Thanks for the kind words of praise. Now, onto answering the questions (in no particular order).
Yes, I do consider it a compliment that the thumbnail was mistaken for a photomanip. I strive for realism.
That's not fur on her boots. Believe it or not, it's hair. I couldn't find a decent mesh that I could use on the boots, so, I grew dynamic hair on the boots. I could make the hair thicker, but, the memory that sucks out of my computer is nasty. (Plus, I like to think of it as polar bear fur, which everyone knows is transparent not white )
And I actually went from PEN & INK to photomanips to Poser5. One of the hardest things as an artist is consistancy. Getting the same character to look the same over and over. With pen & ink and photomanips, you're starting from scratch everytime you start a new project. With Poser, once you get a character to look just right, you can use that character over and over.