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Description
So last fall I did an updated version of the first drawing I ever colored digitally.

Well, the other day I finished up my offering for this year's 4th if July , and realized it was similar, thematically, to the first one I did back in '03. Around the previous Christmas, after a lot of badgering and insisting we needed one, my mom bought us a new PC, which could run Photoshop (for the first couple months, I was using the computers at my community college's lab to draw stuff). And a few months later we got a scanner, so no more having to drive down to my uncles and use his every time I hand a handful of sketches drawn up.

But I was still very much just starting at this. In addition to having ten years' less experience drawing, I also had this initial step backward because I had to relearn a lot of things when I went to digital. But I realized there were a lot of similarities. The flag-themed bathing suits, it's summer, they both have outdoor settings, one is at the beach, one is at the lakeside, and their poses are even somewhat similar. None of this was a conscious choice when I made this year's drawing, but just something I realized after the fact.

So, I think it makes an especially strong example for comparison. Other than the body just looking better, I tend to use more muted colors now, and try to stick to just a few, whereas on the left I have every damn color under the sun. In my "July 4th, 2003" header there, you can tell I was someone new to Photoshop because I wanted to apply every damn text effect there was! It's got a drop shadow, and emboss, and a gradient. All signs of a novice! I made a July 4th, 2013 header and applied a lot more of what I've learned over the years to that one.

In the future, I'm sure I'll make up some more of these if an instance ever comes up where it's appropriate.

Description
So last fall I did an updated version of the first drawing I ever colored digitally.

Well, the other day I finished up my offering for this year's 4th if July , and realized it was similar, thematically, to the first one I did back in '03. Around the previous Christmas, after a lot of badgering and insisting we needed one, my mom bought us a new PC, which could run Photoshop (for the first couple months, I was using the computers at my community college's lab to draw stuff). And a few months later we got a scanner, so no more having to drive down to my uncles and use his every time I hand a handful of sketches drawn up.

But I was still very much just starting at this. In addition to having ten years' less experience drawing, I also had this initial step backward because I had to relearn a lot of things when I went to digital. But I realized there were a lot of similarities. The flag-themed bathing suits, it's summer, they both have outdoor settings, one is at the beach, one is at the lakeside, and their poses are even somewhat similar. None of this was a conscious choice when I made this year's drawing, but just something I realized after the fact.

So, I think it makes an especially strong example for comparison. Other than the body just looking better, I tend to use more muted colors now, and try to stick to just a few, whereas on the left I have every damn color under the sun. In my "July 4th, 2003" header there, you can tell I was someone new to Photoshop because I wanted to apply every damn text effect there was! It's got a drop shadow, and emboss, and a gradient. All signs of a novice! I made a July 4th, 2013 header and applied a lot more of what I've learned over the years to that one.

In the future, I'm sure I'll make up some more of these if an instance ever comes up where it's appropriate.