style practice and technique

At this point I was tarting to test and develop the style I've been using further. I knew that the Shinto/Kami project I had in mind would take place in a lot of woodland areas and involve nature. I decided I would do theses tests as a way of seeing how many ways I could effectively paint the same subject matter in the same style but do something different in the method/ process of painting it each time. As I'm wanting to produce a good body of work for this process I was also seeing how long it took to paint each test piece as that would also help to swing what process I would likely use more often in my project.
I tested a variety of methods such as only using the brush with one layer to give more of a traditional look. Using the mixer brush to sample and paint existing areas of the painting. Using blending layers and the stamp tool to give the paintings a colour boost, and using the lasso tool to help divide the image up and add depth.
When asked people tend to prefer the two images on the left as they use more than one of these methods in each painting. I agree as well that they're visually more pleasing than the rest and especially for this project as they give off more of a whimsical vibe due to the colours. Because they use a mix of methods they do take a little bit longer to paint than the others that stick to mainly one trick. It's something I can work on speeding up further and discovering new ways to get the same effect faster. Or organising my work flow in a way that lets me get it done quicker.