A mermaid junps out of water, exposing her eye-catching shape to the moonlight.

...was not what I was supposed to draw. XD

I thought I was going to draw a girl with goldfish's fins and with her legs intact, but as I proceeded with the sketch, I felt it was not fitting the scene. Instead of clinging to the primary idea I switched to a mermaid.

On the whole I enjoyed painting it. After I got over the terrible artist's block I had last year, I noticed something in my mind had changed again. I don't know what it is, nor can I explain it, but it could be another turning point which could direct me to the next step.

Artistic expression and drips are probably OK. While anatomy, water surface, drips from the tail and the splash could have had better expression.
I tried putting sparkles as well, only to find that the calm atmosphere was spoiled with garish glitters, eventually I decided not to adopt the decorated version, which I believe was right.

Anyway, it was a good start as the first step of self training, I suppose.

Everything from sketch through final effects done on Photoshop6 as usual.

I hope you like it.