@Melissa-Bailey-0 Thank you so much for all this incredible information. It all seems so overwhelming right now but it’s been a dream of mine so I’ll work one step at a time. I’m sure I’ll be posting more questions as I go.

Hi Chris, Great job for taking the plunge and posting your artwork for critique. That's a big step forward. It's natural to compare yourself with others. But you're right that it's not really helpful. I would study close-ups of Will Terry's work and try and fail to work out how he did it. Do you have a copy of his new book? I was just studying his picture of the zombie and his subtle use of texture is amazing. It would make me envious, but I've learnt to consciously force myself to take it as inspiration, rather than comparison. I really like your artwork, composition design and line work. I think a lot of our peers have said good things to you already. My only input is to work on improving your use of light and shadow, and depth of field. So a bit more contrast between your lights and darks. And remember that hills and buildings on the horizon shouldn't be sharply in focus. I think Will, Jake and Lee were talking about that in one of the recent 3 Point Perspectives. Keep it up pro!

@carlianne Thank you! I feel like there is so much to learn and expand over. I'm currently trying to relook at my artwork and work on stuff missing out from my pieces and these pointers are very insightful and helpful.

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum. Anyone joining folktale week? This is my first time, I loved the prompts!!! I wanted to explore this year's prompts with a little twist of my own. This piece is inspired by the classic tale of Knight and Dragon with a little twist of my own. Instagram : @navyaraju.illustration

@Georgios-Christopoulos I really enjoy this! Looks like its going to be a wonderful composition cant wait to see how it turns out

Thank you so much @Coley & @Mary-Toth

@gavpartridge that's why I referenced the rugrats episode where they basically have an intervention for the 3 yr old girl who's addicted to cookies to this day I've never seen a better kids version of addiction and how well executed it was.

Hi all! I’m brand new to SVS and am struggling to illustrate a few children’s books that have been on my To Do list for years. The task seems very daunting and I feel I am lacking in skills. What advice would you give? Perhaps a mentor or coach to help me along this arduous and exciting journey????

Thanks everyone for the input and help! Moved forward with the author today, really appreciate all the advice!

@Juli Yes, you're right, we don't always see these things even though sometimes we've looked at something a lot - a fresh pair of eyes is always good!

@Georgios-Christopoulos Ah sorry I misunderstood your question! I agree with @TessaW, I think this style could work well for a mid-grade children's book (approx 8-12 years) but maybe not for younger kids. Depends what market you are aiming at really. I'm absolutely no children's book expert btw but I do work with children and as a result see lots of children's books.

@Chip-Valecek Thanks so much for the words my friend!! I hope my creations will one day reach your kids

@Stefan-Hohls Welcome to the forums. Yes please share your work, we are all here to help each other out.

@demotlj Thank you for the feedback! I've changed Lucy's face, not only in terms of shadows and cheeks, but also the eyes, which I've decided would look better if they were closed. I think it's a lot better like this now. Thank you all for the feedback! It helped me understand some notions about shadows, focus of the illustration and illustrating the faces better

Decided to try a comic page this time, too!

@CatOnPaper Sorry, I did not mean to make it sound scary. As an illustrator, once your illustrations are approved and handed over, both your job and responsibilities are complete to my knowledge (I am new to illustration). As a graphic designer though, you are responsible for making sure not only that the page layout is done correctly, but also that everything is at the proper resolution and in the right colour format. When you are working one on one with a client, you are often responsible for prepress prep as well. If something is missed by you or the printer, and there are mistakes in the final books, you could be responsible for that. As a graphic designer you would always have your client approve the final design and sign off on it, but if you make a technical mistake that’s on you. It’s just more involved that’s all.

@Ionut-Marian I'm pretty sure this is her instagram account here: https://www.instagram.com/irinageorgescudraws/?hl=en He work is so beautiful, thanks for the follow up comment so that I could find it.

Hi! I am in love with the designs of your mushroom people - I think the idea of putting their face at the very base of the shroom with these big floppy heads/foreheads is adorable and funny and something I haven't seen before. My critique is in a place where I'm just starting to learn from - but it looks like with your comp that you could benefit from finding the big shapes forms and doing value on those. Your woman has a lot of different values in her which makes it hard for her to stand out - but maybe if her value and the cat and the mushroom people can all be of a lighter value, where the whole middle ground is the darkness of that grass. This would allow her to pop out more and be the true focus.

I finished my first children's book! It was an interesting journey to say the least, but there is an immense feeling of accomplishment when you finish a book. I finished Cacti Octopi a few months ago, and after a little internal debate I decided to put it online for FREE. Here is the link to my new website: https://www.tylerjhallstrom.com/ I would greatly apprecaite any feedback, comments, shares, thoughts, or general encouragement as far as this project goes. Thanks for you time everyone! P.s. - I also have a webcomic that I update every Friday (aka today). There are 30+ pages also available now! I'll be making a separate post for this later. Tyler

I have been creating this story for some time now and I wanted to share some images with you all. Although the name has changed several times, I am almost there!!