Master Copy- Scott Wills

As an exercise, I set out to digitally re-create a Scott Wills background painting. The original piece was traditionally painted by Scott for the Samurai Jack animated series. An awesome stash of Scott Wills' drool-worthy paintings can be found over at CandyCaneLane.

Here is Scott's original painting...

Here is my copy...

It was a really fun challenge. It was a good lesson in balancing texture and quiet spots. Scott is a master of keeping that balance. He shows the perfect amount of restraint that keeps his pieces visually interesting without being distracting or overworked. He uses the busier parts of the composition to lead your eye to the quietest part, the lake. For me, the most difficult part of this challenge was to keep it from looking digital. I struggle with that in my work, so this was really good practice for me.