Hey, everyone! thank you all for the nice notes.
No update today, at least graphically… It’s been a busy week here.
But hey, check this out:

For those of you who’ve been paying any attention to this stuff I’m doing at meez.com, we just released animated gif support yesterday, and how cool is that? 
okay, so I’m excited, sorry! Back to the challenge:
Bryce - but you were so insistent! 
Britt - I could maybe make that point less pointy, but I like the harder shadow. I had it much softer earlier in the development, and then someone (I can’t find who it was who suggested it right now, sorry!) called me on it, pointing out that all of the other shadows in the foreground were more hard-edged. And they were right. I think it fits the piece better this way, sorry!
Adonihs - Thanks! Hope you’re feeling better, too.
Lots of people in the middle there- Thank s for the votes of confidence!
Blaz - Hey, good to see you again. Thanks as always for your feedback, and for the great reference shots too. I’ve been doing lots of sketches of flowers and plants lately, myself. It’s spring here in Northern California, and as I walk to the bus in the morning, I study all the plants along the way, and sometimes take photos. Those purple plants by the fenceposts are some that grow in my neighborhood. Just yesterday I was doing sketches for how they might fit in the lower left corner.
I know that right now the grass in the foreground is looking all the same. It’s the second-largest area I still need to work on (after the sky.) I’ve ben taking careful note on my walks about all different grasses, clover, little flowers… and of course as I walk and look, trying to decypher in my head, “Okay, how would I turn that into a custom Photoshop brush?” I’m still new to messing with those, but that’s how i did the grass that’s in there now, tinkerred with one of the out-of-the-box brushes until it suited my scene and painting style. Think I’ll try it some more.
So yeah, expect a lot more flowers and plant life and variation in the foreground. Maybe the background too, not that I look at some of Blaz’s references. (Thanks again for those.)
Think that’s all for now… thanks for stopping by!
-mike