The Cat Pea Technique is working as well as it should,
and I just now found a tracing demo showing the Reference Images Tool.

Here a person is tracing the shapes of musical instruments,
through a transparent reference image.

I don't know if it is mentioned that the color picker tool,
will pick original colors from the reference image even though it has been made transparent.

This tool is both for tracing shapes,
and picking the correct colors.

A lot of people ridicule the idea,
others ridicule people that ridicule the idea.

Discouraging people from art, is a very toxic thing to do,
so this fantastic art technique, also doubles as method for detecting all the elitist, bat shit crazy monsters in the room...

No one is allowed to tell someone that they are not an artist,
it is like asking someone to quit laughing - art is a very important part of the Human Condition.

Above all else; this meowwrvelous technique is a REAL teacher,
because the more you work with it the more you will be able to handle.

You simply become more curious about art,
the more you learn about it, for real.

Now onto the review,
of the first steps I took.

The idea that all my artworks should be square,
in part because I can make a bigger and more interesting square with each nine works - works.

If you absolutely need a rectangle,
use up six of your squares, a 2x3, this way you can still continue the tile work.

This will enhance your portfolio,
and if you make your coffee book, or art-book square, it will absolutely add to the beauty.

My idea of using animator pink as a background color,
may not be so good.

I would still encourage considering such an exploit,
but also caution that if you invest yourself in keeping to a single background color...

None of your works can touch the edge of the canvas,
especially the bottom edge as the case is with portraits.

When I finish a portrait I want to share it with the world,
I don't want to search for a photo of a frame or a graphic motif to prevent the work from touching the edges.

My caricature or low-brow art style creation system works,
I used it twice.

But realistic portraits are so much more beautiful,
that I can't bring myself to do caricatures.

Though I did discover that once you paint a realistic portrait,
it is then very easy to extend it into the world of low brow pop surrealism.

It is more respectful, however, to just give the person their painting,
without messing with any of the shapes.

So a caricature or a low brow piece; is a secondary work of art;
think of it as a cute companion to the full portrait - it is sure to make the subject smile.

Now onto the stylization components,
where we enhance photos.

We all know that putting a little white reflection dot in the eye, makes it look more realistic,
but you should also add a transparent layer reflecting something like the sky of pavement.

The shape of this reflection should probably be circular,
in one of my works it actually has the shape of bushes that are reflected in the animal eyes.

Beyond the reflection of the light,
there is also a mirror image reflected by the eyeball, and you don't need to stop there.

For one you can add more light, and you don't have to have that light,
mess with shadows in other parts of the painting.

Create art for beauty's sake,
not to be technical.

Skin has reflections too, and the best place to see that is 3D models in blender,
the highlight occurs at the tip of the nose, cheekbone, lip, upper lip, forehead.

Be mindful of it when searching through other people's art,
once you begin noticing it, adding it into your own works will become second nature.

It makes the digital portrait come alive,
and if it does not work for your client, you can always turn it off.

Explore selective focus and tilt shift effects,
when painting on a physical canvas you have to commit to certain things.

You can't explore past a certain point,
because there are points of no return, where you can't click undo.

On a digital canvas,
you can blur a layer to see what happens.

I am currently learning fabric folds and,
using sunlight with darker or dim photo-reference.

It is easier than it sounds, and like my caricatures,
I will assemble everything in GIMP via photo editing...

But this is also an area of painting where I will apply a custom color-theme to paintings,
be it changing the color temperature, or using a new palette.

It is firmly seated in a sturdy photo reference foundation,
there is still no chance of getting stuck here...

But there is light and color here,
that is not of this world.

Again, you are an artist, stretch a transparent reference image over your canvas,
and let it take you on an adventure towards worlds and universes of your own creation.