. I changed Maganda's hair (again) because I felt like the afro just wasn't working for her design.

@Naters-Art love the skeleton!

@m-barron I started here recently as a beginner as well. I second the suggestion to start with the foundations curriculum. I'm only a couple months in, but I've really enjoyed it and the classes have really helped me build confidence and develop a solid drawing habit. Good luck!

Nice work! I'm slowly working my way through the curriculum, too. I have found it really nice to have a clear path to follow.

@xin-li oh dear!!!

@xin-li personally, I think your portfolio is perfect. Sadly, I have very little knowledge on what will do great in these type of contests. I don't have that much to add.

@mollylgm for me, I think there's little to no resemblance at all. the characters look different, composition is different, concept is different, even the camera angle is different. I think you're safe.

@Melissa-Bailey-0 Thank you for clarifying that up. I really hope this deal was really worth letting go. I think I was just obsessing about the previous client that I sold my rights to. We were working on a children's book with 18 pages (with lots of revisions) for $500 that was later uped to 40 pages for only $900 (with a lot of revisions still). They were very clear to me that they did not want me to share anything about the book until everything was absolutely published. They have yet to publish the book (we finished everything last year in August) and they still haven't uploaded it on Amazon KDP or Ingram Sparks. It was a lot of work and while at first I thought the paycheck was lovely, I did feel a little underpaid by the end. I just didn't want to get into another situation where I would be working for a long time on a project for so little, and by the end, not have any material that might help me jump to the next project. Then again... this client did come across as impulsive, so maybe I dodged a potential bad review if I worked hard and still dissapointed the client? In my experience so many self-publishing authors that I have met or worked with have a really bad attitude or are just plain disrespectful. But I know not all of them are or else I would have never proposed or continue using the site.

Taking this month into trying new styles to work with. In this one I made a fanart of Luffy form Onepiece with only the lasso tool, training my shape control.

Congratulations!

@ambiirae yes

Great concepts! The second does seem cozier. One thing I do question: while the perspective is more unique, does it lend itself to the story? An overhead perspective might make the viewer feel like they're literally looking down on the scene. It could feel more removed and might take away from the emotion of the scene. What if you chose a perspective where the viewer feels like they're right with the family? Perhaps zooming in, lowering the camera angle, etc. The same applies to the dad in the scene. Is there a way you can make him part of the action? Same idea with the kid facing away from the group -- could he be involved in the same activity with everyone else? That will help underscore the theme of an entire family enjoying a cozy moment. Looking forward to seeing how you solve your composition woes. Please share your progress with us!

@carlianne -- totally agree. @Kori-Jensen -- according to art directors' comments in recent webinars I've watched from SCBWI, most don't mind if you work in two different styles, but they want to see them organized, perhaps splitting a portfolio into different sections. They also recommend leading with your strongest piece and ending with another of your strongest pieces. For me, your portfolio would read better if it was organized. For example, place the Ninja pieces together so that they appear as consecutive or narrative art from the same book. Otherwise, nice work! Love the expressions you give your characters and LOVE the Fang and Mittens piece -- I'd lead with that one! Do you have other pieces from that book? I'd love to see more of that one!

I didn't join until January so I only had my yeti house done this month, and it didn't seem fair to do that without the previous prompt of whose house it was so I did that too. I was finishing it yesterday and realized the yeti's hair shape is my toddler's wild poof so I guess I was unknowingly inspired by her and our daily struggle to actually brush it lol

@Frost-Drive yep, there is no one art style. For example, look at recent award winners. This year's Caldecott winner was We Are Water Protectors, which was illustrated by Michaela Goade in gorgeous flowing watercolors. (The honors went to Cat Man of Aleppo, Outside In, Me & Mama, and A Place Inside of Me -- all of which were in a different illustration style.) 2020's Caldecott winner was The Undefeated, rendered very realistically by Kadir Nelson. 2019's Caldecott winner was Hello Lighthouse in Sophie Blackall's whimsical style. Those books could have been illustrated in a different style, but would those stories have been as impactful? Would they have been as successful? Maybe not. Yes, there is a popular style that you find in a high percentage of books being published -- that's nothing new. But trends change over time. And today you'll also find a ton of other books published that have wildly different illustration styles. It's refreshing, and yes, it is a relief to know! When I was just starting out illustrating children's books, I also thought that there was a specific "children's book style" that I had to conform to. I could mimic it but those illustrations were stiff or flat -- they weren't ME. So instead I just drew and let whatever came out of me flow onto the page. Turns out, I tend towards more realistic art, and that's okay. My style is not trendy, but I like to think that it's "classic". Nowadays, I focus on telling a story instead of style. That's not saying I've got everything figured out -- I'm still a work in progress! But maybe sharing my meager experience will be helpful. Keep on drawing and being YOU! ️

@Sara-Nilsson thank you! I like the idea that the snowman is the hero.

Final Version!! Winslow is in trouble!!

trouble uploading photo....