After my epic fail at realistic painting, I decided to cool off and do something experimental for fun.

I am sure this is inspired by one of my very favorite DA artists whose beautiful, antique looking illustrative work is just.... some of the best on the site. And some of my favorite, period.

Usually, I am extremely allergic to warm colors, and so I resolved to start with a very warm, very dark wash and see where it went from there. With somewhat surprising results. I like some parts better than others, but on the whole (considering I hadn't the slightest idea of what I was doing) it turned out fairly well.

I'm still waffling on the border. Leaving it alone makes the image much more open, and somewhat unfinished. I considered going over it with a dark green wash, which would close in the picture and pop the red forward like crazy. Or to just mat it with the image alone, and don't do a thing with the border, as it would be covered up.