Jim helpfully mentioned during the crit that the sky at the top of the image was strange looking for that elevation, so I've replaced it with what I think is a more convincing texture.
I've also added a human presence to the image, and eventually the buildings in the middle third of the image will start to look like an inhabited village.
I scrapped the bright hull-thing that was eating up space above, as it's dimensions were awkwardly manipulated and didn't fit with the new direction for the area that I have in mind. I'm going to make the top structures have a few more components, but also be more decayed-looking.
I have some interesting ideas that I'm tossing around for the companion texts of the image. I'm finding that it's enjoyable for me to mull over thematic ideas and possible characters while I work on the visual details of the image. It alleviates some of the boredom of attending to the nitpicking details and provides a good, concrete starting point for me to think thematically. I've never considered myself all that much of a storyteller, but I'm finding it's considerably easier to think about such things when I'm working on something visual. My mind has something solid to spin off from, otherwise I just can't see what the thematic possibilities are.
When I sleep, I have the dullest, most unmemorable and unimaginative dreams.