Here’s an illustration for you. My kids came home with this song awhile ago and I always thought it was a silly, happy thing. So, I illustrated it. It’s formatted for a two-page spread.
I looked up the song lyrics to try to find out who wrote it so I could cite it, but didn’t come up with anything. Apparently lots of kiddie singers have used this song, but I’m not sure who actually wrote it. If you know, please tell me so I can cite it. Thanks!
Click on the image to see it larger.
I think the “tails” on the falling candy need to be longer and I’m not sure if I got the vanishing point exactly where it should be. Some shading probably wouldn’t hurt either. But, just for a blog post, I think I’ll resist obsessing over the image. 🙂 If I decide I want it in my portfolio, then I’ll look at it again and give full rein to my perfectionism.
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 
Karen,
I love the joy and excitement in your illustration. The unique perspective brings the reader in close to share the moment.
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
Nicely done! I like the angle we are viewing her from, and her delighted expression. The one thing that strikes me as odd is the position of her left arm. It looks to me like it’s bending in a way it would not go. If her hand were going the other way (thumb pointing up) it might help, although I realize she probably wouldn’t be holding the umbrella that way, if she had earlier been holding it above her head. I don’t know if that makes any sense. And it might just be me. I didn’t notice it originally, it was only after studying it that the arm position occurred to me. But otherwise, it’s bright and charming and captures the feel of the lyrics.
Yes, that arm does bug me a bit. I don’t usually do noodle arms like that. I try to keep the limbs bending n the right directions and all. But in this case, the line doesn’t look right without it going that way. I tried bending it the right way and also making it straight and it just didn’t look right.
Could you just flip her hand around so you see her thumb and fingers wrapped around? It is correct, but it gives pause. The only other thing is that the gumballs look a bit flat. They are consistent with how you drew the rest of the piece, but for some reason they look like they need just a bit of rounding/shading. Just my inexpert opinion! I love the angle we are looking at her from, and just the joy on her face. It’s super bright and happy. So cute I can’t even be mad that I have that dang song in my head now. 🙂
All good points and things I did consider.
I tried the hand position you’re referring to and then it was the wrist that looked turned at the wrong angle instead of the elbow.
As far as being flat, the whole thing is flat. Now, one thing that the gumballs don’t have that the rest of it does is a line around it all. Possibly the gumballs need to be lined to match the rest of it. I hadn’t really thought of that before… hmmm….
Anyway, thanks for the critique! 🙂
Sorry for passing on the earworm. 😉
It was written by Ruth Plumly Thompson for her book “The Candy Rain of Oz”