Re: the focal point and master artists... "Many areas will be rendered very loosely and painterly away from the center(s) of attention" (Sorry Theresa, this is not aimed at you, the quote just caught MY attention.) Yes I agree with you (and I try to do similar in my own poor efforts), but sometimes I wonder: Did the master artist intentionally create that effect? Or was it just a case of concentrating on the bits that interested them, and then just filling in the background (or let the students do it) 'cos it needed to be done (yawn!)? One of the problems with digital rendering is that we have to decide deliberately which bits shouldn't be rendered "pixel/picture perfect", and then coerce the renderer into following our wishes. Which can be as time-consuming as creating the detailed parts, sometimes. I also sometimes wonder how much of this is "received appreciation". The ideas of focal points and 0perspective are relatively recent in the history of art: they arrived during the reformation (I think - I'm not 100% certain about my facts there); but if you look at ancient art (whether it be Egyptian, Indian, Cave Man, African, etc.), there's a different set of aesthetics and appreciation going on. Hmm. There's an idea - create a pic using ancient aesthetics! I could go on, but I guess I shouldn't. Please understand, this is not a rant. I like our Western aesthetics ('cos I'm used to them and they're comfortable), but it's not the ONLY way to make art... Another hmm... The "Make Art" button should include options as to which type of art to make..:-)) Cheers, Diolma