thanks guys for your input! Cindy...that stupid ear has been problematic from the very beginning!!! LOL! i really do think i should just cut it off to match Van Gogh's!!! i'll try your suggestions after work maybe and see what happens! and that for what you said!!! sometimes i can be dense and insensitive though. guess we all can! Brian...where did THAT come from??? are you down in the dumps????? your gallery is most certainly NOT full of crap!!! don't make me kick your butt!! bsteph...yes, you're right, none of the others remind me of Van Gogh. i just wanted to show the original photo and my succession of events that led up to this Van Gogh tribute. i love the 3rd one too. just wish i could turn it into something spectacular. i just need to practice and keep experimenting all the time. Exploring different ideas and directions is always good. but before i can be successful, i'm gonna produce a lot of crap. that's just the way it is. I look back at my early attempts at any art I've done and see how far i've come. i'm just a bit slower than most people when it comes to making improvements. but that's ok; we all work at different speeds. thanks so much again, guys!