I imagined the interiors of Esmeralda's buildings being just as hectic and multi-levelled as its exterior with bridges and stairs everywhere and the building itself acting almost just like a hollow shell with very little of it actually used for living.
I wanted to somehow represent the criminal culture in this city but couldn't find an effective way without painting characters. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
As was suggested, I changed the overall surface colour of the water to reflect the colour of the sky as well as a gradient to add some more interest.
As Phil suggested, I added more blue to the scene to hint at water in the city although I'm not too sure whether it just looks like neon lights somewhere below. I attempted to create a Disney-look as Phil had also suggested but I couldn't seem to get it to work unfortunately. It made everything look out of place and unappealing.
I also changed the levels of the image to create a slightly higher contrast and get rid of the slight orange filter-look the image had. After flipping the image in Photoshop, I thought the left side was a bit bare so I added some birds which creates some interest and furthers the sense of depth.
I altered the background buildings slightly, adding some domes so it seems like a continuous theme and tried to make some of the buildings look more intact. I also added bounce lights and rim lights to the foreground and mid-ground as you suggested but I'm not too sure how effective it is.
I think I still need to revise the building designs to make them look more stable and functional.
Originally, I thought the background was a bit dull and empty so I added a second, smaller sun and thought it would be okay seeing as Calvino doesn't outright say that these cities are on our planet from what I remember. If it needs to go, please let me know.
Original image
