My top design so far has only garnered 20 votes. What am I doing that is not as appealing as those who win? That is my challenge.

My husband worries that I am loosing my uniqueness in my art by focusing on these challenges. I consider them a means to improve my skills. They are also efforts I can accomplish in little bits and pieces of time. That is all I seem to have these days.

With every digital drawing, I try to use some different techniques, different ProCreate pen tips, different pattern layouts. In Farm Horses in the Clouds, I used a sketching pencil tip to give it a rough edged look. The guidelines indicated that a limited palate was required. Many entries didn’t do that, so they are much more eye-catching than my blue horses.

I made one drawing, then duplicated it in an irregular pattern so when the Spoonflower program did the repeat of the design, the horses weren’t too regularly spaced.