Hey thanks a lot everybody :) clouds! hehe

wow, this version is the best. Love the strokes you added. Makes it look more watercolorish.

<melts> Excuse me, I'm moving into your pictures. At least when I'm having dental work... ...I have favourite mental places I go when they're working on my teeth (I don't tolerate local anaesthetics, so I *have* to use those sorts of techniques...), and your pictures have now become the first paintings (by *any* artist) to make the list. You may take that as the high compliment that it is, and well-earned, at that, Cindy. <smiles with sincere admiration>

I've never looked out from the Mesa Verde ruins at sunset (those ladders are scary enough in daytime, and that's BEFORE I became acrophobic), but this looks just like the kind of thing I'd expect to see, so you've got the feel you describe, dead on, with this picture. *impressed smile*

I hope there are more pieces of this type coming... ...and at this rate, I may have to ask you if I can save some to my hard drive, as I'm not sure I can stand to part with them! *wistful grin*

On the useful suggestion side of things, I thought you might like to think about using a glow similar to the one you used on the horse and cowboy, to edge the ruins (should you work on this further locally, or do more pieces like this, since I see that this one is marked as "finished"), and give an indication of the light pouring up and over their edge, from the sunset, because I think it would have that same almost magical effect that it did in the cowboy picture.

And, as an extremely minor detail, there's a stone that appears to be sticking out toward us, about 3 rows below the bottom of the window on the viewer's left, beneath the middle of the window, which gives me the feeling that it's about to pop right out of the wall toward me, and cause the window to cave in. It could be intentional, it might not, and it's perfectly believable either way, but it gives me a loss of the feeling of tranquility that this piece otherwise conveys, and instead creates a sense of dramatic tension, as though something in me is waiting for the remainder of the wall and window arch to collapse. I thought you might want to play with that, in future works, since your paintings tend to have a very emotional impact on the viewer (to judge from my own response and that of others), making that emotional effect into one more tool in your palette, so to speak.

P.S. to thug: Cindy is not alone in putting in 3-5 hours at a stretch on a single piece of artwork; I do it too, (and though I don't compare my work to hers, so do many of the *other* artists whose work I like) and that's not allowing for interruptions. How did you think that her pieces got so good, anyway? *grin* Good artists aren't *necessarily* speed demons (though they can be); what makes a good artist, IMHO, is that they're just good at being expressive, whatever their medium of choice, regardless of how long it takes them -- which is reassuring to those of us who take longer on our own pieces, even when we aren't at Cindy's skill level. :)

I hope this comment has been useful, and not *too* long, this time... *worried look* I tried to cut out anything not directly related to *this* picture. I don't see anything left I can leave out.

About 5 hrs in one sitting is an avg. for me here... some I worked on for 8 or more at once, because they usually take up so much space that I can't get back in to edit w/out asking for more space.

Gee, thanks alwayslearning... maybe you should have a job as a writer? lol And yeah, the rocks that appear to be about to come out are intentional... these things are barely standing as it is and crumbling as we speak. I'm so glad that someone recieves the feeling I try to impart when I paint (or draw). That's what makes it satisfying. This place has inspired me to bust my real paint out again.

you always do the coolest skies. :)

nice work you two! nice details..(the well!..the moon) yea..like mizz dix says ..maybe too many stars in the sky? fun pic!!

lol. Yes, its great! ^-^ Does remind me of Yoda in a way. lol. ^^ Great job!

hehe, dmv. cool bg to say the least. and awesome shading detail too on the face. i love your pictures!

thanks ya'll :) I try to do some things that you would not see here and sometimes it's a hit or a miss...I'm just glad the ones I have done haven't been deleted lol!

dba...this comment is from my son, as he doesnt have an account (yet) he's going through me.

i really like your picture(and so does my sister) the detail and cat tail are amazing, the background looks real, and it looks like a constellation, it makes me wonder, is it a big cat(cheetah, jaguar etc. or a pet kitty, i like how it makes me wonder that.

It's a silhouette of a mountain lion. (Tell your kids thank you...) I have a fascination with them because we live on a lake with alot of cliffs, we have them here... they are very elusive. Sometimes when I deer hunt I find tracks and just before dark when the hair stands up on the back of my neck, I know I have gone from being the hunter to the hunted... lol :)

I can't believe you didn't get tons of comments on this one(guess I was one of the guilty ones until now), but damn...this is another awesome one added to your great pics. I love all of them actually, even though I see that I have been lazy at commenting...

omg lori..haha. you crack me up. nice work!

hehe. im seein it...

um-a glowing coffin? In the bottom left corner I see like this shadow demon reaching toward the handle of the coffin thingy and like a big yellow thingy with eyes coming from the coffin or into the coffin from above-the only thing I can make outa the red and blue lights on the right is those old fasion 3D glasses.....so confused-so is it like a soul being drawn into heaven rather than the evil spirits of hell or something? AH please explain or I'm going with Davinici's theory of road kill big bird

LOL. fleeting memory. you're hilarious. the old-fashioned 3-d glasses looking things are ambulance lights ;p that help?

love the meteor impact effect...

hey is that a dragon coming out of the blast? i love the red swirling around the tail!!!

This is so friggin sweet-first its an awsome concept and second that's like a totally cool way to portray it-I love it-finish soon!

I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Excellent idea for a drawing, I love the straw and cup with the slurpy. You know when you suck out the juice and the ice whitens and then it is hard to get the rest because it lost its liquidity(hope that's a real word)? One of my friends called this slurpy phenomenon polarization. Just a bit of slurpy terminology for all the sluppy fans out there.

hah! i remember! there was an old movie poster had a similar image to this... i knew i had it in my head from somewhere. anyway...thanks for the compliments. sigh. im so content. i'm smart enuff not to take a huge gulp of anything that cold OUCH! burnt my tongue on this darn hot coffee! }:(

I like this one, too. Cute but not corny. Love the name.

very nice work. interesting bg too!

lol yea.. and Joe can fly off the handle occasionally! ( that never happens here!) lol