Chasm

There are some really great and strong things about this piece and then there are some things that I think need some work. The colors are very contrasting, obviously it is meant to be this way but it doesn't tie in. Unless you're stating that the lava is part of the cold city or that even a cold city has warmth I don't really know where you're going with this. The colors and highlights used with the volcano are perfect. The highlights on the clouds above the volcano are amazing. Though the flow on the right side and the flow coming out of the dispenser are a little too fluid. A little too thin to be lava. Since we are still on color lets talk about the blue that seems to represent the crystals. I just looks thrown together. There isn't much of a transition between the two. I would have preferred this if you had just done the lava and the dispenser and called it a day. It honestly kind of looks like you drew the crystals, shaded them and then used multiplier to slap on some blue and then added highlights.

As far as shapes go I can mostly figure out what things are. A volcano, gargoyles, the dragons. I like your use of space. It isn't too cluttered and the background elements really bring on a feeling of this place being smoggy and overwhelming. The crystals look too rock like. I use the term crystals loosely because I can't tell if they are actually crystals or rocks. If they are rocks then why are they glowing? The city in the sky can also kind of be figured out but there doesn't seem to be much definition denoting that it is in fact a city or a ship. I wish the crystals and the city had more of a shine to them. I suppose another person could say that the crystals do have a shine but to me that looks like a glow more than a shine. The "shine" seeps into the haze around it giving off a glow feel. Also the fact that the shape of the crystals are very round. With the volcano being such a strong and threatening force I would expect to see more harsh edges to things. This isn't a rounded place, it is supposed to be hard and threatening. That also goes for the dispenser in the foreground. The sides are too rounded. It looks like it has tentacles rather then spiked pillars. I like the holes along it though giving us the glow of the lava within. Though I wish it had some smoke tendrils coming from it. While we are focused on this dispenser I'd like to mention that it doesn't look like the background ones. It is too short and squat rather than elongated and thin. Did you run out of space? Sorry if I'm jumping around but lets talk about the background some more. Like I said I like the background elements a lot. The mountains are perfect right where there is a pinkish glow of clear sky. Though when you get to the left side they disappear into a mist. which leaves the city and the crystals to be the main focus even though the crystals look as if they are on a mountain side themselves. You can see some definition near the left gargoyle but the farther you go left the less definition there is.

Since I just did the scoring on the right I'll explain why I gave a 3 for originality. I'm not going to lie, this is beautiful. I'll be working to get to this point of amazing for the next 5 years maybe more. However the contrast of a volcano and something colder is not a new concept. Especially not with the dragons in the background. Some could say that there aren't many "original ideas left" and to a degree I agree with them. However I think this piece is original enough and has eye catching elements to at least warrant a 3 rather than a 2 or a 1.

I hope you find this critique helpful in developing your already fantastic work.