Illustration Friday: Small

And how much smaller the world has become since . .
Created in Photoshop

Illustration Friday: (Not) Free

Shortly after posting my offering for this week's Illustration Friday, I was brutally reminded there are many in this world who are not free, and slavery is not simply something we read about in history books, or read enough about in today's newspapers. I was inspired by the Polaris Project to produce this collage.

Illustration Friday: Free

Great Wall of China

Photoshop altered image of a photo I took of the Great Wall north of Beijing, which I had the pleasure of seeing last September. Incredible!

This version was built by the Ming Dynasty to keep out northern "barbarian" tribes of nomadic horsemen.

The Ming fell to one of these groups, the Manchus, in 1644. Did the wall fail? Not exactly. Disgruntled Ming generals, hoping to overthrow the dynasty, enlisted the aid of Manchurian horsemen, and opened the gates. But the Manchus proved stronger than these generals expected.

The Manchus conquered China and ruled it as the Ching Dynasty until the early 20th century.

This was also my initial choice for Illustration Friday: Strength.

Illustration Friday: Strength

Rocket Roast
Highest Octane
Chewing the bean is the only thing stronger
Backoff Coffee
WARNING
CONSULT A PHYSICAN IF SLEEP DEPRAVATION LASTS MORE THAN 72 HOURS

Pseudo label of my drug of choice. And, my first from-scratch Photoshop effort.

Illustration Friday: Night