Hidden Misty Valley

#1

Hi there,

This was a personal matte painting i completed for fun in my spare time over about a day or so. I used the original photo (see below), made a set extension and tried to maintain the atmosphere and environment throughout the image.

After doing a few cities i decided to have a break and make something more simple, laid back and with just a hint of human presence. I liked the mood of the fog pervading this place i had in the original photo, so what lies beneath is unknown and mysterious, like taking a hike up one of these hills and emerging out of the mist would make you feel like you stepped into a different world…

original photo:

I’m trying to learn as much as i can, so feel free to call me out on any issues you might see and how i can rectify them, all comments and critique welcome :slight_smile:

#2

Hey man, this is pretty neat here so far. The first thing that sticks out to me is that your focal point is smack dab in the center, but your one element that really contrasts to the others (the shack on the bottom left) is kind of stealing the attention from where the eye is led to. I personally have no gripe about simplicity in composition, but I think that currently it feels unbalanced with the elements kind of fighting for your eye. That being said, I think also there’s some of that haze that turns from bright blue to purple in the far right corner there could stand to be equalized out to match the rest of the atmosphere unless there is some sort of purpose to it. It’s cool so far man, keep working on it!

#3

Hi Zach, thanks for the comment.

I think you’re right in what you say. I didn’t state this (i probably should’ve done) but in the back of my mind when i was making the image i started with a wide aspect ratio so i could create a simple tracking shot left to right. This would mean that the elements wouldn’t fight so much as the shack would be revealed first etc. But you’re right as a single image the eye does get lost a little. To solve that maybe i need to make the foreground building bigger so it’s more obvious where to look and i can lead the eye through the scene.

The haze is one of those things i noticed just after i submitted, should be easy to fix.

#4

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