Matte painting

The first of many. Recently we were informed about the course change options at herts uni and were advised to look into what profession we wanted to go into as the second year would be much more focused and specialised. So I delved into the course pathway modules to see which would offer me the most in terms of what area of the industry I wanted to aim towards. Visual FX. So obviously I was more inclined to look into the VFX pathway however I still researched the others to see if they could offer me more. Sadly not but I still think it was important to look. Main skills of the VFX course that came up were things like rotoscoping, tracking, lighting & rendering and.. matt painting. Something I am really keen on is concept art, I find it of high interest however I'm no artist. Yet Photoshop is my friend :) and has been for a little while now so I've learnt over the past 4/5 years how to make the most of it. 

Now having the life story out of the way I can move on to the matte painting its self. being the first I didn't really know how I would go about creating it, however seeing as many VFX reels as I have its pretty clear how its done. I had a few attempts at it and referred to 3dhit (http://3dhit.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18582) for feedback where I took that on board to get to where I am. It still needs work but I plan to go back and retouch things for when I compile it into a show reel. Enjoy :) [hopefully]     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5cDYzFjJLY