Dreams of Longing

This is my entry for the Kick Your Own @ss contest [link]

I am so very proud of the redo that I did on this piece. I worked so hard on it and got such great critiques and tips to make it work. I have to say that without all my supporters here this piece would still be trying to stand. Very special thanks to ~Lemmy-X who pointed me to a wonderful tutorial that made the final touches on this piece possible. Talk about wonderful. I love ~Lemmy-X's work and have been so inspired to try new things because of it.

Even if I do not win in this contest, I truly believe I have proven to myself how much I have grown and how far I have come. I have a long ways to go and I am learning more every day. Perhaps this time next year I will do another redo of another piece and see where I am. I love the idea of redoing something. When you compare side by side, you can not deny your growth. This is something I am so very proud of. After breaking my wrist and being afraid I might never be able to to this again, I have come so far.

In that spirit I would ask that you please let me know what you think of this final piece. I will not be redoing it anymore, but any constructive critiques will help me with future works.

This piece is dedicated to my wonderful dA family who have given me support, critique and love for the past two years. For showing me that I can do this and that I have the ability to grow and to become a real artist has been such a gift. Thank you so much. All of you will never know how much I appreciate, respect and love you all.

Best of all I say thank you to the following stock artists who provided me with the beautiful tools that allow me to make my art. This time they are:

Model
[link]
Backgrounds
gravestones
[link]
Lake
[link]
textures

[link]
and
[link]

Tutorial on making my models sit in the brass and not ON it by:
[link]
There are so many great tutorials there... FABULOUS!!!