My mermay

[Sara Hickman]

I think it looks really good. Maybe it seems like the shoulders are more shrugged than relaxed. But just slightly.

[Whitney Simms]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton @marine @Sara-Hickman

I kinda was going for an excited look about finding a pearl, maybe pearl earrings. So shoulders shrugged and tail curled up because she’s kinda like “eeeee”.

I may add a rock. That was the original plan, but then I was thinking, they are fish, maybe they only needed to sit on land? And the shoulders are so hard! I want them to shrug, but is it to suttle that it doesn’t look like a shrug, but just looks off? The forearm and thigh issues I will totally fiddle with in photoshop. I didn’t even thing of that. That way once I figure out what is off I can only do one last redraw. Cause I’ve erased bunches already!

Thanks for your help! I’m a little out of drawing practice. I had to do a demo today for my art student. It was good enough for a demo, she got the point, but now for it to be a real piece.

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@Whitney-Simms I’m not sure what classes are here at SVS for character drawing yet but with your style I highly recommend that you study Stephanie Corfee’s work and maybe even check out her character sketch class:

http://stephaniecorfee.com/workshops/

The issues in this illustration are small - I’m sure you’ll work them out.

Best of luck!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@Whitney-Simms And I just had a thought... for the gesture you’re going for with the shoulders would moving the elbows into the rib cage and increasing the angle on the upper arms give that reading without changing the shoulders? (I just did an imaginary squeal to see how it feels.)

[suenaumi]

@Whitney-Simms I like this One thing you could try is playing with the shape of the mouth? Your daughter's mouth is more open and elongated. and perhaps exaggerate the eyebrows?

[Whitney Simms]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton

Her work is so adorable! I love this little girl!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@Whitney-Simms Stephanie is great! I thought she might be a fit for you when I saw your work - and she’s drawing characters in a way that suits your style. I’m glad you like her.

[Whitney Simms]

And here is one more kid under the sea!

[Whitney Simms]

One more for today! Time to ink. Finished, not perfect.

[Whitney Simms]

Ink

[Whitney Simms]

Have the layout decided. Now for bubble and ocean friends to fill in the gaps

[Whitney Simms]

Here is the black and white toile. Yay! What do you think? Any glaring eye sores or gaps that are so distracting that it ruins the pattern. Any good ideas for color scheme?

[sketchbook]

I love this! The only thing that I see is with the little boy riding the turtle. The line of his bum lines up with the line of the turtle’s shell. Maybe a bit more of a bump there would help to separate the two and make things a little clearer. Really lovely work, can’t wait to see it in color!

[shinjifujioka]

Oh wow! This is such a cool pattern. I agree with @sketchbook ...the bum and the edge of the shorts lines up almost perfectly with the turtle shell.

My favorite is the mermaid with long hair in silhouette. The embellishments like the bubbles and coral fill up the spaces nicely.

[Whitney Simms]

@shinjifujioka @sketchbook ha! I didn’t even realize about the bum and the turtle shell. I’ll fix that with the color. I’ll make sure his bum is outside the line so it’s not one continuous line. That’s too funny!

Any idea what’s trending in kids clothing colors? But I’ll keep a black and white version and maybe a single color version available.

[Whitney Simms]

DONE DONE AND DONE!!!

[Chip Valecek]

@Whitney-Simms it turned out great!

[Darian]

@Whitney-Simms awesome! fun pattern

[Whitney Simms]

@Darian @Chip-Valecek thanks y’all!