Nick, exquisitely drawn as always. I can't help noticing that your recent pieces do have a leaning towards shadows. Is this a conscious shift or simply coincidence?

I'm turning towards the 'dark side' Peter - Mwahaahahahahaaaa.  Or it could have something to do with my experimentation in SKetchbook Pro.  It doesn't support layer blending modes, so I find that you have to work harder to get colour into the shadows.  Don't always have time to build them up, being the slow old fart that I am.  Is that any answer?  Thanks for dropping by.

Ample - (Oooh, that's such a nice word!) thanks. So do you begin with a dark canvas and bring the detail up to highlight like you would in traditional media? I'm intrigued though, what does Sketchbook have that you can't get from Photoshop or Painter?

I tend to start on a mid tone canvas to kill the white glare, and unify the light a bit.  Do some drawing, block in the colour areas and do a bit of basic shape modeling.  Then comes that semi-transparent glaze of shadow and another layer of highlights over the top.  It's that and variations of that Peter.  Sketchbook just has much nicer response on the tablet than the other two - seems that way to me at least.  I still love the oil pastels and tinting brushes in Painter.  Never did get to grips with painting in Photoshop.

Hi Nick. Thanks for the reply.

My experience with Painter it that there are sooo many variables that I find it a little bewildering. To arrive at a set of tools that suit me would take too long - all that productive time would be lost. When you get to my age, you can't be doing wirh too many options.

Nice to see you finally got yourself a proper grown up website too.

Cheers

Pete

Hey Pete,I'm an old fart.  If I can do it, I'll bet you can.  Don't give up.Cheers,Nick

Belo trabalho!!