@MichaelaH i was struggling on what to do with that little cube attached to the house. I never would have thought of a stable! Nice work

@Susan-Marks Cool cool My process is pretty close in a lot of ways to the way Will Terry does it in his 10 step digital painting. So yeah. Thumbs, rough comps (where I assign value groupings which is pretty much my value study), colour comps, final sketch (which is 'inks') pick shapes and value group, local value, lighting, colour and then paint. Ideally, I should really do more in the way of a value study in the comp stage. But right now I do the final values after I've inked. The big thing I figure out in the comp/value study is whether a thing is a dark object on a light background, or a dark object on a light background. I make plenty of small fixes and identify all kinds of small mistakes as I go, too I think everyone does. No matter what you've gotta kind of push and pull until everything settles into place. However most small fixes are like changing the colour of trim on a house. It's an aesthetic choice. The problem that some people (ie, me sometimes ) have is that they think that they'd really like the foundation of their house a foot or two to the left or an extra floor. AFTER they've built the house I'm JUST starting to figure out what aspects of a painting are foundational and learning to resist the urge to change them late in the painting. That's why we do thumbs, comps and value studies. We're laying the foundation of our houses.

@Chip-Valecek Yay! You make me so happy!

That's a great idea!

@Judy-Elizabeth-Wilson Skin tone's one of those things that just drives me nuts. It's so hard to get right sometimes. I do rather like the crown, though

@Chip-Valecek I always find sitting on it for a week to be a good idea I'm really likin' the texture that you're working into your work. It suits it. I'll try and think of any tweaks n such. Those poor mice...

@chrisaakins Very true! I remember going through a phase after high school where I didn't draw for a good 6 months, yet when I picked up my pencil again I had improved. It baffled me for a while until I understood that even though I'd stopped drawing, I hadn't let go of the habit of observing people, objects and landscapes around me, and I had learned and internalized some of that during my hiatus.

@hannahmccaffery I do portrait commissions on Etsy and have them printed and shipped by Printful. I like their quality and they have a facility in the US and one in Europe which makes advantageous shipping times and prices no matter where the client is. That being said, I offer a "digital only" option as well (as part of the listing variations) and most people have chosen that.

@demotlj Yes I like it, will he eat him or befriend him, lols

@marine This is a good angle as it creates tension. But you have made the owner invisible with her shadow. The light has to get past the owner to enter the room. So there would be a silhouette through the door pane.

@MichaelaH That's what happens when I leave for one day - something new .

@Whitney-Simms Thanks girl!

Here’s my final. Just for giggles I turned it greyscale in PS and it was not even close to my value studies. Lol. Granted I was making some changes on the fly. The choice to make the path lighter than the background was a conscious one.

The moment before...you lose all your shtuff.

@Jon-Anderson thank you. I am moving on to color study tomorrow

Tried adding penguins and shortened the cockpit on the plane going downward.

Gorgeous congrats!

@Judy-Elizabeth-Wilson Thank you for the advice, I was thinking the same but wasn't sure. Have a great day!

Annd number 11 (apparently)

I found a really good youtube tutorial for GIMP 2.8. Adding text and manipulating it on the canvas. It was so easy to follow and understand. It has a lot better features than I had imagined. I'm excited to play with it. Just thought I'd share in case there are others out there using or interested in GIMP! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1jFaMwx8U4 I haven't looked at the other tutorials but I am excited to check them out. Gnu Image Manipulation Program is a open source software. Great for those who don't require photoshop fo rtheir work. Best of all, it's FREE!