Recently I've decided to switch from PaintTool Sai to Photoshop CS5. It's been a really odd experience adjusting to the new program, but there are some things that I really needed that Sai didn't have. For example, the pen tool in CS5 is very helpful when doing straight lines and such, and not having to put all of that stuff in a separate layer is pretty neat. However, I'm not finding it to be quite as extra special as I thought it would be. Honestly, I'm kind of feeling like switching back to Sai. Sai isn't in any way a better program than CS5, but I'm vastly more familiar with it. Familiarity means a lot when it comes to putting a project together. I feel my techniques of shading and lines is more in need of a change than my program. People often like to blame everything on the limitations of their chosen format, but I've found most of the time those limits are artificial. There is nothing saying I can't do the same work somebody does in CS5 with Sai, beyond very specific filters which I am in no position to start using. In the end I think I'm going to switch back to Sai. Sort of a random journal to throw out here, but I felt like I needed to get these thoughts out somewhere in a sort of stream of consciousness thing. Also, I'm finding that drawing anthropomorphic characters is another huge challenge to adjust to.