Final artwork:

 

This artwork is part of my ongoing daily series, Antithesis. If you like, you can check out the other 50 artworks on my website, Instagram @antithesis_daily, and on Behance.

 

PROGRESS: 

I am a huge fan of James since early 2010, so this class looks like a Christmas gift to me! 

I've always liked the "huge structure" vs "small men" mood in illustrations and graphics, and, after a recent trip to Rome, I found the perfect inspiration for this project: the colossal roman Basilica of Maxentius.

 

First, I started sketching the point of view and the perspective with a couple of dirty thumbnails.

 

 

After founding the right angle and the right references photos, I jumped in Illustrator and started drawing the overall scene.

 

 

 

I added some atmosphere thanks to my old friend big red Sun and some transparent gradients:

 

 

 

Instead of a sand dunes desert, I decided to create a rocky desert, closer to the real look of certain parts of southern Italy:

 

 

 

And finally, our little surreal guy staring at the ruins:

 

 

 

The final touch is given in Photoshop: some grainy brush (also recalling sand) and some great textures taken from Unsplash.com public domain pictures:

 

 

 

And here it goes: this is my final piece! Thanks James for this amazing class!