This image was done for the September 2007 image challenge over at the Gnomon workshop, with the theme “Cliff dwellings”. Here’s a short description of the steps my process.

Before I start to paint anything, I consider just what message I’ll be trying to convey. I want to show some large, spiky, natural formations that house a population far off the ground. That’s pretty much it, I’m not even worried about a theme at this point. To get started I make a simple line drawing

Step 2 :

What you’ll notice is that even though I spent a lot of time on this pic, the final composition barely differs from this starting sketch. This isn’t something I necessarily consider to be beneficial. Sometimes making radical alterations to your compositions halfway through your process can be a blessing. In this case, however, I liked my original idea enough to stick with it until the end.

Next I try a basic colour scheme, which isn’t much more than ‘warm close to camera, cooler further away”.

Step 3 :

Since I haven’t really got a well defined idea of my theme, this is the time to try some radically different things. I’ve got more than enough detailing ahead of me so no reason to start so soon. I make a few sketches.

Step 4 :

The first sketch looks like a canyon on fire… a little too much ‘hell’ for my liking. For the second sketch I use a photo of a Chicago skyline to suggest some city at the horizon. This gives it a more sci-fi look. I’m not really happy with either. However, I helps me to make my mind up about the theme: I’m going for a natural landscape where the cliff dwellings themselves stand out as pretty much the only cultural element. I’ll go for a more fantasy-styled approach rather than a sci-fi one.

I continue my rough setup. First I put some more definition in the sky; also, I refine the colours here and there. What’s important is that my “towers” stand out against the sky. I have to make sure I don’t put too much dark clouds behind them.

Step 5 :

It’s very important to think about the focal point of the image. I want the viewer to end up at the horizon, and pass my ‘cliff dwellings’ along the way. The sky helps to guide the way, I like that.

Time for some more messing around. I put a suggestion of water on the surface to see how that looks. I also flip the canvas every now and then to get a fresh perspective on the work.