AUGUST CONTEST: It's the first day of school for Albert!

[LisaF]

Hey all! Sorry for the belated prompt! We are gonna wrap up the Albert prompts with one that is sure to test your skills

Since school is starting up again, the prompt for August is to draw a full page illustration of Albert on his first day of school ️

Albert was a wild animal that is now living with a family, so how does he feel about going to school? Is he excited? Nervous? Eager? Fearful? Has he ever even been to school?

Just to clarify: don't worry if you haven't submitted in the previous Albert contests, you can still do this prompt! Just treat it as if it's a stand alone prompt.

So for example, if you haven’t already designed an Albert character, just come up with one to use in your full page illustration. And by the same token, if you already designed an Albert character, but would like to change it, go right ahead!

Be sure to upload your entry on the Critique Arena website to officially enter the contest, but post here too so we can all see and comment on your awesome work! As always, please keep this thread for final images only

Good luck everyone!!

[lizardillo]

Can he wear more than the one item of clothing? Or do we have to stick to one item like on the first prompt?

[Katherine]

Does "Full page illustration" mean 1 single page or can it be a double page spread?

[LisaF]

@Katherine Per the judges, it can be either a single page or double

[LisaF]

@lizardillo You don't have to stick to one item. He can wear whatever he wants!

[KevinTreaccar]

@LisaF Sounds like a very unruly school. My Albert might need to transfer…

[jdeebella]

It sound exciting! I will do my best and give it a try even if I don’t have seen this prompt earlier because of my crazy busy life so far.

[jdeebella]

Hi, here is mine, I know isn’t the perfect drawing styles I saw here in the groups, but I did it anyway

[chrisaakins]

I think it’s done:

[KevinTreaccar]

Good luck, everyone!

[LisaF]

@Kevin-Treaccar I hear it's a zoo in there

[KevinTreaccar]

This post is deleted!

[KevinTreaccar]

@LisaF Sure, if you go to the zoo for a fun display of educational content, controlled chaos, loud noises and the possibility of someone taking a bite out of you.

[Julia Hegetusch]

Hello everyone. Here is my piece for the month. As always eager to see what all comes in on exiting images. Although it seems a bit quiet over the summer holidays

[Julia Hegetusch]

Hi, did a second version wich is a bit lighter and has slighly cooler colours. Which one do you think I should submit ? Thanks for the help

[RachelArmington]

@Kevin-Treaccar I like the angle, with Albert looking up at the intimidating building. My first thought was that Albert was daunted by a school that is clearly going to be more challenging than a regular, non-Einsteinian elementary school. I was thinking that the sky could be less happy blue...then I realized that I was transferring my own feelings about my first days onto your illustration. In other words, I'm not sure what you are trying to convey about Albert's feelings. It's challenging because we can't see his expression.

If Albert's feelings about the first day were anything like mine used to be, the sky would be darkened and and streaked with blood-red clouds, the eye-windows would look more scary, probably the door would have huge pointy teeth, and there would be four horsemen on the horizon. And he would be wearing a thick long-sleeved shirt to protect himself from the pinches and punches of bullies.

Probably not what you are going for, but you get my drift.

I guess my question/s is/are: How does Albert feel about the first day? It's fine if we can't read his expression, but is there a way you can play around to make his surroundings reflect his feelings?

[RachelArmington]

@Moana-Maureen My eye likes red, so I kinda prefer the color of the first...however, the neat thing is that only in the cooler version did I notice the adorable little creature with the yarn trap. So cute! So I think the cooler version is better.

Your handling of the lighting (in both versions!) in this is tremendous. Wonderful as it is, the lighting on the blackboard area competes a bit with what it going on in the foreground. How would you feel about pushing that area back/greying it down a bit, to make the triangle between adorable creature, newcomer and skeleton read better...I did a quick drawover to show what I mean.
.

Also, the sunlight by the adorable creature's feet confused me a bit...shouldn't it extend over to the skeleton's feet?

Love the story this tells and how you handled it!

[Melissa_Bailey]

@Moana-Maureen so cute! The cooler version would be my vote because it helps the warmer tones of your main character stand out more.

The dark shadows being lightened a bit also helps. While they're very dramatic, the darkness hampers the readability for me and I wonder why it is so dark in the classroom (of course, this is just my reaction to it).

But overall, very cute piece, and an adorable Albert!

[Julia Hegetusch]

@RachelArmington Hey, thankyou so much for pointing those things out. Ill make those changes bevore submitting. I totally agree with what you are saying

[Julia Hegetusch]

@Melissa-Bailey-0 Yeah, i feel like it is still a bit to dark too . Also the image always changes once out of photoshop. It feels darker. I will lighten it up some more. I guess I should use an extra thread next time