Dare to be different and learn to be lonely

Oh, yes on all of the above!

The process of getting to the end result starts with that first thought of "what is it that I want to say" and the next thought "How can I go about to express that?" - I use the same steps!

I did also sense a rise in acknowledgement and appreciation for artists, but was still surprised to find BB community posts without a banner, while the artposts clearly had suitable pieces that would have gotten much needed attention for both the story and the artist. I hope the Reverse Bang does better this year, because I remember the same thing happening there last time, which was very disappointing seeing as that challenge is supposed to be about art as an incentive!

I too started adding information about the proces for exactly the same reason: to show that it's not just slapping a face on a body, but also thinking about shading and colours and details. It's great when people pick up on that!

You were definitely my inspiration for trying a different approach when you decided to visualize your feelings about a story in an artpiece as opposed to working within the frame of its content. That was the first time I realized I could actually experiment with form.

I really like how we explored not only our art but the ideas behind it. I still am too constricted in the rules of my trade, but taking small steps outside that comfortzone is awesome.