WIP Mushroom Village prompt

[artbytra]

Hi all I am playing with the idea of a traveler that is in search of a mushroom village that he has only heard stories about...the traveler has finally found the village. Very early stages at this point, I wanted a waterfall in it and I think I will play with darker shadows near him and then brighter colors toward the mushrooms and sky. What's your initial reaction? Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks -Todd

[Miriam]

@artbytra I can't see the image. It looks like you clicked the "submit" button before the image finished loading. Make sure you can see it in the preview before posting.

[artbytra]

Thanks, Yeah I'll have to try again...
Technical difficulties please stand by! haha

[Miriam]

@artbytra If you are having trouble getting it to load, check the size. I think the limit is 1200 pixels on the longest side.

[artbytra]

Thanks @Miriam now let’s try this again! Any thoughts on it is greatly appreciated.

[holleywilliamson]

@artbytra This is a fun idea with lots of cool details, but my initial reaction is that the village is falling apart since the mushrooms are not upright.

[TessaW]

I'm loving the vibe of this. My question is: have you explored this idea with lots of different thumbnails yet? I feel that there's some room for exploration- playing with placement, size, and levels of different elements in this piece. For example:

If you spend sometime fine-tuning the overall composition, without getting caught up in the details, it might give you a stronger piece.

My only other thing is, I'm wondering why that bag is on the ground like that. To me, it's distracting- instead of being caught up in the moment of him finding the village, I'm questioning the event that led him to take off his bag and leave it on the ground.

Anyway, can't wait to see this progress. It's a really fun image!

[artbytra]

@TessaW Yeah I guess in my mind he was like in awe of the discovery and dropped his bag, but yeah I'll have to decide on that bag, thanks! I tend to get focused on one concept and just go at it, I do need to explore more! Thanks for the comments and for those mock ups!

@holleywilliamson Thanks for the comment! Over grown village was where my mind was, old definitely but still working. I may play with steam and more ropes and pulleys throughout.

I'll keep at it, Thanks all,

Todd

[demotlj]

@artbytra If you want to keep the idea of his dropping the bag from his surprise, you could have his right hand outstretched, fingers open, and the bag dropping as if it is freeze framed at the moment of discovery. You'd have to work the values and color to make him a real focal point though if you want to focus on his surprise rather than the village because he's small and the gesture might not be big enough to read well.

[artbytra]

@demotlj Ah yes I see what you mean, good thought, thanks. I may play with the idea of him crouching down as if he doesn't want to disturb what's going on far in front of him.

[Miriam]

@TessaW Good point on exploring a concept with different thumbnails. I know I need to work on this, too!

@artbytra I agree with the other comments.

I was wondering why the traveler stopped there and why the bag is on the ground. I think having it slipping out of the hand or sliding off of the arm would convey the idea of it being dropped better. Also, it looks like they stopped at the mushroom, rather than being overwhelmed by the village. I think a crouching position would be confusing.

I'm not really getting the breaking down element--for example, there's a door built into the mushroom top on the right--so it looks like the mushroom was in that position when they decided to build a house in it. If the village is broken down, the structural elements should be breaking down along with the mushrooms. Another way to show that it's old could be to have faded colors and cracking / crumbling edges. I believe this happens to some real mushrooms as they age.

Another little thing--the steps aren't cut to the same scale as the ladders and doors of the village.

Tree on the right feels awkward to me--like someone chopped the top off. It could be nice to have branches hanging down, but it isn't balanced with the rest of the tree.
Here are some photos that can give you some ideas:

It's a nice concept, and I'm looking forward to seeing you work on it!