Hi all! 
Started work on a new project revolving around some kitchen based characters…here’s the first image -
here’s the original (very bad) concept sketch:
I’m worried I’m not getting as much of a cartoon look as I’d like (perhaps lighting or materials?), so
let me know what you think and how I could improve! 
I love it - great characters, great attitude, strong sense of motion!
The composition is well done, and the subjects really pop against the background.
I think my only issue might be the texture on the toast - usually toasted bread has a more “speckled” appearance, right?
Also, just curious, but what made you decide to change the faces of the toast from your concept sketch? I found the original faces appealing in a way; almost like they were excited about being in the world, having just popped out of the toaster.
Just my humble opinion though! Only my second post here!
-Function
I think I like the first image better, it’s more relaxing to look at
try to lower the gloss on the toaster
I agree with SheepHD. The image looks fantastic as it was! Though if you wanted to go for cartoony, why did you use a 3d program like blender to create it?
Thanks for all the kind comments
Function: Thank you and welcome! Yeah, the toast material was pretty hard to do - it is kind of speckled, but because of the motion blur it doesn’t really show up…not sure if it’s better that way or not.
I get what you mean about the original faces looking more excited but it didn’t look very good in a test render - the gaping black mouths seemed out of place, I might do another one, though, and post it
SheepHD & Lusterflask: Looking back at the second image, it doesn’t seem right. I was trying to get the lighting in the background a bit more dramatic…I’ve reigned it in a little, making the shadows lighter and reducing the dof a bit, as well as lowering the gloss on the toaster. Let me know what you think of the changes
As for the cartoon aspect, I wasn’t really going for full on 2D animation, just meant for the final render to be not completely photo realistic. Hopefully I’ve sort of achieved that.
Now that is beautiful
feels just right to look at
Well thank you very much! 
Think I’m done with this one, might make a start on another image 
I think this is a terrific idea! I love the use of curves to achieve a pure-cartoon effect, and both the toaster and the slices of bread have very nice “expressions.” (Happy little toaster …) Really looking forward to the completed movie.
Quite seriously, you could go commercial with a project like this. (And I don’t mean “commercials.”)
Hi Sundialsvc4, thank you for your kind comments…I wasn’t planning on doing a movie or anything (I don’t have the computer power to render that much) but I want to do a couple more images with a few different characters…
Thanks again for the encouragement
Another update! I’m almost done with this one, I just need to work on the composition and lighting I think…
Comments and criticisms very much welcome! 
cool project. I like the style.
I love these! I thinks its an awesome idea 
For the salt and pepper image I think the salt is a little dark and would look better if it was a little whiter maybe?
Apart from that, Great work! It looks insane
Thank you both for the kind comments!
Desertpenguin10: Yeah I noticed that just as I put it up, the material was okay, but I think putting it inside a glass object made it suffer a little. I changed a mix shader to an add and it looks a little better now
Apart from maybe adding some more spilled salt to make it more visible, I think I’m done with this one. Let me know what you think 
I love the kitchen, and all the characters are very cute, especially the salt and pepper. However, I think the toaster doesn’t really blend in with the counter—there’s no shadow or anything there.
Hi Owldude, yeah I get what you mean about the toaster…there is a bit of a shadow at the back foot on the left, but I think I need to change the angle of the toaster to get a bigger one and help it blend in
Also making progress on the final image:
I need to do a few more kitchen objects, but I’m struggling to think of some…other than that, let me know what you think
