I was considering this as the front of a promo postcard, but I don't have it designed yet.
Carmen's post made me think about it more. Do you guys send just a postcard first, or a sample packet with a SASE postcard to be returned to you? I will post the card once I get it done, but I would love any feedback on this image. It is colored pencil with a little photoshopping afterwards.
5 comments:
it's very cute! I love the dancing and the dog falling down dead (heh...but really it's a cute backflip!)..
There are a couple of things though - watch the tangents - like the girl with her hair pulled back has a wand (or flower) that's a little close to the swirls...and her foot is tangenting the flower. Also - if the flowers that make up the boarder don't have a particular light source - i wonder if you could rotate some of them so that way they don't all look like the same flower. Right now they all look too similar - so offsetting some would take care of that problem - and you wouldn't have an trouble if there isn't a specific light source...or you could even flip them so some flowers are backwards...but do something to break up the sameness of the flower.
Other than that, I think it's terribly cute. It'd be nice, when you finish the postcard - that you have another related picture on the backside...
So far I've only sent out two postcards myself. I was working up a 3rd one, and got sidetracked...and now I have many images I want to use for a postcard, but no time to do so...
It depends on who you talk to - some people say you can get away with just sending out postcards and that'll be fine - and by your 4th or 5th (sometimes even up to 7th) card you might start expecting a response. There's a british children's book Illustrator - Lynn Chapman - who told me that you should send out a mailer and then follow it up with a phone call or make an appointment. Because just mailing isn't enough. By getting in there and getting some face time, you'll stand a better chance of booking a job. Otherwise, you're just another faceless mailer like all the hundreds of other faceless mailers...
Love the movement, the colors are fantastic, and it just feels very complete! And I agree, terribly adorable! That dog made me chuckle. :)
I too agree about the swirl tangent and the flowers. At first the flowers didn't bother me until I read Isaac's comment. I then looked closer and saw what he meant. Take an odd number of flowers to rotate or flip too. That will help with the flow.
One of my concerns was the title. It took me a while to read it as "be happy: it's contagious". I only knew "it" because of "contagious". I'd make the "t" in both words a bit more like a "t" with the crossing line maybe a bit longer? I actually read it as "be happy: il's contagious". :P
Can't get over the colors, so soft and darling! I think this would be a great mailer. I haven't done anything but one postcard (I know I'm bad). So I can't help you there. Except to say that some publishers just want a postcard, others want mailers. I read in the "Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market" book that you should follow what the publisher wants.
I, too, have only sent one mailer...bad, bad, illustrator. I sent a front and back sample in an envelope (with cover letter) and got one positive response out of 60. Need to get more out...soon. I think this one will do nicely for you. It has some wonderful elements to draw the eye.
I love the movement of the flipping dog. His back makes such a nice line and makes the movement really pop! There are so many fun things in here to look at too...from tiny flowers, curly lines, etc. I also like how you made the right girl's dress translucent. Nice touch!
I agree about the "t." It's one of the first things I noticed. I also like the suggestion about varying the flowers a tad bit.
All in all, I like this illustration. The black and orange really contrast nicely with one another! Your subtle blending of the background is also wonderfully achieved!
Thanks guys...I will rotate some flowers and fix the tangents...I was considering making the words some actual typed font instead of my handwriting, so I will fix that too. :) Thanks again.
I love your choice of colors here. I think the black and white stripes work wonderfully. I would consider adding maybe some shadows to help make things pop out a bit and give the illusion of things like the dog being closer to the viewer. I would also try to reduce the size of the text so that is confined with the border. There is great movement in this piece and it looks very cute.
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