critique my illustration

mrmomoart

New Member
One of my friends asked me to draw an illustration for her. She wanted me to draw her interests and her character.
What do you think about it? By the way, I used watercolor, pencils and pens.
 

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It look fine, though I wouldn't call it an illustration. It needs a bit of refinement as before, such as the butterflies/moths and the tree branch etc.
Rainbows are difficult in that style, but it needs to be a more definite curve and more indistinct - it's too strong compared to the moon, for example.

I would work on your composition too, do you do a detailed sketch first?
 
It look fine, though I wouldn't call it an illustration. It needs a bit of refinement as before, such as the butterflies/moths and the tree branch etc.
Rainbows are difficult in that style, but it needs to be a more definite curve and more indistinct - it's too strong compared to the moon, for example.

I would work on your composition too, do you do a detailed sketch first?
Yes, I sketch first to learn what to do with the elements I want to draw. Anyhow, little things might change during drawing.
I really appreciate your comments. They're so helpful. Would you talk about the composition? I tried to make a good one. Not too symmetrical, but a little bit.
And why don't you call it an illustration?
 
By composition I just mean for instance where the moon has been positioned, it seems too far left for its size and in the foreground more than other items, and where the branch is coming
out of her head. Even though it's an abstract design, some of the objects could have been better placed that's all, to me anyway. Composition is difficult to teach and
often just comes with experience. When you sketch, do it in stages. Do a very rough layout first just with shapes etc until it looks right and then do one or two more
before you do the finished piece. If you're working on tracing paper or a lightbox, try flipping the paper over and sometimes little errors stand out more.

An illustration normally refers to a commercial piece of work that is meant for print or otherwise, something that 'illustrates' a piece of text or a brief, as opposed to a drawing
or a piece of art. There is sometimes crossover of the two though.

I'm just being hyper-critical of course - it's a nice piece of work and I'm sure your friend will be pleased with it.
 
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