***No Pixels were harmed in the creation of this image. It is 100% resolution independent using various vector based tools available in Illustrator CS5***
I wanted to attempt a photo-manipulation style piece using nothing but vector objects. When I started, the concept didn't seem that outlandish: Man was I wrong. It's not that Illustrator can't achieve the desired look, it just that once a file gets to a certain size, my computer starts to really crawl.
Considering your work, that's a huge complement. I just love the medium (if you can really even love software). It's fun trying to see if you can achieve a something that it really wasn't designed to do.
The only feature I use that CS3 didn't have was the ability to control Opacities in gradients and mesh points. You can work around these issues, but it probably takes twice as long