Ask Yourself WHAT IF?

When you really want to stretch your creativity, ask yourself "What If?" when you're working on your art.  That's what I did after I pulled out this photo to work with:

"Big and Small" - this was one of those images I asked myself "What If?" a lot on!

What if...I added a hummingbird to sit on his horns?

What if...I added lots of textures, focusing the light on the area where the bird sits?

What if...I desaturated those textures to tone down the color of the elk, while still keeping the hummer more richly saturated?

What if...I added lots more textures from a variety of collections on top and underneath the elk in different layer modes, forcing the light and dark areas to happen exactly where I wanted?

What if ...I ran a painterly preset in multiple programs and blended them together using layering at various opacities?

What if...I used a smudge tool to soften the hard edge on the hummingbird that I missed when masking?
What if...I added a slight - very slight - shadow on the horn under the bird?
​
Take your time...ask yourself "What if?" a lot...it takes hours of work, but it's well worth it.