Pirates killing ninjas. Ninjas killing pirates. So sad. Why can't they all just get along? Like these two <s>slackers</s> upstanding peace-lovers. Kicking back with some rum and sake. Peace and tranquility is good, yeah? ^_^

I downloaded *leventep's brushes to try out, so this pic was mostly an excuse for me to play around with them. He's got some irregular shapes that are really nice for foliage and plantlife. Better than the more square/round photoshop default brushes. It was fun experimenting.

Start to finish in Photoshop. I definitely used refs for this. The beach is based off a photo I took of my parents on a beach near Redwood National Forest. I altered the landscape slightly and changed the time of day. (While I normally post my reference pics, Mom and Dad are very internet shy, so I'm not posting this one. If, for some reason, you're dying to see it, send me a note.) Parrot, sake jug, and rum jug are based off of pics from Google Image. Used posemaniacs.com for loose pose refs for the two guys.

EDIT:
Progression: [link]
Details: [link]