Could I get a Critique?
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@MelissaJacie Thanks so much for taking the time to do these detailed and thorough critiques! I found them so helpful, and I think they will really help me with my final revisions and as I do more value and color. I'm trying to make a nice series for my portfolio, so I'm more than willing to put in the work to get good pieces!
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Thanks so much for your help so far everyone! I'll post updated pics as I work through the rest of revisions and adding color.
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Just a quick color study of the picture above. Color coming soon!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirsten.mcgonigal.art/
Portfolio Site: www.kirstenmcgonigalart.com -
@kirsten-mcg I think it could help if you turned the kids body more girds the camera so we can see more of the back leg. It would help to clarify the form. Other than that this is looking great! You’ve added a ton more visual interest and context. The story is much stronger now.
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Here are the final pieces I painted in color. There are things I would change about all of them, but I learned so much from this project! I'm hoping to be able to take everything I learned and level up my next attempt at an interior illustration. Thanks so much for all of your help with this! If you have any final critiques to help as I continue this learning process, feel free to share.
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@kirsten-mcg These look gorgeous and full of energy! I would say that the second illustration is the strongest as the lighting and values help the viewer distinguish between foreground, middleground and background the best.
I still think it would be worth seeing how to further bring out your characters in the rendering. Especially in the first and third drawings, since the backgrounds are so colorful, and the values are similar to the characters, they kind of steal the spotlight away, so I think you need to improve on the contrast there. Even for the second piece I'd like to see the characters accentuated even more although the large foreground objects already help in this case.
TLDR do a value check and increase your contrast to help the main characters stand out. Other than that, great work!
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@JQ Thanks so much! I see what you mean about continuing to push the value to help the characters stand out more. I tend to have a hard time with values once I transition to color, so that's something I'll continue to work on.
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@kirsten-mcg These look great! It was mentioned earlier, but I'd like to see more emphasis put on the moment the cat is getting its tail stepped on. It still isn't clear to me. It reads more like both of the characters are reacting to something surprising offscreen. Maybe exaggerate the bend, use old school cartoon excitement lines, or give the cat a more over-the-top reaction with the fulcrum of the reaction being the tail bend. I almost didn't mention this but the illustrations are so beautifully done it seems a shame for the story not to read as well as it could. Beautiful work!
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My favorite is the spot illustration. It’s story is clear and it could work well as a stand alone piece. As it’s been said, the backgrounds are quite loud and almost work against you. Can I ask if you’re working traditionally or digitally? This can be an easy fix with digital. Lightening the backgrounds and darkening things in the foreground even more. On a different note the second image to me, causes a bit of anxiety with all the dangerous items around the kitchen. The pan on the edge of the stove, the knife on the counter and the heavy pots hanging over head. Meanwhile the kid dashing through, it just makes this one a little unsettling. That being said they are beautifully done the compositions, concept and story have been nicely rendered. I did a couple draw overs for you I hope you don’t mind. The second I cropped out a little of your beautiful kitchen to focus more on the characters.
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@Asyas_illos Thanks so much for your input! I'm working traditionally, but I'm not against finishing them digitally. I already did some value and color adjustments in Procreate. I really like how you cropped the 2nd image. I might go back in later and play around with them some more. Right now I'm a little sick of looking at them!
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@Jeremiahbrown Thanks so much for your thoughts! This series has definitely been a huge learning opportunity for me. I'm hoping to be able to use everything I've learned, and the feed back I've gotten to do another series soon. I think part of what I struggled with on this was that my concept wasn't super well thought out and planned. Hoping to fix that next time!
