Hello from the Netherlands
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Hi everyone,
My name is Brendan Brink, I'm 33 years old and I want to become a fulltime illustrator, but for now it's probably gonna be part time at first while I'm starting up.
I'm not totally new to illustrating. I've been drawing since I was a kid, stopped when I was a teenager (I think because I became my own worst critic haha), and found my passion again when I was 27 when I was in college. Since then it basically became an on and off relation with me watching a lot of tutorials, drawing somewhat and stopping again because I felt like I'm not good enough to ever become a professional.
This is why I joined SVS learn today. I'm hoping to find a nice community with like-minded people, who can help me stay motivated and give feedback on my work, to keep learning and getting better, and I hope I can return the favour.
I'm really into character design, caricatures and stylized art, and I love to play board/videogames, and hopefully one day make art for either my own game or someone else's. But I also like to make art with some kind of story behind it.
Below is one of my latest pieces and I would appreciate any feedback on it because I feel like it's missing something but I can't figure out what (maybe the rendering idk
). The story behind it is that she's a pregnant fortune teller who sees in a tarot card that she's getting twins. I'm not super happy about it but I'm trying to find out where I should put details in rendering and where to leave it out.If any of you like to see more of my work you can check out my instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/brink_of_art/, and I will probably post more work on this forum in the future as well.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope to get to know you guys soon!
Cheers,
Brendan
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@Brendan-Brink Hoi
welkom. This is a great place to keep going. Super helpful and everyone in the same boat trying to get better. I'm Chantal, 37, a newbe to this, but I recognise the feeling of not being good enough so giving up. It prevented me for long to try but the desire grew to strong and svs gives so many tools to improve, it finally helped me past that hurdle and starting to create again. Your fortune teller lady does not seem too happy with her twins. Maybe you could make her expression more extreme? Maybe you can put her hand more caressing her belly. Now her arm/hand seems more draped over. Most of the attention goes to the reflection of the candle in the back since it is most saturated. Make the back more desaturated so the front pops out more. But you clearly have plenty of skills already so you can really get to the next level with SVS. Succes! -
@Chantal-Goetheer Thanks for the kind words and the feedback! About the expression, she isn't supposed to be happy with twins. She's shocked because she didn't see it before in her fortunes ( she's not the best fortune teller haha
) but maybe this isn't clear either. 
And I get what you mean about the attention going too much at the reflected light, maybe dial it down a bit, thanks!
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Welkom! I just posted 'Greetings from the Netherlands' 2 days ago haha. I guess we are in the same boat! Looked at your instagram. Nice work! I am dedicating these last 2 months of the year to character design. Even simple character give me a hard time ... Anyway nice to see another Dutch here! Hope we can help eachother out in the future
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@LittleRaven welcome to svs and forum! Wonderful community to be apart of. I really like your work thanks for sharing. Personally I’d like to see more of her environment, more tapestries, a string of bells, lights or lanterns! The upper right is a bit bare maybe she has some sort of pet she could be communicating her uncertainty too? Maybe a bird or monkey, lizard, something like that could tie it together?
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Glad to have you joining the community! For feedback on the piece I would second what @Asyas_illos said. There’s a lot of empty space that could be filled with more environmental features. I think to convey what she’s learning from the tarot cards it could help to have a more direct image like something that shows two figures on it but even then I think it’s a bit hard to piece together. Another option could be that she’s looking into the crystal ball and sees two babies. Hope this helps!
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@pisang Hello my fellow Dutchie, nice to meet you, and thanks for checking out my instagram! Yeah character design can be very though sometimes because there is so much to think about and to learn, but I love it. I actually have a hard time with environment, but I guess that's because I don't do them that often. Anyway, if you ever need feedback on your characters I will gladly give it!
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@Asyas_illos Hi and thanks for your feedback! It does feel a little bit empty doesn't it? I still have a hard time with environments to be honest. A pet is actually a great idea! I think I will go for a cat since this character is already really inspired by my sister (who's having a baby soon, not twins though haha) and she has the sweetest cat called Pluim which sort of means fluff in Dutch.
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@Griffin-McPherson Glad to be here, and thanks for the feedback! Yeah I agree it does feel empty, and I was already afraid that the story isn't clear enough because now it's only the zodiac sign for twins. Thanks for you suggestions I will look into it.
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Welcome! I also just joined (same boat as you, starting up in my 30s after taking a break from art and hoping to do this part time and gradually ease into being a working illustrator). It seems like this forum is an incredible resource/a really kind and helpful group of folks.
I like this piece a lot but I agree with the others - it just feels a bit empty- I think adding some details like lanterns, a cat, etc., will go a long way towards making it feel finished.
And congrats to your sister!
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@LittleRaven I struggle environments myself so I get it! If you do more work on this please post your progress I’d love to see more!
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@LittleRaven I love your character design! I took a peak at your Instagram.
I can really relate to your situation. I studied art in college too, but didn't come out feeling like I was prepared to work as a professional illustrator. I stopped drawing for years, and just picked it up again about 3 years ago. SVS has been the best thing that's happened to me since then! I see improvement with every video class I take. As far as critiquing your piece, I really like this character! She's very interesting to look at and imagine her story. I think you could work on her pose a little to help her seem more surprised. Her expression is pretty good, but I think body language could help push it more. Maybe having her leaning forward or a hand on her mouth/heart, etc. When I'm illustrating emotions it really helps me to imagine i'm feeling what my character is feeling and then kind of act it out, with both facial expressions, and my body. I also agree with everyone else that a few more background elements could help. Lanterns, prayer rags, beads, etc. There are SVS classes that help with environment design. I highly recommend them! They have helped me a lot. 
Looking forward to seeing more of your work on here!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirsten.mcgonigal.art/
Portfolio Site: www.kirstenmcgonigalart.com -
@allysa Hi and thanks for the feedback! Speaking about boats, I really love a saying I heard from Adam Duff ( he has some really inspirational videos on his youtube channel even though he paints horrific stuff haha).
The saying was something like: sometimes we might feel like we missed the boat and watch it go away while standing ashore, only to not notice that we're not standing alone on the shore. I often felt like this with becoming a professional illustrator and felt like it was already to late for me, but here I am noticing a lot of other people standing on the shore with me.
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@kirsten-mcg Thanks for the kind words and feedback! This forum does seem to be filled with a lot of nice people and I hope we can keep inspiring each other to keep going and follow our passion!
