I was so happy with the beach from the background of my last commission that I decided to go back and complete it as a standalone drawing.In the original, since the otter and bar obscure a lot of the scene, I never actually drew those parts; the big cloud didn't have a right side, and there were gaps in the beach too. I was also a little unhappy with the way I did the breaking waves and shimmer of the sea - I simply picked a brush that did the job for me instead of painting it by hand. At the time, this was a practical decision - the focus of the drawing was the otter, and it looked good enough - but when the beach is viewed on its own, those parts stand out as being a little too ...mechanical as compared to the rest of the piece. So I went back and redid the beach front and the sea too, and I also added more reflections of the clouds into the ocean.
I mentioned this when I posted the otter drawing, but this kind of digital painting is something I have always struggled with... but it's also something I very much aspire to incorporate into my repertoire... so while most of the evening didn't go to comic work (some did though!), I think it was a very important opportunity for me to practice and get used to techniques I don't often employ.