Progress, in black and white

I thought some of you might be interested to see how some ZIA tiles progressed as I worked on them.

I had started four tiles with gray washes. I had a vague idea of 'tree' or 'houses' but I try not to be too specific with shapes at this point. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of just the washes. Here are the four tiles with some initial tangling on them.

At this point I'm thinking:

• Tree: I like the tree trunk but what to do in the sky?
• 3 onion domes: It looks like a big window in the left-hand tower, but that's not appropriate, is it?
• 2 onion domes: I like the dark gray in the middle sky. The tree worked out alright. What's going to happen on the left?
• Houses: I like the two windows on the right. What's that Paizel on the left?!?

Next stage, well-developed but lots to do still.

At this point I'm thinking:

• Tree: Nice Paisley Boa fills! Still, what to do with the sky?
• 3 onion domes: Interesting layers happening in the background - not quite what I expected. Why did I do those windows on the left-hand tower?
• 2 onion domes: Nice moon. Nice bushes. Okay cloud.
• Houses: Nice windows and door. It's become a rainy day. Still not sure what that Paizel is on the left.

Finally, finished.

The finishing and fine-tuning:

• 'Jujube Tree' - I added red/orange jujube fruit. The sky needed to stay simple so I just added an orb and shading. I did a thicker outline around the tree.
• I wanted a dark sky so I made it medium gray and tangled Morse over top.
• "Moon Roofs" - The cloud ran into the top of the onion dome so I darkened it at that end. Added a few shadowy Sanibelle bushes behind what was already there. Fine-tuned the moon glow and whitened the moon.
• "Rainy Day" - I grayed the clouds and darkened along the top to give an overcast feel. I put some white lines in the black of the Paizel/house on the left. I made the half-circle window above the door stained glass. I added thin, wiggly lines of rain in front of the houses in 005 black pen and added some tiny circles. I added similar wiggly lines in Sakura's Clear Stardust for some rainy sparkle, and used a clear Glaze pen on the windows. The angled photos below may show the sparkle better.
  Oh, the Paizel? I think it's a vine.

Attempting to show the sparkle of Stardust and Glaze pens.

At this point I'm thinking:

• 'Jujube Tree' - I might do something more/else with the ground. I'll probably mount it on canvas and paint around it.
• I probably will not mount this one. I find the background too busy, or perhaps it's the towers. Maybe I can do something about that later.
• "Moon Roofs" - I will quite definitely mount this on canvas and paint around it. I love the light in it.
• "Rainy Day" - I'll probably mount it on canvas and paint around it using a bit of glittery paint. :)