First of all I would like to say I am very impressed with the maturity and good nature of everyone on the board. The manner people are dealing with critique is great and people seem to be showing a willingness to help others. Also I would like to say that everyone should recognize that whilst I am trying to help out, I don't know everything. I am just trying to divulge as much information to you as I can and appreciate everyone else’s efforts in critiquing as much as my own. I get the impression that everyone knows this but just wanted to reaffirm it.

From a learning standpoint I am happy to say some people are a bit more grounded with art in general then I expected, and almost everyone seems to be at a similar level in regards to things we will be able to discuss in following lessons. This is good because it means that all of you should find something useful in what’s coming up and not get bored while waiting for a tutorial that helps you.

I do know that I haven't critiqued all of you, but I am afraid if I do that I won’t be able to provide lessons at a reasonable rate. That said there is nothing stopping me from going back and critiquing your stuff at a later time and I may just do that. I may even drop in and make some observations whilst formulating the new lesson. But for now I would like you to recognize that I have made some general observations, and comments. At the 'end' of each lesson I will highlight my points that you should have an interest in:

• Think in 3d
  Example
  I recommend a number of people try actually building faces, or similar 'organic' (I use the term referring to smooth natural looking rather then alive) structures out of polygons for practice.
  
• Use a reference
  Example
  If you are working from a source you know what exactly looks wrong, this is wonderful for learning. Of course it stifles creativity in some sense, but you can use a reference for anything. When creating a fantastical creature use an assortment of animals to help you work out how exactly its anatomy should look.
  
• Share your colour ramps and be careful with colour
  Example
  Correct levels of contrast between colours is important, as is colour conservation. I haven't gone into too much detail with this as I want to discuss this in the following lesson (as you all know).
  
• Priority
  Example
  When creating backgrounds find ways to separate the different levels through some form of contrast

I will be tackling some general art dealings with my next lesson so it is going to be a rather large one. Unfortunately this means it will take a bit of time to put together, and my weeks is a pretty busy one, ideally the lesson will be finished before the week is out. I know I said it would be ready sooner but I can't be sure how long exactly it will take, so a sorry in advance if it takes a while.