Golden Dunes of Giza
This piece has turned out to be possibly my favorite among any work I've done before. Something about the setting, the golden-orange sand, the towering figure, and the heat in it all combine into something that just hooks me every time I see it. I've always had pride in my work (because there's no point otherwise), but this piece is at the top of the list nearly all the time. What's even more strange is that it wasn't nearly as complex as some of the other work I've done, and there are elements of it I'm not fond of at all. Yet, as a whole, this is the piece that my favorite, and the one I would definitely show off when people ask to see my work.
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This piece takes place in the Duat, the Egyptian afterlife. Within the afterlife, there are many places a soul can go. This setting is what really fascinated me. The concept of the underworld where souls would travel and the deities of death exist was unique in a morbid way. Of course, I took creative liberties with the representation of the Duat. I also got the chance to delve into colors I don't normally use such as the vibrant oranges of the sand and heat, which sets it apart from a lot of the other pieces I've done.
IDEATION
The idea was simple. I wanted the following things:
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A hooded traveller
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The vastness of the dessert
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A huge deity which was ominous and imposing
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Lots of vibrancy and brightness to bring forward the heat of the setting
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With the base image set, I decided to start work on this piece
Assets Used
Drafts
As we can see from the assets, the deity design was a combination of a bunch of parts from other monster/god designs from media. I wanted a specific look and pose so I had to get creative with how I assembled the deity and I mixed and matched a bunch of different elements to make it work. Just wanted to point that out as this detail gets lost when simply viewing the drafts
Draft 1: The first draft was a very strong start considering the end result doesn't change too drastically from the original. The inspiration for the piece was very high so the concept in my head was really strong from the get go. I was loving the deity design given how it stitched it together from various other media. The sand falling from its hand could use a bit of work but was still good enough. The staff and its glow was something I loved as the glow radiates onto the pyramids and the sky and I think I was able to really show off its brightness which is almost blinding. The only thing I wasn't happy with was the traveller. Not because of anything but their position in the image. It felt very off and made the image feel flat to me. I had to change it but at the time, I didn't know where to quite place him yet
Draft 2: Draft 2 arrives with the traveller switching positions onto the left. I was experimenting with where to place them but when on the left, it elevated the piece in the best way. It added depth and stopped the image from feeling as flat as it did before. It makes it feel like more of a wide landscape shot with a better segregation of foreground and background. Such a simple change but very impactful nonetheless. Also added the deity shadow and some more glow details. Added a sand/dust overlay just to set the atmosphere more
Draft 2: The final draft added some more details such as the travellers shadow and a flock of birds flying in the sky. Some minor color adjustments too but overall the piece was ready. Or so I thought. I honestly thought it was good to go till I decided on a whim to bring this over to Lightroom to see if I could make any more 'tiny' adjustments. What ended up happening though, is the colours popped so much more to the point where it made this draft look lifeless. To this day, it always surprises me how I underestimate Lightroom sometimes thinking it only slightly make an image better, when in reality, it changed things massively. The following result below is what got posted after these colour and lighting adjustments
With the colours boosted to 11, this was the final version and I loved it. The vibrancy of the orange/gold sand pops so well. The boost in the sky lighting also added a tinge of deep green to the image which fit really nicely too. I think the colours and what I managed to do with them is the reason this piece is one of my favourites. To me, it just pops and comes together really well. Of course, there are still some rough edges. For starters, the pyramids have this weird thing black outline that I could not get rid off for the life of me. I have absolutely no idea why they exist besides to annoy me. It seems like an issue with the cropping of the pyramids from the background but I looked into every possible reason for it and none of the fixes I tried worked. I just don't even know anymore.... Also, the falling sand from the deity could use some work but overall I think it was still good enough especially when looking at the piece as a whole.
As for final thoughts, this piece has remained in my mind for way longer than any other piece I've done. It's probably the one I think of instantly when I think of my art account. I'll likely do a follow up to it in the future as the setting, colours, and atmosphere, are all things that speak to me deeply. Overall, definitely proud of this one and its personally a favourite of mine