Project 6_Visual input

Vector graphics are very clean and crisp; sometimes that look is problematic because it doesn't suggest warmth or coziness.

If you want to "warm up" a vector based Illustration,
watermelon you can introduce a bitmap visual texture to it.
This will mean working with Photoshop on a photograph with a good visual texture to work out a uniform texture the size of your Illustrator artwork. Then importing that photoshop bitmap-based image into Illustrator.

The covers of the "Land of Nod catalog" are always very textured but as you see the texture doesn't interfere with the reading of the image, it just makes it richer in visual detail and gives a warmer feeling to it.

See also how Blending modes are working to accentuate aspects of the artwork: the hat's band, the raspberry motifs, the glasses and the central butterfly are set to Multiply, providing beautiful darker tones to the image.

Some lines look somehow irregular (like the frame of the glasses or the lines of the hands) but the line work of the Illustration is so consistent that it just makes the image look more like an art piece with a touch of hand made work.

Detail from the "Winner by a whisker" cover.
See how the texture is softening the lines and flat color shapes (like the birds, flags and bicycles).

The diagonal line texture gives a nice sense of speed.

wiskers

The cyclist-cat image is repeated 6 times and the only variation is the color and number of the hat.

The composition is so good that the images don't feel repeated and we can feel the tension of the race.

Using an old style printed pattern to fill the flesh areas of the cyclist is a good idea that gives the look of an old printed comic-strip.
The only whites in the image are for the text (header and footer) and the "lines of speed" created with long white Illustrator shapes set to an Overlay or brighter Blend mode.
Some elements are just a bit offset (like the white in the eyes on top of the flesh pattern). Those discrepancies emphasize the old printed look and distract from the perfection of vector-based work.