Pinocchio - 1

My first Pinocchio piece is complete! But the pieces are due by the 30th of September. Do they mean it has to be post-marked by that date? I'm confused. It's all in Portuguese.

Regardless, I'm going to send all 3 in this Friday. Which means I have to have it all printed, at the latest by Thursday so I can package it and send it correctly by Friday morning... hmm, tight schedule, but I think I can do it.

1 down, 2 more to go in 3 days. Go.

Oh, so my first piece. Thanks for the comments! (I had others via facebook/email). I took the suggestion of using limited palette.
Thanks again, now I know which direction I'm heading to, so the rest should be easier!

Illustrarte competition

I think I mentioned earlier that I am illustrating for the book Pinocchio because I've never drawn for an already written story before.
So I decided to motivate myself in drawing one by applying for the Illustrarte competition!
It's a biennial children's book competition held in Portugal, and the deadline is September 30th.
I'm pretty booked with school and work, but I hope to complete 3 illustrations for this.
I'd like to at least be able to apply and say I was part of it in some ways.

Here's a link for more information:
http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/illustration/ilustrarte-2012-children-books-illustrators-contest

I've completed one illustration so far. I'm working on the colors right now and boy am I hating it.
Please help!