Monochromatic Landscape: Barren World

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With this illustration, my intention was to create some sort of barren landscape on a planet that is not our own in a monochromatic color palette. I almost immediately chose a magenta/hot pink for the color because I felt it was different from colors typically seen in an alien world illustration. My initial thought was to use reds and oranges, but given how much we see in games, movies, and art depicting those colors from Mars, I thought something very different was in order.

In addition, I wanted to add some flair to this scene in two ways: I wanted to provide a sense of muster and also show that while this world may be barren and desolate, it was not entirely devoid of life either. For the mastery side of things, I ended up adding these curved spikes that could really be almost anything. Where did they come from and why are they there? Do they belong to dead animals from long ago? Maybe they are technological in origin? The idea is for you, the viewer, to make that decision.

Regarding life in the world, at first I wasn't sure how to go about this, but I eventually decided on placing ships in orbit to showcase that this planet is not entirely unknown. Perhaps the ships in orbit are amassing as part of an armada preparing for battle, even, and the reason the world is barren is due to centuries of war.