Storybook Public Library

A few thoughts on self-promotional pieces here. I've found that if I'm not careful, I tend to fall into the same routines when creating self-assigned pieces to add to my illustration portfolio. A lot of the stuff in my sketchbook tends to feature one (or two) characters in an outdoor environment, either standing still or walking from side to side, maybe smiling out at the viewer. That's fun and easy to draw, but it doesn't exactly show off the full range of my abilities. When I started working on this drawing, I knew I wanted to create something really good, something with as much specificity and attention to detail as if it were a published illustration assigned by an art director. My girlfriend--who's heard me complain about this problem before--challenged me to place the characters in a defined interior space and to make sure I showed them interacting with each other, displaying a range of actions and emotions. Anyway, you can see what I came up with below. I think it turned out pretty okay!