Timeless Competition

As i enjoy digital painting and is based around matte painting I am going to enter a competition which would help me improve my digital painting skills. Details about the competition ('PICTURING TIME') can be found here:
http://www.clockmakers.org/horology/clockmakers-picturing-time-competition-2013/ 

For my entry i came up with the concept of a soldier playing with a piano surrounded in a forest. I came up with this idea after being inspired by a photograph which i really liked. I wanted to capture the feeling of that photograph, which i used as reference.

Spoils of time

The piano represents something it used to be, that being in a warm and happy place used for entertainment but now a lost entity through time and war it is a mere toy for the soldier to play around with, surrounded by the coldness of the forest. Set in eastern europe during times of turmoil and war. I wanted to capture the feeling and atmosphere of this place, the vivid colours and the reality of a soldier. 

with lens flare

without lens flare

Tutorials & Resources

[Tutorials]

http://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/maya/character_creation_papageno_bird_catcher/bird_catcher_04.php

http://www.pixero.com/tutorials_terrain.html

http://www.randolfdimalanta.com/mountain-and-asteroid-procedural-textures/

http://en.9jcg.com/comm_pages/blog_content-art-111.htm

http://ae.tutsplus.com/articles/news/fairytale-lighting-in-after-effects/