Illustration Friday: Unfold

Saying goodbye to an old friend, however bittersweet, also leads to the unfolding of new adventures. What kind of future awaits this boy, his teacher, and (of course) the hamster? That unknown can be scary, but I always feel a bit of excitement in these situations. 

I created this for Watercolor Wednesdays wanting to use scrap paper and a quick sketch. I like how it turned out, but the colors didn't scan in as nicely as the original. Reds, for some reason, come out flaming hot while the more subtle colors tend to fade. Oh well. My favorite part of the illo is her skirt. And the hamster (although you can't see it very well). 

By the way, an editor from Brown Books emailed me a couple weeks ago after having found one of my portfolios on the web (coroflot). She likes my stuff and asked if I'd like to be a freelance illustrator for their company. I realize that she may never actually call with an assignment for me, but just the thought that an editor from an established publishing company likes my work gave me the boost I needed. I don't think I could ever quit illustrating (it's way too much fun), but it is easy to feel discouraged and to wonder if I really have what it takes.  

Sketch

Here's my latest sketch (though I am working on others). Once again, this fun idea is inspired by my very creative husband. What would I do without him?

Old Stuff

I was just organizing all my files and came across these I did before I started doing children's illustration. I really enjoy using black and white and pencil since it forces me to create value in ways that I don't always achieve with color. Can you tell I love to do babies and little kids?

I finished it

Here's the final product. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Let me know what you think. Would you do anything different?

stories for children magazine sketch

Here's my sketch for the June issue for Stories for Children magazine, titled The Ant and the Soccer ball. I have to say, it's been lots of fun doing insects. It's a little challenging trying to be creative, but once I get an idea, it's fun. Let me know if you see anything wrong or that could be done better.

Thanks!

Thank you, everyone who commented to my last post. You all echoed things I felt. Just looking at the last two illo's made me cringe whenever I looked at either of them, all for the reasons you gave. Your comments pushed me to try again, and I'm much happier with the results. There are still a few things I'd like to change, but overall I'm much more pleased with the way this one finally turned out. Thanks again for your help! I hope you like the changes, too.

Which one do you prefer?

My husband helps me so much with my illustrations, always encouraging me to do better than I think I can. He's always liked the characters in this illo, but he also pointed out some things that needed help. Since I like this illo myself, I decided to redo it. There are a lot of things I like better, but some things didn't turn out quite as well (in my opinion) as they did originally. Out of curiosity, which do you prefer? And after you've done that, take a close look to see how many differences you can find.