Putting this up today, same day as I create my new account. It isn't meant to be overly artistic, complex, or awe-inspiring. If anything, I wanted it to be as simple as possible. Something to fill a space in my currently-empty index page, on its first day ^-^;; The original picture is from old batches I've taken on my trips to California. I usually visit the Los Angeles area twice every year, and so I take lots of random pictures (although I haven't had access to a good SLR camera in years. Just an ultra-cheap digicam now). Living in windy/cold Chicago, I have an immense appreciation for the sunny atmosphere and unique visuals out in Cali.

I snapped this flower in Santa Monica (close to Venice Beach). Since this pic didn't turn out as sharp as I'd have loved, I decided to mod it. It was altered to mimic a pastel oil painting. Just used Corel Photo-Paint (a very old version of it, too, as I've always been more familiar with the program than with Photoshop). In this case, you won't see the complete effect of it unless you full view the pic. I tried shrinking it, and the brush strokes don't look right when the size is reduced greatly.