A young male explorer haphazardly enters a large cavern, the contents of which are concealed by total darkness. Isolated atop a rocky ledge, the explorer soon finds himself surrounded by the long, coiling body of a beautiful, serpentine dragon. The dragon gazes down at her unexpected visitor with a slight smirk and our traveler recoils in fear– is this his final moment or will he live to see another day?
For this project, I'm aiming to do a simplified, monochromatic oil painting with an emphasis on strong mood and lighting. I'd like to keep the overall aesthetic simple and stylized, perhaps looking like a story painting for an animated movie.
Any comments or suggestions for my comps would be appreciated!
I did a few variations of this composition where I experimented with scale, camera angle, and position of the dragon, and found that I liked this angle the most. I didn't want the dragon to feel too overbearing and powerful in the scene. Additionally, I'm looking to emphasize the unspoken interaction between the two characters instead of showcasing just the dragon.
Here's a flat-lit image showing the general composition.
The original sketch.
