Red Star Gazing

 Red Star Gazing

"What mysteries lie beyond this great solar system? What is that glowing orb of red that sits above and moves in a most peculiar manner? Are we alone, or is there something beyond that's watching from a great distance? I only wonder if survivors of our moons can see and feel it too."

What story could be made of this? I took an old piece of art and have adjusted a few things for interest. The words above are a concept of what the figure in this drawing is asking themselves. Who they are is unknown, but in concept I believe the helmeted figure may be a Glatorian in odd plating, gazing up at the starry sky while they travel through the desert. 

Secondary concept could be that this being is on a world just outside the Glatorian solar system, able to see the three worlds, but also able to see the red star as well, wondering what it is. Who knows, this beings world may have witnessed the explosion of the Glatorian's world during the core war. Their history of this planet describing it as a great nova that crackled the sky and shook the mountains of their planet.

I'm unsure of what year I made this piece, I only know it was during the early stages of my digital art discoveries. I also know that at the time I was just starting to like Bionicle, slipping the red star into the piece, but making the figure my own design which doesn't resemble a creature of their world.

I felt it was time to make the mood pop better, so I added some shading and shine first (left), then I added in extra stars along with some glow spots (right).

I played around with color, added an aurora which resulted in the image on the right. For a night scene the colors seemed a bit bright, so I added a blue filter and got my main image shown at the beginning of the post.

Afterward I wanted to play around, and made the celestial glow version on the left. This made it feel more alien, as though the figure glows in the dark.