Hello everyone,

So I see 'The Magic of Color' class has now been added to the foundational curriculum but COMING SOON. I assume the class is getting updated? Will it have assignments per section like the previous basic foundational classes have been laid out? I have already taken 50% of the class but seriously need a review and hope the updated class comes out this month.

Thanks again,

I don't have any answers, just wanted to say this is such a good question. I need a mentor too, but also had no idea where to start! Thanks for sharing 🙂

@Jewels I personally haven't bought many test products. Generally, I think they tend to be average. Not great but not terrible either.

There is a lot of good youtube videos comparing the different POD options. I think it's worth checking out a few by just searching something like Redbubble vs Printify or Redbubble vs Society6 etc.

@jdubz Thank you for the tip! I will look into it 🙂

Caliart's Alcohol Brush Art Markers are one of the greatest alternatives to Copic Markers that I've been watching since I first started coloring books. Its chisel helps me to fill in large areas quickly, while the brush tip allows me to work delicately around borders and streaks.

Oooo this is great! I love an in depth look at how people work!

@Laurel-Aylesworth-0 I am not sure what program you are working in. I work mostly in Procreate now and they have this nifty little tool called a gradient map (I don't know if photoshop does too). Sometimes I do a value study and then I color my value study using the gradient map and paint on top of it. It works really well.

I recently used this tool for a project and I used black and white traditional paintings in gouache, scanned them in and recolored them seamlessly to sepia using the gradient map tool- then I could color pick right from that and clean up the painting on another normal layer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3jRWX3HqKE

Here's a pretty good youtube video on the subject.

For what it's worth, I reckon you may be overthinking. With little things like this that don't have a whole lot of depth to begin with, you don't necessarily need to sweat over getting the perspective accurate. Just a hint of it does the trick. If you had a background to work with, then it would be more important.

Heyhey @NessIllustration

WOW - these are critical questions you've outlined! Thanks very much for raising them! Your 10% | $5000 | $500 example is really helpful!
I checked out their markets and it seems they sell their books at Barnes and Nobles, Target, ABC books, on Amazon, and similar venues - that's a HUGE reach! I feel like my art quality would do its job in selling the book, and if I am among the better of their artists, I could put myself in a valuable position for any future projects of their - a position to negotiate better terms (if necessary).
And good point on the print run size, advance payment, expected average ROI, and intended project! As you say, those will be the key factors in my decision making moving forward. If it all checks out and I end up moving forward working with them, it'll be my first major step into the publishing industry and feel it'll open up even more doors for me....
That was very helpful, thank you Ness! I'll get back to y'all as I know more! Y'all rock!

Happy Sunday and happy drawing!
Shani

Have you tried hootsuite.com? There may be a small fee associated with connecting the two apps...but I don't recall.

I decided to challenge myself this year and enter the SCBWI Narrative Art Award.

Here are the instructions:
Submit a narrative sequence based on the theme, “Be careful what you wish for.”
The submission will consist of either three or four images, without text.
Your art style and visual story must be appropriate for one of these two specific audiences/book genres (Choose one):
Full color, intended for a picture book for 4- to 7-year-olds – OR –
Black and white, intended for a middle grade book for 8- to 11-year-olds

I chose to go with the B&W MG book since that's my target audience.
I was wondering if people could give me some feedback including:

Does the story read? Can you tell what is happening? Is there anything I could do to make them stronger as artworks.

1017Narrative1Small.jpg
1017Narrative2Small.jpg
1017Narrative3Small.jpg

Successful artists don’t frame things around “not enough.” There is never enough time, not enough money, not enough confidence, not enough of whatever it is at that moment to make or do what you need to do to be a successful artist. It can stifle your creativity as an emerging artist to compare yourself to someone who is twenty years into their career, and it can stunt your growth to compare your work to someone who is just starting out. Instead of focusing on how you stack up next to someone else, invest that energy into comparing your recent work with the work you made six months ago, a year ago and five years ago. Essayacademia[dot]com

My understanding was that laser could NOT achieve archival level quality ink. Is that actually true?

@Kim-Hunter Yeah, I ended up finding it on my dashboard at the very bottom in a category called "past courses". Something about it being no longer available in the subscription? I don't know if it's a glitch/mistake or what.

See if I was advising my high school students, here’s the advice I’d give: yes being paid for your work is an awesome feeling and you should never work for “experience”…I’d also say you will do better work if you specialize and try to focus on a field you like. For instance, I don’t care how much I’d get paid (and from what I’ve seen it’d be a lot), I will most likely NEVER illustrate erotic art. Yes it’s illustration, yes it’s freelance work and paid, but because of personal beliefs it’s something I’ll never do. On a somewhat similar note I have never felt to drawing illustrations for board books for kids.

If I remember correctly based on what I’ve seen of you around the forum, you’re either in high school or just out of it, is that correct? So my advice (and others can weigh in on this), I would concentrate more on building your portfolio and doing work that excites you…that will point you in a better direction.

I absolutely agree with Will, Jake, and Lee, there are going to be times where you take anything you can get, I just worry you might be jumping too far into that in such a short time? Again, if you want to go into educational work that’s one thing, but try exploring the other markets as well!

Thank you all for the tips! I don't have a lighting setup to get those consistent shots so I ended up going with your idea @von_Nimmermehr and using the natural light solution. I then take it to Photoshop for some more pop and color balancing.

@lpetiti This was the video that I got that info from... she has a few videos that are really informative and current
https://youtu.be/8sdUDg29GCI

This was a very helpful video, I'm going to have to try some IG reels and see if I get any growth. I really like the "ask questions" part. Jake Parker had mentioned that helped his growth a bunch too in the past.

@Frost-Drive hi! I agree with the others. They look quite cosistent. Similar linework, textures, colors.

@Urvashi-S Glad it's helpful. Most "realistic" cityscapes will employ multiple different sets of Left and Right VPs. This is because typically the world doesn't exist in a simple, tidy grid.
You can always tell the cityscape drawing of someone new to perspective because everything is just a little too perfectly parallel with each other, or at 90 degrees to each other. (Hey, we've all been there!)

So, yes you could certainly use something like this.

Hello everyone! I haven't been on the forum for a while. Busy life. I've been enjoying the great work people are posting. Quick question for the group, does anyone have a good resource for clients looking for b/w spot illustration? Attached two of my recent assignments. I really enjoy the b/w work flow and want more of it. I've found the usual suspects, like the New Yorker, but not much else. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!! -T

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