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@Humility - Another trick, which does take some trial and error and a bit of patience, is to use dodge and burn. I like to draw on paper, take photos of the pictures (since I don't have a nifty scanner), and then play with depth using dodge and burn. Once you understand the direction of light, you can try these methods to see if you like the results. First you have your base image. Add a Burn layer Add a Dodge layer Choose dark gray to add highlights to the Dodge layer (the lighter the color, the brighter the highlight) and a lighter gray to add shadows to the Burn layer (the darker the color, the darker the shadow) Use Gaussian blur to smooth out the edges (play with the levels to see what works best for your image) Then erase around the edge of your base image to clean up shadows and highlights that extend beyond it Play with the Opacity slider on the dodge and burn layers to adjust if they are too bright/dark. Unfortunately, I have no talent for drawing background for my people, so I have no advice there. But since these past few posts were about shading, I figured I'd chime in.

@minaite Embedded plugins and other things are nice, but just because plugins manage their own windows doesn't mean PDN is an outdated piece of hobby software. In my opinion, it's hardly worth a complaint at all. Since only Rick can work on Paint.NET, I'd assume that he must be the intended audience of your usability speech. I would like to point out that Rick has been making steady updates that frequently include patching obscure errors related to usability and, if you didn't notice, Paint.NET is packed with features completely centered around usability. The recent update to pan the image past its bounds when zoomed in is such an example. He has acknowledged some time ago that the current plugin implementation isn't the best, so he's definitely aware. You mentioned teamwork and so forth -- Rick is the only person working on his project, for which he doesn't get paid, just to benefit his users. It's fair to suggest changes, but not to bash Paint.net or draw its professionalism / credibility into question on a simple design choice.

@LionsDragon, I rescued one on the weekend. THey said he was flighty & bitey. They called HIM Lucille! I'd probably bite too. He is a sweet boy who needed medication for a respiratory infection. Now settling nicely & we have called him Felix. He is my 5th boy & I have 7 girls I miss doing my art too & hope to get back to doing some soon. Keep up the lovely work!

Here's a compilation compatible with PdN 3.5.11, should anyone need it: DPL Kaleidoscope for PdN 3.5.11.zip

I found this tutorial (by RuokDbz98) helpful. It was a time when I was really concerned about making a good lineart (because I didn't and don't have a graphics tablet.) Also, there's the option of drawing the strokes, scan them and tweak them, like in this tutorial, by acsoundwave. I've found that a combination of brushes (with an eraser to shape it), a radial gradient (set to transparency mode), and median can give me a decent result. One has to brush in a separate layer, and erase it (whether the person wants to create a lineart or paint shapes or shadows.) Then, select the gradient tool, and, starting close or in the middle of the stroke, expand the gradient. The edges should look faded, like this (from XxiMercurYxX.) Then, duplicate the brush layer and merge. And, finally, use median. Example: Brush hardness: 0% 75% (default when opening PDN) 50% 25% 100% No antialiased (or MS Paint-like brush) Median (radius set at 15 in all of them, only the percentage changes): 30 45 40 35 50 (a higher setting will turn the stroke into an MS Paint-like one) 50 (a higher setting will give it a white outline) Note: Settings may vary depending on the brush size, especially the settings for median.

Thanks, toe_head for another great plugin!

Available! For a limited time only! Call 1-Its-Not-Real! (Yep. It's not real.)

Yeah, I know, I keep forgetting to start that gallery.... I'm so neglectful of late! But hopefully I won't be neglectful for the whole year Encouragement is always highly appreciated

Indeed he looks evil as hell