Hello,

This is my entry!
Hope to participate more soon.
Thank you for organizing this.

Hello all,

I am new here…This is my first post! I am so nervous!

As a brief intro, I am a cancer and immunology researcher turned into a children’s books illustrator. So far, I have done two books comissioned by a scientific research center.

I love vintage illustrations, colours and collage.

I feel lonely in this adventure of finding my style, learning and growing. All my friends are scientists! In my quest to go out of my shell, I found this community. THANK YOU! I am grateful for that.

I also joined the SCBWI, and decided to join their Winter Conference to connect to other illustrators, artists, art directors…etc

I would like to submit 3 pieces to their Portfolio showcase, and I will be extremely grateful if you could help me to choose them. I am at this stage where I feel nothing is good…Sometimes it happens (but I think it is because we are growing the most!).

These are my pieces: (THANK you in advance, I really appreciate it):

Congratulations @xin-li !!! Your storytelling and atmosphere is lovely. I look forward seeing what you do next!

Hello Nyrryl,
I really like the compo. The pers looks spot on and it seems a great point of view from inside a shop.
I know it's not finished, and I am not an expert, but in my humble opinion, maybe it will be nice to have a spot light into the cake that the girl is looking (at the moment, it is in the big cakes on the left, right?). It will also help to make the two cakes on the right darker, so you have foreground, middg and background. I would also test different values for her shirt, when you have more light to the little cake she is looking, so you really make that area of your compo your focal point.
Lastly,we do not know where the girl is, what about including a bit of a street and some bins and a tree? Just shadows, low contrast, but something that will make a transition with your second image? Just an idea.

It is almost there! Nice work.
I am also preparing for this contest, but I am unsure if I will finish it on time...Too much to do!

Bon courage!

Thank you so much @Tiffany-Thomas ! I am grateful you took the time to look at them and provide me with your thoughts.

It is funny that you mention #18. This one is a memory of me and my sister in summer when we were kids. It really came from my heart, and from this feeling of missing her this year (it will be more than year now...)

Thanks for being part of this adventure! I am glad to share this learning journey with you guys. Cheers!

Dear @KaraDaniel Unfortunately, this year there is not much info on what they want. It seems that they look for interesting "style and voices"... which is really wide. I guess that it is why I was so confused and looked for some advice here. I still do not have the experience to assess my work eficiently.

Hello @Melissa-Bailey-0 I I hope to grow this year in compositions,backgrounds, color and narratives, I feel I am still weak on those. SVS courses are helping me a lot!! I am grateful you looked at my work and provided me with your thoughts.

If I can assist with something, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Hello Lauren, I really love the "smoky ambiance". Really feels like a jazz club!

I am not sure, but in my humble opinion, maybe the head is a bit of the small side? I would test how it looks a bit bigger. Or her legs are too long....Not sure. I would play a bit there. I am not an expert.

Her mic is almost tangent with her shoulder top, having it a bit up will make a clearer silouette.

Lastly, it is really intriging the fact that she is looking outside the frame, but I am not certain on what she is doing. Is she just being sassy? trying to seduce someone? Just happy singing? Just finished signing? Now she is looking... but she has a mic and I am not certain about the story behind.

Those are just some thoughts...please feel free not to take them

I just read about your arm. I am glad you got better now!!

Bon courage!

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Hello! A for me too! It is the kind of lighting I had in mind. Bon courage!

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Loved the story twist! Good luck!!!!

Congratulations @xin-li !!! Your storytelling and atmosphere is lovely. I look forward seeing what you do next!

Thank you so much @Tiffany-Thomas ! I am grateful you took the time to look at them and provide me with your thoughts.

It is funny that you mention #18. This one is a memory of me and my sister in summer when we were kids. It really came from my heart, and from this feeling of missing her this year (it will be more than year now...)

Thanks for being part of this adventure! I am glad to share this learning journey with you guys. Cheers!

Dear @KaraDaniel Unfortunately, this year there is not much info on what they want. It seems that they look for interesting "style and voices"... which is really wide. I guess that it is why I was so confused and looked for some advice here. I still do not have the experience to assess my work eficiently.

Hello @Melissa-Bailey-0 I I hope to grow this year in compositions,backgrounds, color and narratives, I feel I am still weak on those. SVS courses are helping me a lot!! I am grateful you looked at my work and provided me with your thoughts.

If I can assist with something, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Hello all,

I am new here…This is my first post! I am so nervous!

As a brief intro, I am a cancer and immunology researcher turned into a children’s books illustrator. So far, I have done two books comissioned by a scientific research center.

I love vintage illustrations, colours and collage.

I feel lonely in this adventure of finding my style, learning and growing. All my friends are scientists! In my quest to go out of my shell, I found this community. THANK YOU! I am grateful for that.

I also joined the SCBWI, and decided to join their Winter Conference to connect to other illustrators, artists, art directors…etc

I would like to submit 3 pieces to their Portfolio showcase, and I will be extremely grateful if you could help me to choose them. I am at this stage where I feel nothing is good…Sometimes it happens (but I think it is because we are growing the most!).

These are my pieces: (THANK you in advance, I really appreciate it):

@xin-li Hello! This is a very interesting topic! I very much loved the discussion. I am also constantly thinking about how value and colours play a role in the composition to convey emotions.

Do you know the book "The Visual Story" by Bruce Block?

Chapter 6 is all about colour. I found it fantastic. He talks about exention and interaction of colour. There are some suggested movies to watch at the end. Also, the whole book is great to revise how the different visual elements help to convey different emotions in sequential art (as you said, for example how we use space: using deep space in tense moments... and keeping flat space for the rest... etc).

I also enjoyed a lot "Color" by Betty Edwards. She has exercises on color interactions and emotions.

I am still going through them, but so far they are quite interesting!

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Loved the story twist! Good luck!!!!

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Hello! A for me too! It is the kind of lighting I had in mind. Bon courage!

@Lee-White I really like the idea of a short mentorship as @NessIllustration said... something we could do in between projects.

What about having Mentorships in small groups? Something like 5 people? That way we could have a group zoom meeting, also we could have some "illustration pals" to grow in a common direction.

I can see some benefits of it:

• less intimidating both for the student and the mentor
• students could grow together, share their views
• reduced costs. Every time I took some art courses in person, I learnt a lot by seeing the critiques of the teacher to other students.
• have a feeling of community and that you are not alone

On the other hand.... I am not sure how to make the groups. It should come a bit naturally, right? Like on how you make friends in your classroom. What about people having a focus on the same thing? Like children's books, or editorial? Or people that like a bit the same style of art? Like stylized graphic drawings, realistic, painterly....etc? Not really sure. How this could be done? Students team up spontainly?

By the way, I am totally new here, but your podcast is soooooo good. You bright my mornings!

Cheers

Hello Lauren, I really love the "smoky ambiance". Really feels like a jazz club!

I am not sure, but in my humble opinion, maybe the head is a bit of the small side? I would test how it looks a bit bigger. Or her legs are too long....Not sure. I would play a bit there. I am not an expert.

Her mic is almost tangent with her shoulder top, having it a bit up will make a clearer silouette.

Lastly, it is really intriging the fact that she is looking outside the frame, but I am not certain on what she is doing. Is she just being sassy? trying to seduce someone? Just happy singing? Just finished signing? Now she is looking... but she has a mic and I am not certain about the story behind.

Those are just some thoughts...please feel free not to take them

I just read about your arm. I am glad you got better now!!

Bon courage!

Hello Nyrryl,
I really like the compo. The pers looks spot on and it seems a great point of view from inside a shop.
I know it's not finished, and I am not an expert, but in my humble opinion, maybe it will be nice to have a spot light into the cake that the girl is looking (at the moment, it is in the big cakes on the left, right?). It will also help to make the two cakes on the right darker, so you have foreground, middg and background. I would also test different values for her shirt, when you have more light to the little cake she is looking, so you really make that area of your compo your focal point.
Lastly,we do not know where the girl is, what about including a bit of a street and some bins and a tree? Just shadows, low contrast, but something that will make a transition with your second image? Just an idea.

It is almost there! Nice work.
I am also preparing for this contest, but I am unsure if I will finish it on time...Too much to do!

Bon courage!

Hello,

This is my entry!
Hope to participate more soon.
Thank you for organizing this.