This piece was another Commission for a returning anonymous Commissioner, who once a year for the past few years has graced me with his extreme generosity! What makes him most special to me is that he asks for little, and isn’t necessarily here to purchase art but rather to support me and what I do, if only the world was populated by more people like you, it would be a much happier and friendlier place! And of course as always, I look forward to our next project together, It’s always a rewarding and pleasureable experience to work with you ^_
Words and my ability to use them fail to describe, how much such people help me in life, and the light they provide me, especially during hard times. Or even the fact that I am worthy enough to receive such kindness and consideration by another means so much to me.

All that being said, I tried to pull out all the stops while making this piece for him, and also use it as a means for water experimentation. Lately I’ve been attempting to incorporate more elaborate and larger background props into my works. My goal has been to find a nice middle ground for my backgrounds without going as far as a complete full background or none at all. Just enough there to establish the setting and such while thinking of those Props as a character themselves. To do so the props need to follow these guidelines.

A. They need to contribute to the Main Character’s story.
B. They need Personality.
C. They need to not Over Power the Main Character on the page.
D. They need to Complement or match the main Character’s personality or theme.

Basically, I think of the props as Supporting Actors in a play and design them accordingly. They are also there to be used as a means to establish the setting, though, that is the purpose of any Background in any piece of work really. I still personally feel that full backgrounds, especially in monochrome drawings like this one here, really confuse the eye, and as a result they take the viewers focus away from the character, and are almost always overwhelming and confusing to behold. So in my eyes they end up doing more bad than good. While they of course do provide a certain “Wow” factor to the piece, only because it makes the viewer look at the piece and admirer it for its complexity rather than its story and character, things which in my book, can be better told through simplicity and focus.

For those who read through Descriptions, I hope that my continued insights into my works as shared above help you in your own pursuits. I do this to honor all the generosity I received from others by giving back in kind, by trying to help others through my works. Because, its never been about making money or increasing my fame, its been about helping others in whatever way I can, be it through, providing insight, joy, or Shining new light on subjects which have fallen deep into darkness because of the misconceptions and recklessness of others.

Again, a HUGE thank you to all who have supported me so greatly by giving me far more than I think I deserve, although you would all say otherwise! All of you are like this Light Priestess here, bringing light and hope into my life. ^_

Mechanical Pencils on Printer Paper, Sepia-toned in Lexmark Photo Editor.