Game of Thrones Fan art- Having trouble with the background

[alexdanila]

Hi Concept art. I'm working on this piece and i'm struggling with the background. I don't want to lose the focus on the main character, so i'm trying to keep the lines blurred, and maybe with a warmer tint? And also i want to show the huge undead army behind, without cluttering the image. Can't seem to make it work pretty well. Any suggestions on the composition? I will be grateful for any suggestions.

[Piotr Jasielski]

You might try to separate the layers of character an background, then paint the background normally then play with filters and atmospheric perspective - for example use the blur filter or add a layer of atmosphere in between them. This might be easier than to paint it blurred right away and you will have more control over it.

[katt]

Seeing as the white walker has a bluish tone to it, maybe you could make the background similarly bluish so he works in with the environment instead of contrasting against it. I wouldn't make the background warmer due to the setting and the feeling of coldness it should create. You can see in all of the scenes at The Wall that the editors have colour corrected them to be more blue to emphasise the feeling of cold.