In Lieu of Critique Arena...

skeletortoise

@Katherine I’m really enjoying the style of this piece! The first thing that comes to mind for me is it’s a bit hard to read the story and what’s going on. AjugaBee’s critique of the different planes might be part of that, but maybe there are other elements that could be added/expanded that would help inform some of the details, such as

What are the tickets for? Is there an amusement park back there? Something else?
I assume she’s dreaming, but is there some way her bed has traveled that could be shown? Maybe it’s on wheels or has just landed after flying through the air? Or maybe she’s just teleported, in which case, it just being there make sense. (Kinda just brainstorming here.)

On a more technical note:

How does the ground she’s on connect to the stairs? They look a little disconnected to me, almost like the stairs are floating.

These are the things that immediately come to mind for me. I think it’s tough in a whimsical fantastical story to make things simultaneously make sense and make no sense at the same time. But I think the style lends itself to the subject matter and I’m really liking all the line work and color you’ve chosen.

AngelinaKizz

@Katherine can anyone enter the newc contest? Or do you have to be a member?

geekinm

There is a new Picturehooks competition this month. It is a character type challenge two drawings of the same character quiet then loud. https://www.picturehooks.org.uk/new-picture-hooks-competition-with-a-twist/

Katherine

@LauraA Thanks Laura, I've always resisted becoming a member of SCBWI but maybe it's time!

Katherine

@AjugaBee Thanks Annalise, I can really see that! I'll have another play with the values and colour study

Katherine

@skeletortoise Thank you for your feedback — I deliberately didn't describe the concept to see if people would get it The concept is that the characters in Dreamland are waiting for the little girl to go to sleep but she's staying up late reading a book. I can see why the "Tickets" might be confusing because that's a hold-over from the original concept, which I changed mid-way through to this one. I decided to keep it for flavour anyway though because in this illustration Dreamland is essentially a carnival.

Yeah the stairs, I was trying to be minimalist with the architecture but I don't know how to pull that off it seems Will try something else!

Katherine

@AngelinaKizz I don't think you have to be a member but I've only seen that one page on their website, which doesn't have much information.

Katherine

@geekinm Thank you! I'll add this one to my list

LauraA

@geekinm Picture Hooks! That's the one I was trying to think of! Thanks!

skeletortoise

@Katherine I love that concept!

Maybe having the girl still in her room below and the Dreamland characters are looking down at her? Possibly have her in the foreground and they are visible above her with an up-angle shot? I hope that makes sense haha. Just ideas for ways to make it read easier on first viewing.

I think the ticket booth is totally cool as long as the primary concept reads though. Maybe even have the characters closer to her, looking at her pointedly? Just brainstorming.

Looking forward to seeing more from you; this style is so fun!