Expected Colors

Having just finished another page on my sketchbook with acrylic paint markers, I flipped back to the first page I did when the markers were new. It seems that a lot of people like to diss their own past works, especially if they're younger, but putting down yourself is really not the way. I like seeing where I started and how much I've grown. One noticeable thing is how looser I'd gotten. The first time I tried, I was very adamant on doing solid fills and bold outlines, cel-shading style. It works well with acrylic markers, but since then I'd moved to a more painterly style, leaving white spaces and half-blended areas, noticeable brush strokes. I think studying impressionist paintings influenced the shift. Another difference is how comfortable I am now to blend and shade with a completely different color from the base. My earlier works were flatter, utilizing only what is termed the "local color". Apple is red. Sky is blue. Now I can confidently skew it to purple with greenish tint,…