This is 1 one of my old works I am planning to add in my reel. I took a boring plate and tried to make it interesting :P… But now I really feel lost. 
I really need direction for this 1. I am not sure where am I going wrong.
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detailed version :
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Nice one Rohit, I think Tony Stark mansion matte painting is a good reference for you in terms on color and contrast. As of now I feel it’s a bit flat in terms of foreground and values. Maybe reworking on the foreground could fix it and also you may try flipping it horizontally for a better eye read on the main focal point.
Here is a good reference shot and a rough doodle I did to convey what I mean about the foreground in terms of composition.
It’s good to see you making lot of improvements, waiting for your reel.
Best,
Rahul
Hey Rahul,
Thanks a lot for the feedback 
… Those were really good points you mentioned. Actually I did this for a mate painting challenge as set extension ( plate given by them )…so I had to keep a fair amount of base plate unchanged… I did change the lighting in the shot but I thought of keeping the foreground unchanged (space for actors to act n stuff) … But I think I should change the foreground for my reel as you mentioned…and improve the composition…totally agree with your point… 
The Iron Man reference frame shows some really nice pointers but in general you should always rather use real photography as reference over another artists artwork. As this shot is a pretty perfect DMP, we can make an exception this time 
Take visual cues such as the contrast and saturation. It is always helpful to work towards something rather than art directing out of thin air! 
The most important attribute to pay attention to is the level of blue in the blacks. See how the blacks shift to a blue tone in the distance? This depends on the humidity but if you get your image into the realm of the Iron Man shot…
Thanks Rahul and Seema … I tried to work as per your points …I also tried adding a bluish tinge in the shadows as we move away from camera … Just wanted to show you an update…
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How about trying to get it into that Iron Man world? Treat your shot as if you were aiming to make it part of the same sequence. Try to match and integrate it.
If you don’t like that direction, post your reference of where you’re aiming to take your painting. Do you have a photo or something?
Hey Milan, I did this shot for a matte painting challenge and the original plate was the one i posted above. The topic was set extension but there was no theme as such.So I randomly started putting textures and later added the architecture. So basically I didn’t take much time to art direct it. and as per the rules of challenge I had to maintain some part of the original plate. So I continued with the look and color of the original plate. Hence, I don’t have any reference image as such. But I was wondering if I don’t go for iron man look and maintain the base plate mood, then how can I make it a more appealing shot ?
Sorry was not able to post any updates on this. It is my last week at school and I am currently messed up with lot of stuff. I tried to do a simple 3d set extension. Please have a look and share your views.
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=7644568#post7644568
You show a general understanding of lighting and matching black levels. You have done a good job putting some interest into the FG, too. I also like the silhouette of the tree at top screen left. However, if you compare your painting to the plate you notice that you’ve lost a certain “crunch” and saturation quality. Your overall work appears washed out, while the atmospheric haze in the plate merely shifts the blacks into blue. The haze level depends on the humidity and photons in the atmosphere. Try to avoid an overall loss of information, as it will lead to looking too illustrative and less realistic. That is why I suggested you find some reference to guide you with the atmospheric perspective. And if you want to match the plate 1 to 1 you should not alter the plates values but rather apply a colour correction afterwards to the entire image. Some other pointers might be the muddy cloned areas and the highlights on the structure.
Yes the loss of information from the original plate. It looks blurred out. I think I tried to use shortcut here and painted lot of areas. It looks painterly and not realistic because of that. I just didn’t get the highlights part and the muddy areas. Are the highlights on the structure too bright as compared to the rest of the shot ?
Thanks a lot for the feedback Milan.
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