Kids...

[smceccarelli]

Kid No 13 underway. I am trying hard to navigate the fuzzy line between unfinished and overrendered...and the only result is that I sink in a sea of doubts. But I know the secret treasure is somewhere on the other shore! I think this needs a little bit more polishing and finishing...but not too much....any thoughts or floating helps?

[smceccarelli]

Kids no 13, 14 and 15. I think working in small series of related characters is turning out to be a very good learning exercise. Ideally I would like to make a full bleed illustration at the end of each series, but time is often a problem. Now I am starting on some Halloween-related images.

[Dulcie]

@smceccarelli Beautiful work...those feathers on the most recent one look so real! Really soft and fluffy...love the idea of the little girl nestled in the horse chestnut casing too, it's unconventional but looks very comfy!

[smceccarelli]

16 and 17 - getting Halloween-y

[mattramsey]

@smceccarelli these are beautiful

[Rebecca Hirsch]

@smceccarelli This last one should be in your portfolio, no question. Absolutely gorgeous work, and fun!

[natiwata]

@smceccarelli I haven't been on the forums for a couple weeks, so much good stuff on your thread! What a wonderful display of both your strong drawing and painting skills! It's a great reminder that a good painting/illustration begins with a solid drawing. This one of the pumpkin head is so fun, what a great sequence. Very inspiring!!!

[Rich Green]

@smceccarelli All of your kids are amazing - but I really love the sequence of the little pumpkin head chasing the bat. It is so fantastic!

[smceccarelli]

The last two Halloween Kids (18 and 19) and a new one I did yesterday (no 20), where I wanted to try out digital pastels - which I am liking a lot, and will probably go through a series of these "November fairies" with digital pastel - reconnecting with my second favorite traditional medium...

[Lydia M]

Ohhhhh I love the girl with flowers on her head! Did you ever finish the swimming pool kids?

[amberwingart]

@smceccarelli Omg these are my favorites so far!

[amberwingart]

@smceccarelli You're a master of character design - I love the girl with the flowers in her hair too! And the witchy girls!

[smceccarelli]

@Lydia-M Unfortunately not - I have a pile of drawings that need re-working and/or just need to be brought to paint, or paintings that need to be re-done, and it sits there in good company....;-)

[smceccarelli]

@amberwingart Thank you! So far this experiment is doing exactly what I hoped for - I am learning a lot, eperimenting with different rendering styles and getting a couple of vignettes as well as a couple of children for my portfolio (both were missing so far). What I am not managing that well is to also work on some full illustrations featuring children. I had hoped to do one every five or so, but the time commitment is too big.
Thank you for your compliment :-)) I am not a master of character design, but I enjoy doing that so much that my portfolio is skewed and I see this as a potential issue. I definitely need to do more full illustrations and less character work This project is like an escape valve where I can keep doing characters while I try to work on more substantial things....

[amberwingart]

@smceccarelli It's such a catch-22...on the one hand we want more time to practice, but that means we don't have any paying gigs, upcoming shows, etc., which we also don't want! Lol

[Doha]

They are all amazing!

[Mara]

@smceccarelli Beautiful!!!

[lmrush]

Beautiful work!

[Matt Baldwin]

Just terrific work! It is so inspiring to see the variety of characters here!

[smceccarelli]

I'll just keep posting here every now and then! Another November fairy, a random farmer boy and three that are scheduled for the days coming up to Christmas (one already published). This brings them to the nice number of 25 - so I thought it is now time to spend a few words about the project on my blog - I will do that probably in the new year, when I have time to write.