@Ryan-Ehr I think you should submit this to the post where they pick a student piece of the Month. I love this piece and expected it would be picked for the top 16 in the contest. Maybe they'll pick it there.

Hello everyone! Chose to step back for a while from the social media to prepare for this year's Inktober. Not to mention my weekend trip to Michigan was more important. Amazing experience! I am back with a vivid creative account. Today, I would wish everyone the best of the best. Do your creative thing without let opposing viewpoints to oppress your personal choices. Yes, I know already how many will ask the same questions that have been asked over the past weeks "Have you seen xxx video?" and "Did you know Jake trademarked Inktober before?". Screw them. Jake is Jake. If you know him, show him some respect, if no, let him be, and they should solve as mature adults the problem. So, let's do it, INKTOBER 2020!

@Lucky-Platt Haha, no worries. Thank you!

@LisaF awesome, thank you!!!

@carlianne Thank you!

@Daria-Khil https://forum.svslearn.com/topic/7589/our-svs-virtual-studio-june-2019/89 Now we make a new thread every month -now that this thread is so popular.

I know it's over, but I wanted to complete my process by posting here.

Little Tiger's colouring book arrived just before Christmas. It's a neat little book. 103 pages.

@jon-anderson also new Part 2 thread here https://forum.svslearn.com/topic/6522/svs-does-inktober-part-2-days-11-20/49

@will-terry We as a community of SVS can't thank you guys enough for all you do for us!

A Beautiful Book, for a Beautiful Being

Ok, I made a new post with all the entries from this month. YOU are the judge this month. Head on over there and VOTE! http://forum.svslearn.com/topic/6361/judging-for-august-contest-music-pick-your-fav/76

@jonathan-klein Yeah. I did a few comp sketches from the photos but not satisfied yet. The idea was for a challenge that I missed the deadline on but may finish it anyway.

@Chip-Valecek Ah okay, i'm glad I didn't miss it then, thank you!

The September Virtual studio is up.

I haven't been able to enter a contest for some time here, but a few thoughts from me: any art contest that's run for free on the personal time of the judge is a good contest. Whenever we enter, we of course all hope we'll win or place, and quite naturally. When I started entering contests, I would get crushed much more easily - it's hard to put your work out there and face rejection repeatedly. I had to switch my mindset. Entering contests, for me, becomes less about competing with the other entrants (though it's a part of it), and more about competing with myself. Did I hit the concept? Did I submit a clean entry I didn't rush on? Am I proud of what I put out there? Is it better then what I did last time? Did I learn something from it and can I grow from there? Competition in this business is stiff, and any work we do to push ourselves to grow, to try something we hadn't before, can't fail to help us in the long run. So let's have fun and take some chances, worry less about the outcome and more about figuring out our process. Congratulations to all entrants for putting yourselves out there. Thanks Lee, and happy creating.

I went and changed quite a bit because I felt the light value of the bushes in the background and the lady's dress were competing with the focal point - the glowing heads. I removed the bushes entirely because I felt they were making it hard to focus on the characters. [Notes to self] Weak points to work on in subsequent pieces: Drapery - Struggled to draw and paint it Evening light - I don't know what colours to use Rendering style - How much texture do I really want in my work, and what kinds of strokes do I want to see in my work? Revisit dream portfolio. Final:

@neschof that is the best kind of feedback, when someone understands the "feel" you are trying to go for Thank you so much for your kind words.