Building a tower

A few months ago I decided that I could make better environment art but improving in art is hard, and often requires trying something completely different to get the result you want. Since then I have been thinking about how to build some new and improved cat buildings for Overgrowth. Here are some drawings I have made along the way:

This is the first concept I did of a city for Lugaru 2, about 5 years ago. I felt like I got the basics right, but it was kind of boring and missing lots of the details.

By the time I made this image I had already built a lot of assets for Overgrowth and had a clearer idea of what I could improve. I liked the roof and taller profile from this, but I could tell I was going to have to try something new to break out of my usual habits.

I even tried thumbnailing. I got to try some crazy ideas here, and starting playing with some new rounded shapes, but I was a long way from how I wanted the final concept to look.

I tried another new technique recently. I wanted to keep my designs grounded and detailed, so I decided to pick some inspiring photos from google image search as a basis for my next concept. I finally felt like I was getting close to a solid look. I just needed to put it all together.

Here is a concept I did today. I am pretty pleased with the overall look and colors, and how well the tower integrates with the more organic stucco structures to the left of it. I am thinking of building something in 3D next, or maybe the concept needs more work. What do you think?