Constructing the Urania Metropolis

I'm always interested in how people construct their images and the process of creation. As I watch people produce art, I try to gobble up every scrap of a good idea and see if I can work it into my toolbox. As a result, I get a little verbose about some of my own images. Creating them is always a chase through dark places, down numerous cul-de-sacs and eventually to something I'm content with. Also, I never throw anything away until I'm done with the whole image. I pretty much keep everything (and occasional random crashes in Bryce make me glad I do). 

I've put together two composite images from the leavings for the Urania. The first shows how the design evolved from a basic idea to the final placements.

I started with the basic dome idea and expanded out, but it came out too Roman for my tastes and started to look like the Capitol building. I wanted something more Deco and modern so I build a larger base. I was content for the most part and needed to add something to the foreground, so I re-cycled the sphere from Fulcrum, added a side building, a ring around the pit and the Woodburn Spire to the background. Mostly complete except for the sky.

I tired a bunch of skies, but wasn't really happy until I worked on something different for Hamfast. He did a wonderful sky which I tweaked and twisted quite a bit. Eventually I didn't use his, but it helped me figure out what I wanted and was very useful! (BTW, David is one of the best artists using Bryce today, if you haven't check out his work, you should!)