Research : Matte Painting

One thing that came up in my meeting today, is that my Castle seems to safe. The comments made were that it needed to seem dangerous and away from the norm. I was looking at ways to make it feel more organic, as if the castle was grown rather than built by a person. Lord of the Rings have several beautiful examples of this, with castles and cities built in the side of rock faces and into tree.

Shots of three very different cities, and yet they all seem to be built out of their surroundings. Of particular interest to me in the tower in Mordor, which is dark and dangerous with something evil lurking within, which is definitely the sort of effect I am trying to simulate. Also, Minas Tirith is also of interest, as it is surrounded by incredibly high walls, a fortress that can never be breached. In my recent tests for my matte painting I have been concentrating on these sorts of high walls, and would like to continue with this sort of effect.