Take A Look Sunday – Yorgos Sgouros

LOOKING FOR ILLUSTRATIONS AND POEMS TO HELP CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING & CHRISTMAS
Everyone enjoyed the special Halloween post so much that I would like to do the same for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Please email your poems and Illustrations to Kathy.temean (at) gmail.com and put Thanksgiving Special or Christmas Special in the subject area.

CHRIS: 

This story and treatment looks rather fun visually. The first piece (blue sky) is very nice and I like the way the warm runners pop from the purpled people on the road (a curb line/interest might have been nice here.)  and then the in between police officer and car are good additions.  I’m assuming this is a non-fiction story maybe, and this style is charming for that….more modern.  I note that they seem to be running slowly however…almost leaning backwards…would that be appropriate to the story/race?

The second image is problematic.  The foreground is just fine with the winner and the near people and nice touch of the police on the horse (which looks a little rubbery?)  But then the size and perspective gets askew from that point back.  The judge with wreath is VERY small/short and those behind him are as well. Those in the far back are fine except against the size of the car just across the street from them?  Then they are much to small.  Even the people on that right side of the street are all too small compared to the runner just feet in front of them.  This might be hard to correct in such a complex scene, but essential to do so!  Fix that in this one (and watch it in all other scenes) and you’ve got a most pleasing illustration!  Artist always need to be very careful about proportions and proper sizing of all characters, landscape and vehicles.  Viewers, editors and children included, ALWAYS notice.

CHRISTY:

I like this artist’s style quite a bit. It feels European – which I am always drawn to! I love the color palettes in both of these illustrations – one is very cold, and one is warm. The warmth is coming from the crowd in the second image, which is great – a warm, welcoming crowd at the finish line…perfect!

In the first image, there’s something bothering me about the back legs of both of the runners, but especially the runner on the left. It seems as though his right leg is crossing behind his left, which is going to result in a face-plant! And the runner on the right’s right leg looks a little disjointed at the knee. Anatomic correctness is super important – especially in children’s illustration, as they notice and question everything!!

That leads me to the second image, and the perspective here. Either the runner is far too BIG, or the crowd is far too small – but something is off! The man running out to him with the wreath is tiny in comparison to the runner, and they are on almost the same plain. The people in the crowd appear to be much farther away from him than they actually are, because of their small stature. It’s throwing the whole perspective off for me. That’s definitely something that children would notice as well; “Why is that man with the wreath so small?!??!” – I can hear it now!

That said, I very much like the style and composition of these pieces.

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Yorgos Sgouros is a freelance visual artist based in Athens, Greece. He has illustrated over 100 children’s books and was featured on Illustrator Saturday. Here is the link: https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2015/10/03/illustrator-saturday-yorgos-sgouros/

Thank you Chris & Christy for taking the time to share their expertise with us. It helps so many illustrators and is very much appreciated. Here is the CATugeau Agency website link: http://www.catugeau.com/

HERE IS HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

For the next few months illustrators can submit two consecutive story illustrations for critique by CATugeau Agency.

If you do not have an agent and would like to be featured and hear what you should do or how it could be tweaked to help you sell your work, then please send Two SEQUENTIAL illustrations – not just 2 pages of illustrations, but two with the SAME “story/characters‎” to:

Kathy.temean (at) gmail.com. Illustrations should be at least 500 pixels wide. Please put ILLUSTRATOR PORTFOLIO in the subject area and include a blurb about yourself that I can use to introduce you to everyone.

Each Sunday one illustrator will be chosen.

If everyone likes this, we will continue until the end of the year.

CALL FOR ILLUSTRATORS: Remember I’m always looking for illustrations I can use with articles I post. Send to: Kathy.temean (at) gmail.com. Put ILLUSTRATION FOR BLOG in the subject area. Remember all illustration need to be 500 pixels wide. Include a blurb about yourself, too.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy