Paintings of a mountain hut & a lake (new! 18/08/11)

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

In the first image I'm really digging the mountains and the sky.  The environment is clearly where you shine, and the run down shack seems to subtract from the scene rather than add to it because it's so plain and uninteresting.

The second one with the swamp actually reminds me of some concept art for the Left 4 Dead 2 swamps.  It has that moody atmosphere to it that would go well with a dark/horror themed game.  The only issue I have with both of these is their limited utility as anything but 'establishing shots'.  Neither would be particularly useful in a game because of their limited view and usefulness, so composition is definitely something to consider when trying to draw scenery.  It's great to have a nice establishing view of a mountain or a swamp oozing with character but at the end of the day, what holds peoples' interest is variety.  For example, what if there were an old wrecked chevy halfway-sunk in the swamp, the trunk opened and inviting closer inspection, or a line of houses beyond the distant treeline just out of reach, or the figure of a looming medieval tower just barely visible through the fog at the top right of the swamp with crows circling it?  This gives the viewer a 'destination' for the boat aside from the dock and keeps our interest.

[nihilyst]

Thanks, guys, for all the replies

@SpacePirateCaine: In fact, I had to think about Red Flagg myself before I painted this. I really liked that game and the simple, yet detailed style.

@ProgZmax: That's just sooo right. Problem was that I didn't really think about what to draw when I began. As these aren't intended for a game, I didn't care about them being usable or interesting in terms of an adventure game; but, yeah, it would be better if they were. Things you want to investigate or travel to. I'll see what I can do.

I'll try to fix the issues. Thanks again