Well, if smooth is not going to happen for you because of whyever (inventing words here now to keep up with you) then do shoot for the former nonunproficiency you were talking about, over the general unproficiency, how 'bout? I'd agree that it's not necessarily *easier* on the whole but if blending is overtaxing for you why not hone the skillset where your compositions are so good that it doesn't matter that smootheness -- I know you're self-critical but I think you already achieve it to a degree that is large-ish.



I rarely go into making pieces trying to make them as crisp shiny as folks often do when they're working in AI because I'm often more into art for the initial impression of a pic that it renders in the first 12 seconds (also cuz I don't work much in AI so it's work to emulate it), versus pics standing up to extended, superminute scrutiny, because let's face it, most fans prefer shiny and prefer fast turnaround over slow. Some artists can do perfection at speed, but I'm also not getting paid so right now doing both at once is not a goal or priority.