This was one of my first favorite early composites for my class. The elements were provided, but it was up to me to arrange them in a new and interesting way. 

The astronauts and planets are duplicates of the same image, so shadows and highlights needed to be changed depending on where the light was hitting them to make them fit properly within the scene. Using dodging and burning layers I was able to blend them with the background and foreground to create a seamless sci fi scene.

Using the paintbrush I gave one astronaut a thumbs up to convey the feeling that everything's gonna be alright :)