I don't use the smudge tool so much, but if you mean blender brushes, Kyle's "Round Angle Smooth Blender" and the "Dry Blender" are in my Favorite Brushes folder.

I use hardboard panels, art tape, and 300 lb Arches. I don't tend to work super wet though. If I get buckling and need to get the paper nice and flat again, I sponge wet the back of the paper evenly and lay it between two boards with a weight on top. Flattens out overnight great!
I want to try out one of those incredible art boards @Lee-White mentioned, and need to try out gator board too apparently. I've seen it mentioned many times.

@NessIllustration Cool, thanks for your insights!
Love Kyle brushes too.

@NessIllustration I'm glad you think so! I think I can do both too, just need to find the right balance and keep the style consistent. I'm looking forward to exploring more and getting it dialed down. I find I do one for a while and then the other, and as I hop back and forth they always inform and help eachother get better. Like huge leaps in improvement in one after I hang out in the other for a while. So, I think you are right.
I'm curious how you think I might incorporate the textures more in the digital. You mean like scanning watercolor textures in, and using those in digital, or emulating those kind of textures straight through with digital?

@NessIllustration Ooooo, thank you for the observation! It's interesting the images that you are comparing are my oldest in the bunch (2, 3, 4) and my newest (the King Arthur paintings.) I have fallen in love with how other artists use texture, and I think I'm trying to figure out how that is going to work for me.
I'm definitely going through a struggle in style between medium and wether or not to lean more heavily on digital or traditional. <Le Sigh>

@Alicja-W Oh yes! I LOVE Kay Neilson. I also love Arthur Rackham and Ivan Bilibin, and it was interesting doing this assignment and really considering style and their work, I realized that the heavy lean on line work with those guys I think reduces a soft dreamy quality that I'm realizing I really personally like creating. For me, it also flattens the images in a way that makes it harder to make light and dark the star of the show, which I am realizing is something Iove doing.
Such a valuable part of doing this exercise was looking at a lot of work I love and have loved for a long time, but distinguishing whether or not it's something I want to emulate, of what parts of a style I like, and why. So, I'd almost like to take some of Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielson, and Ivan Biliban illustrations and "paint them in your own style" without the heavy line work and with more focus on lighting...could be a neat exercise.

I'm currently trying to really tighten up my style and get to that next level of polish, so I figured this would be a great class to tackle.

This has already been quite eye opening, and not for reasons I thought it would be. I've had Pinterest boards and folders on my computer of work I love and/or want to emulate, but I've never actually focused on just the style aspects, and then plot them all out on one sheet. Seeing them as one whole made it easier to get clearer insights. But, then doing the same with my work...holy moly, what an eye opener.

Dream Portfolio (Step 1)

My Current Top Illustrations (Step 2)

Elinore Eaton/Dream Portfolio Observations

Large overall constructed shapes, very designed compositions, divided by highly detailed and decorated sections--often areas or lines comprised of dots, snow, stars, complex costume, etc. alongside large simplified areas. The high contrast areas/focus of the compositions are often the simplest, or like an overall light painting with only one dark area or vice versa.

Light. Lots of these seem “special” because of the treatment and attention to light.

Curving, wavy lines, motion or a suggestion motion even though most of these feel quiet. Even the Delort piece (which I realize is the only black and white one and has a bit of a horror genre to it, but totally belongs and has been a favorite of mine for years) feels quiet, but full with tension and mood.
Everything seems very dreamy to me. Themes are relationships with animals, flying or leaping, symbolism, stars falling, seeing words and energy. Not surprisingly, fairytale vibes and wonder, often feminine.

Most of these have a very limited color palette. Lots of blues and warm neutrals. Some with pops of a bold red. Wow...actually all of them are blue and yellow to some degree, with some version of one of those colors almost black.

No heavy line work. The few that have line work, it’s that delicate Golden Age style of lined edges with complementary colored lines with watercolor glazing and texture.

The big thing I feel like I am missing with my work is cleanliness. My values are also not as good. Just less sophisticated and more evenly distributed.

Notes for me:
-Create larger areas of rest, truly large solid shapes and higher levels of contrast in size of shapes. Visually, my pieces just seem busier.
-Pay special service to light or the darkness, reflections, spotlights, stars, golden hour, etc. Some of your newer pieces are getting flat.
-Enjoy curvy lines, wavy shapes, and marks that express motion, but not everywhere.
-Dreamy quiet quality. Stop yelling.
-Can’t go wrong with blue and yellow. Warm up your whites, darken your darks. Similar to the value idea, don’t go halfsies, think more one overall color, with the support of one other, and only sometimes a punch of a third, most likely red.

• Decide on an overall value for a piece (mostly dark or light), a lot of mine seem equally divided between darks and lights, and then use the lesser value to define focus.
  -Soften edges, think more impressionism, pastels.
  -Work on polish. Work on polish. Work on polish.

-Themes to focus on:
animal/human relationships
dreams, symbols, metaphor
fairytales
costume, jewelry, ornamental objects
girls, feminine sensibilities
scenes in nature with motion--flying, swimming, weather
Lights, stars, dark creatures with glowing eyes, golden hour, large figures or a grouping with small figures

Any other observations?

Looking forward to going through Step 3 and rocking some Master Studies!

@LisaF I went out of town for a few days, and am back now, and things seem to be working properly now. Thank you!

Awww, you guys are the best! Thank you for the warm welcome and beautiful observations and compliments <3.

@CLCanadyArts YES! I saw the "Liquid error: internal " but it is only on the "My Dashboard" page. I don't see it when I explore the other pages.