Rock behemoth (updated)

[Sirio_Brozzi]

This is a wip being done in photoshop. Around 2-3 hours into it. Tell me what you think. This is my third attempt at the idea, after two failed attempts in real media.

Edit: Im going for cartoony, stylized look for this piece. Realism is definitely not intended.

Early state:


And this is the pic in its current state:


Thanks in advance for your time and input. =)

[dogfood]

You might find more useful comments if you give an idea of your aim (realistic v. cartoony).

A couple things detract from the believability:
-The perspective is really off. We seem to be looking down at the whole scene, but the horizon indicates we are looking at the rock-guy's chest.
-The rock formations (especially the tongue that the red guy is on) just don't look like they can exist outside of Tex Avery's imagination.
-The red guy looks rather alien (the long armed type) with an odd pose. For reference of how people look at long distances, check out some sports photos or the tube (this is similar to the angle you might see during a football game)
-There have been many discussions on lighting and color, but when you cast a shadow, the reason that it isn't entirely black is because of the ambient lighting. In the case of the red guy's cast shadow, the ambient light is from the sky (which is blue). With the rocks, you'll get a lot of reflected light (which will carry a lot of the color of whatever the light bounced off of). You have a wonderful chance to bring some of that rich blue into more of the image, which will make the rocks look even warmer (a good thing).
-And I'm sure you're not going to just drop this and start over, but the choice of camera angles may not be the most effective to show something very large in the most dramatic way. As we are above both of them, we are removed from the scene. Not only that, but we don't get much feeling of the relationship between the two. Is he feeding Vol? Is he a sacrifice or come to consult the oracle? Or was he running a cross-country race and missed the left turn at Albuqueque? Are they lovers? We don't know. We just don't know.

Not bad, though.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Thank you dogfood. =) Your critique was great and helpful(like usual), and covered everything I hoped it would. Ill see how many issues I can address, then repost the image when its finalized.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

I went back and addressed a few issues. Also changed the lighting and colors. Still working on it.

[Thistle]

if your looking down on the scene, the horizon needs to be at least fairly close to the top of the image, if not past it. The scene is from high up looking down, unless the scene is in space or something.