The piece I am planning at the moment in the part of the book where the three travellers are in a boat in the sea arriving at a huge cliff-face. I am trying to carry on with attempting to make my enviroments look menacing and bold, I am yet to finish my lava cavern ( A few posts below) but I am almost there. Below is the quick sketch I drew up for the composition, I will probably require another sketch for the detail on the cliffs, to work out exactly what shape I want them. The dark black in the image is where the beach will be, with the cliffs surrounding it on the sides.
In the foreground of the above image is the 'electric' sea. An ocean with electric currents ripping through it, as in the book the Uncles Nephew mentions that the sea looks 'almost electric'. I wanted to bring this idea out to make it seem much more dangerous. I have been playing with how it will look in photoshop, and I have the image below:
I'm still working on it. I put the clear sky on there, but I think I will make the image into a scene of a rough sea, with the camera almost trapped in the waves, with an electric storm blowing overhead (Amongst all the gasses in the huge cavern)
EDIT:
I've transformed the image into a much darker scene.I have added lightining to the sky (Still unsure of this, but I have it on a separate layer so I can fiddle with it) I am planning to add a rain effect after creating large cliffs.
SECOND EDIT:
Well it's 2 am and I'm still photoshopping. I took a break at about 10ish to hang out with my housemates, and at 1 AM after a few hours of no work I got guilty and jumped back on the concept wagon. I'm really liking the look of this piece now. I've added all the objects, I just need to refine the details.The compositon is all done, which is good because if anyone wants to give me some advice on it, then I can change it before the crit next week. My plans for the rest of this image is to add some falling rain (Not too much or it will take the focus away),improve the storm with more effects and add more detail to the beach and cliffs.
The background also looks a bit plain, I may add a large mountain behind the cliffs (I will check the book before though, but I think it will fit right in)
This last image has much more potential for the makings of a dramatic scene...
Morning Sam,
I have been watching you build up the lava cavern and i quite like the honeycomb layout you have, however I must add that without handrails those walkways are a health and safety nightmare lol.
The cliffs are coming on as well, not sure you need a mountain, I think the sky could use a push... maybe check out photos of those vast thunderstorms that you get in the midwest of the USA. You can then use the lightning to create some dramatic light effects.
The sea probably needs a bit more roughness to it check out
http://emilypothast.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/slaveship1840161k.jpg
http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/turner/paintings/stormysea.jpg
Actually just check out Joseph William Mallard Turner.