The Garden of the Eloi

I've been working on some backgrounds for my Time Machine project. I didn't do anything for this during spring break despite having some rough sketches done over a month ago. I think I hit burn out on this project plus had Artist's Block on how best to attempt my backgrounds. Originally, I wanted to teach myself digital painting this semester but there was no time to read the book and practice with the bamboo tablet. And then I'm so use to drawing figures that backgrounds without figures was a challenge. I did do some practice rocks and mountains in another sketchbook and had fun with it but finally I just had to dive in and draw these backgrounds because the deadline is this week (Deadlines: The ultimate "inspiration" and motivator).

And so, first up is the Garden of the Eloi. London is the far future is a lush tropical paradise with exotic flora. There is also the marble sphinx wasting away in the garden. I think I tend to color things too dark so the above is a soft light version. Below is the black and white artwork.

And below is the original color version. The flora color pops more and the cracks in the Sphinx are more prominent but the lighter version at the top looks more like marble. I haven't decided which I'll be going with but I'm leaning towards the top one.