It all comes in stages - don't beat yourself up - it takes years to get where you want to be 🙂

that is a very interesting image! I would look into reworking on the boy pose and expression a bit to add more to the story. I think his expression need to be as strong as his doggy.

Thanks @Bobby-Aquitania for sharing this, it was very good 🙂

Just heard there were over 400 entries this year and they are still loading them into the gallery. This deer one here by Laura-Susan Thomas is still my absolute favorite! 😃

I should probably review the highlight and shadow class too, eh?

@Bobby-Aquitania thank you for your super helpful advice. I will keep in mind about tangent from now on . Thank you so much :'')

@Bobby-Aquitania said:

On another topic, what exactly happens when you get a lot of negative votes? Do we get to shun you?

I think someone comes to my house and delivers some, what you might call, New York justice.

@Naters-Calderone I still like this one best, i would have him looking down at the baby vs out into the distance.

UPDATE: Hey everyone, so I finished this piece. I wasn't able to get the pastel off enough to really follow any of the suggestions, so I just went with what I'd started. I'm not happy with it, but I learned a lot from it (mostly what NOT to do AND how important it is to plan beforehand. Will & Jake's class Creative Composition is helping me a ton and the suggestions here were really helpful).
special delivery small.png

Thanks @Lee-White : this is gold for me. I'll rework the piece keeping the great tip, hoping I won't mess up 🙂

@Dulcie thank you for the suggestions. Im sure that I will love it here. I just looked at your website. You have some really adorable pieces!

Hi @damien-rambacher, thank you for your suggestion. @natiwata thank you so much for your feedback. I have decided to repaint a lot of the colours to get it right and to limit the contrast points as you both suggested to make the piece read better. I would love to hear your thoughts. It's nowhere near finished, but I just wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction still. Have a great day. Pete.

Final-scene-10.png

Thanks Katrina and Chip! I haven't been able to recuperate it, but I have worked part of the night on it and I'm almost back to where I was!

Welcome @Adrianne ! I joined the forum a couple weeks ago and it's be really awesome! Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Whew at least it's better! I did find sketching this tricky, with the foreshortening, especially since he has a big behind and smaller shoulders. Yeah normally I start with a line of action, then build up with skeleton and shapes. But I should definitely work on my knowledge of anatomy, for sure, I think that would help. I'm really excited that yesterday I got Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing book - if my animal anatomy needs work, my human anatomy needs it even more! And it looks super helpful on that front.

@bharris and gimmehummus Thanks for the ideas! You've sparked my imagination 🙂

@Stephanie-Hider Attending guests do review your work--if you pay for a portfolio review or manuscript critique. And then it is first come/first serve in who reviews your work (anywhere from art director to fellow illustrator). Some chapter's conferences allow anyone to put their portfolio out for all to peruse and the visiting lecturers will almost always look at them. (That is how my friend's agent found an illustrator for one of her books.) Another way the conferences help is if they have intensives. The intensives have smaller enrollment sizes so the teacher can work with you on a more personal level. I've had some great "free" critiques from attending those.

@amberwingart Though you can't join now, if illustrating in children's books is your dream, it would be worth saving up for. You aren't limited to your chapter. I often attend conferences in nearby states. And I know people from all over come to my chapter's conferences. Plus, it is a great community --much like SVS. And while I totally agree with Lee White's assessment, I have some good friends who are very accomplished authors who are still part of SCBWI because it is an easy way to get even more contacts...something that never ends, even if you are accomplished. That, and conferences are like a huge reunion for them.

@mwinkelmans It certainly gives the massage some body! hahaha LOL!