I recently gave away my childhood bike and it sparked the inspiration for this preloved contest entry.

I would like a lot of emphasis on the bike and I'm hoping to give it more of a...'sketchy' or 'messy' style eventually.

The shirt WILL NOT be white in the end. That's for sure. I just wanted to put up the crit and get some feedback first.

Right now I have 7 colors.

Need help soon, please. : )

Bump.

Hmmm, I'm not sure the halftone shadows are working for it. It looks like a newspaper comic. Can you do more solid shadows? and the lines are a little fuzzy--make sure you're saving at a high-enough resolution.

Good idea though, keep working on it.:)

Hmm...okay. I kinda was going for a newspaper look, but I'll change it if need be.

And yeah the lines are fuzzy, but that's because they actually are. I don't want this to look 'clean cut' per se.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely work on them tomorrow. : )

I always hate getting rid of thing too HAHAHA!

Oh...I also remembered why I went with the halftone. I've only got one color available and I doubt that I could cut any color at this point.

K, I added more yardsale items.

I tried reducing the size of the dots for the halftone to create a more solid shading like someone suggested, but it didn't turn out too great. I just stuck with the original plan.

I'm almost finished with V3 which has a messy/sketchy overlay. I'll see how you guys like that one.

My sister suggested a yellow bike to draw more attention to it, which I thought was a good idea. I'll post that in V4.

Again...a white shirt IS NOT the plan. It is merely a placeholder.

Any and all comments are appreciated!

Yep, I get sentimental about that kind of thing too. My only suggestion is perhaps you could adjust the artwork or add something so it doesn't look so flat at the bottom. Just a thought.


Would appreciate any advice or feedback you can offer on mine:
http://www.threadless.com/critique/47901/Silently_Loud

Hmm...what sort of something? Grass? More boxes?

Thanks for the crit. I appreciate it. : )

Yeah I think the bottom looks a bit flat. Try adding some shadows underneath the boy and items to give them a more solid feel.

nice one !
http://www.threadless.com/critique/47584/apple_tree

Working on your suggestions now (shadows and such), but I wanted to see what you guys thought of a sketch overlay.

Please check V3 for the sketch overlay. I'd like to know what you think on that.

Bike color changed to yellow to attract more attention to it. Good bad or ugly?

Bump.

u really need to refine the border lines especially of the main figure..
and if the shadows are so monotonic, make the solid and not
halftone.. or a more dense halftone.. again the main figure
is the one u should work the most.. the shape of the face is too
simple and too tilted...
maybe you could make the whole illo in brown-yellow colors
to enhance the feel of nostalgia.. and use less colors.. ;)

good luck!

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely solidify the borders and work on the shading. Should I just use a solid black shade? I would like to use darker shades of the color being shaded, but I won't have enough colors, I don't think.

Too simple of a face, though? I don't understand. It is a cartoon. I can fix the tilting though.

So you're saying I should use brown and yellow lines instead of black?

Again thanks for the crit. This is the kind of advice I need.

Alrighty. Worked on several things (at the suggestion of you all) and have produced an almost entirely different design.

Still working on the shading and shadows, but I thought I'd get your comments on the sepia look. More nostalgic, yes? Hopefully it also puts more attention on the bike and connects it with the child's purchase.

Any and all comments are appreciated!

Bump.

I Like this version and i would wear it
can you look at mine please
http://www.threadless.com/critique/47964/Smell_The_Roses

Kept the sepia, but removed the yellow sketch overlay. It was creating too many colors.

Next I'll be working on the actual shading on the characters/items. Either a dense halftone or solid shading will be used.

I'll be taking suggestions and working to improve the piece as I go.

Once again, any and all comments are appreciated! : )

Bump.

I like it better. I'm anxious to see the shaded characters. The grass isn't working right now b/c it's a bright color among dark shadow. It would be alot darker, so I think you shoudl just take it out.

check mine?

Yeah, I actually took out the grass already. Had the exact same thoughts as you.

Shading is giving me trouble, though. I can't get the right look. I changed the shadow a bit to make the light source more over head, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get more accurate shading details. I had a ton of trouble with solid black shading. It just takes over the entire design and kills it. I tried other colors (dark browns and stuff), but those colors were nullifying the outline.

I'm trying a dense halftone now. Hopefully something will work out.

Any more critiques before I finish the next version?

Shadow is tweaked here and shading is finished. Lots of minor things were touched up as well.

I think I'm getting close to determining the placement and shirt color now. Any suggestions?

Any and all comments are appreciated!

Wow, you really polished it! Shirt color--something medium toned, or as dark as you can get without washing out the shadows-that way the yard sale sign and his face will really pop. An olive green, navy blue or magenta??

Thanks! It's really great to hear good feedback after I worked so hard.

Quick question: Should I put a thin tan outline on the shaded areas to define the items or does it look okay just implied? I did it for the barrel, but that's only because barrels actually have their own bows for each section.

Alright, I think I may try a navy blue to accent the tear drop.

Again thanks for all of the help throught this process. : )

Any more suggestions?

By the way *throughout...I was tired. : )

Tweaked a few colors and removed the tear at the suggestion of my girlfriend and I think it looks better. Opinions on that?

Displayed here are 3 color options along with an alternate placement. I prefer cream myself (it seems to blend better) along with the alternate placement.

Once again, any and all comments are appreciated!

Yes, it's better without the tear--listening to your girl is the way to go.;)

I do like the cream among the lighter colors, but as I said, I'd like to see it on something darker too.

Better hurry and sub it--you'll miss the contest!

Cream, high placement. I like it!

I tried some darker colors -- navy blue and maroon, but it just wasn't working at all. Looked so out of place and plastered on.

Thanks for the feedback, Haeil. I'll sitck with cream as my displayed option and also show both placements for my sub.

Well, it was now or never, so I sub'd it!

(By the way, I hate it when people click "don't submit" without a single word of advice)

Anyways, pending approval HERE.

Thanks for all the help. Especially you, charity. Really appreciate it.

Hey man, thanks for your comment on mine and that wasn't me that clicked 'don't submit".:) What sucks is threadless took the pre-loved link off the home page and replaced it w/ the new contest link, so late-entries (like you and me) are getting the shaft--low voter-turn-out. Boo-hoo. Hope yours does better than mine--I'll be looking for it!:)

Unfortunately not.

They approved my design as soon as I went out of town for the weekend (I submitted on Sunday) and I had no chance to promote it at all. Today when I got back I looked at my design and saw that scoring had 'finished early.' What does that even mean? I submitted on time...does scoring end on the 15th too?

*sigh*
Hopefully my next sub will turn out better.