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Robyn Skaley's avatar

Thanks so much for sharing your process! I really enjoyed reading it…the struggle is real 😉. So true that it’s worth taking time at the outset to prepare and not get too sentimental or precious about our efforts. But that bunny, such a character!

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Thank you! They say you gotta kill your darlings but it's certainly not easy!

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Biva's avatar

Thank you so much for sharing your process and I wish your dad a speedy recovery ❤️‍🩹 it’s dramatic how the piece can change, as an illustrator mostly draw on digital, I’m always so jealous of these delicious texture! Great scene 🧡

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

I felt the same! I sometimes got around it by scanning in textures, but it's still never quite the same for me. I think because I *know* it's a digital process, even if you can't tell in the end.

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Devon Holzwarth's avatar

Thanks for the shout out, you're the bestest xoxo The bun steals my heart too!!

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Oh hey there! I hope more people trickle your way!

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Kayleen Sokol's avatar

Love to see the process, I really should learn to not be so scared of starting from scratch when something isn’t working. Great advice. 👍🏻

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

I know some illustrators who get around this by doing two or three pieces at the same time! Then they just pick the best one as their final. Not sure I have the desk space for it, but it's an intriguing method.

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Brandon Todd's avatar

Such a generous breakdown Jennifer! Thanks for going so deep into your thought process. It is always fascinating to me to see how other artists tackle these issues and see the creative obstacle course they take to get to the final piece. I also find that putting the paint on the paper is the scariest and hardest part. I really need to hype myself up to make the leap. lol. And doing it twice is even more scary, but I begrudgingly have to admit that I usually don't regret it. :)

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Same here! But I guess the alternative is not finishing. 😂 I should know by now, though. Back in the graphic design days whenever I'd lose a file and have to recreate it, it'd always come together so much faster. A lot of the exploration and design decisions had already been made.

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Dani Williams's avatar

I love everything about this picture, but those little raccoon hands are next level! Glad to hear your dad is making such great progress too 😊

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

If you're blessed with little hands like that, you've just *gotta* press them against a window pane 😆

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Dani Williams's avatar

😄 yeah, mine would be like an orangutan smearing her greasy paws over that glass.

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

😹

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Marina Marina's avatar

Hi Jennifer, thank you for sharing about your process it was so so interesting to read! ❤️ And I’m very happy to hear that your dad already feeling better! My best wishes to him 🫶☀️

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Thank you, and thank you for the kind words about my dad!

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Zinia King's avatar

What a wonderful lesson to be learned, thank you for sharing. 😊 I loved reading your analysis of each stage, it's amazing how much thought goes into a beautiful illustration. ♥️

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Thank you! I tend to put a lot of thought in what I do, but process and style provides a framework that lets me move forward instead of overthinking each phase. Especially the parts of the process where there's a chance I could mess everything up. Definitely don't want to overthink those, or I'd never finish anything! 😆

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Catie Waterworth's avatar

It turned out so pretty, it caught my 4year old’s eye on my phone as I was getting him into bed and he loved it too! It was definitely worth it to go back to the drawing board, I wish I’d done that on some previous pieces to be honest, as now they’re all on my “redo if I can face it because they’re not good enough for my portfolio” pile!

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Awww what a lovely thing to hear! Please tell your little one thank you in the morning. And oh gosh I've been thinking about redoing so much of my old art! I feel like I just finished overhauling my portfolio and only to have to do it again. Kinda like how they have to start repainting the Golden Gate Bridge just as soon as they finish painting it! 😂 I'm attached to some of those old compositions, and redoing old art seems faster and easier than doing new stuff from scratch. But oh the irony given what I just posted.

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Catie Waterworth's avatar

It’s so funny every time I think I’ve arrived at my “signature style” it changes again. 🫠

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Andrea Sparacio's avatar

Thank you so much for sharing your process! Those lil raccoon hands...🥰

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Racoon hands are the best 🖐

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Kim Barnes Paperstories's avatar

What a great process sharing ! I loved this . The illustration is just gorgeous !

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Dee Costa's avatar

Aw, "background bunny and bestie" are the cutest! What a great pair! You must make a little story around them, they are intruiging! 💖

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Katie Risor's avatar

Sometimes it is worth it to start over! The animals and girl have more personality in the final version for sure

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Sam Weerawardane's avatar

Thanks for sharing your process! I’m convinced that raccoon ‘plushie’ is a secret agent on the inside though. Maybe he’s wearing a wire so all the animals outside can listen in on story time 😎

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Yumiko Kitazono's avatar

I enjoyed reading your process in details, Jennifer! You are so right about getting it right on the paper instead of trying to fix it later digitally. I love the whole atmosphere of this piece💗

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Jennifer M Potter's avatar

Thanks so much, Yumiko! I wish I'd figured that out a lot early, but the ol' sunk-cost fallacy is a powerful thing

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