Crit / advice needed on this illustration please

[Abigail Hookham]

[mollylgm]

Hey. I'm not very experienced with giving critiques, but I can share my thoughts anyway. I love the colour palette. I like how you've attempted to create depth with the tone and distances of trees. I'm a bit confused about the context though. Is she in a flooded space? or are they trees that root underwater? Maybe some more water plants at the bottom would help create a sense of depth. I'm also finding it hard to read the connection between the girl and the octopus as they are so far apart without anything clearly leading my eye from one to another.

[Abigail Hookham]

Hi,
Thanks for the compliments on the colour palette, it was something I was quite nervous about! As for the trees, I like to leave some things for the viewer to decide, though hopefully the coral and octopus indicate that the water definitely exists there normally.

As for the octopus, he was just going to be a mirror of her. Though I was concerned about his placement and colouring in relation to the whole piece, and I think it might all look stronger if I removed him from the image and left the bottom dark?

[KaraDaniel]

@Abigail-Hookham I think the colors are great!

[Jacy13]

@Abigail-Hookham Beautiful colors! I do think I prefer the bottom dark like this though. The previous version made my eyes go directly to the octopus; making it the focal point. I think it was because that was the highest area of contrast in the image. This one makes it clear that the girl is the focal point

[Griffin McPherson]

I think for depth you could darken the closer trees a bit. Another thought I just had is extending the water into the background because right now it looks like the girl is sort of contained in a cylinder of water. I think you’re right about removing the octopus, I think it distracted more than it added to the piece. I felt that the space below the girl was a bit empty and my eye kept going there because of this so I added a bit of pant stuff for a rough idea of how that could be filled. I also darkened the fish because I thought it might help tie in the the lower area of the painting with the upper area. Hope this helps, really love the look of this piece. Glad to have you join the community!

[carlianne]

okay maybe I'm just a crazy person, but it felt like she was on the edge holding on. So, crazy idea, if you want you could give it a rim and made it look like she was in and out of the water, like it was a glass?

Also, I think you can keep the octopus if you just move him off to the side.

I love the color pallete! Excited to see what you do here.

[donnamakesart]

When it comes to surreal colors, the emotion drives the palette so what do you want this piece to feel like? Then maybe we could tell you if your on the right track @Griffin ’s added leaves and darkened fishes are also good advice but it depends on your intent.

Aside from that, great illustration. I love everything about it. Can’t wait to see it finished. Please teach me sempai haha.

[Abigail Hookham]

@Griffin Thanks for your feedback and I think the fish work so much better darker, thank you for that suggestion! Also agree with the plant life at the bottom, will add that in before I paint! Thank you

[Abigail Hookham]

@carlianne Haha! You are not crazy, the water is contained in a cylindrical form. I just didn't paint it in as I honestly thought everyone was going to focus on my colours saying they were too 'out there' ! If you look closely you will see the elipse in the sketch around the top and the line of water under her nose etc. I do like your suggestion of moving the Octopus off centre but maybe feel he still is too much of an attention seeker! I'm tempted to leave him in but massively hidden by the plant life and really tone down his colour - so he is there for those who find him, but not anything that would detract from the main image. Thank you for your feedback though! I can't believe iv'e only just joined this community - this is so helpful!

[Abigail Hookham]

@donnamakesart This is a very good point, I am going for a dream-like image. Calm and stillness is the vibe. Like she is very much at peace in her surroundings whilst clearly not fitting in with the 'norm', in a bit of a magical way.

[Pamela Fraley]

@Abigail-Hookham that I gorgeous. I don’t really have anything to say except that I love it! Is it done traditionally?

[Abigail Hookham]

@Pamela-Fraley Oh thank you but this is just a super quick colour rough that I did digitally! The actual illustration is being painted traditionally! Will share progress of it - probably on this thread - when I have it to share!

[KajsaH]

I love how serene and magical this piece feels! I think in whichever direction you choose to take it, it's going to be a beautiful illustration and I love love LOVE the colours! Welcome to the forum!