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Description
The Colony of Ootmo, seen floating from beneath. This is an introductory image of the life-bearing environment from my project "Pelagea."

In essence, it is a colony of many interdependent species, that form this massive thing, that floats across the surface of the world. As it floats, it absorbs sunlight through tons of algae, which creates food for the many species in its upper layers, which are in turn food for more further down. Underneath the algal mass, coral-like polyps form massive spheres that become home to even more species, and so on, all the way down. Towards the bottom, minerals, detritus and carcasses from above splinter from the colonial mass, dropping into the darkness below. The tentacles, comprised of bundles of more delicate fibres, allow the colony to anchor to other colonies, grasp large (very large) hydrosaurs. The idea is inspired by "Portugese Man-O-War" colonies that roam the oceans looking for food. These things are that evolutionary idea blown up to monstrous proportions - to such an extent, that they become an eco-system, amongst which my characters' story will unfold.

It was tough to show any kind of scale for the colony in context. My story calls for the colonies to be several kilometers across, and stretch to the deeps of a "standard" sea. Though they probably wouldn't stretch all the way to the seabed, or below (trenches), they would trail far below. The size meant that I couldn't paint the colours of the ocean to scale. In reality, most of the colony in the picture would be in total darkness, as light only penetrates the first few hundred meters, so I fudged it for aesthetics. Same goes for the scale of the fish (all those little dots near the top). Each of those dots should really be a shoal of fish, many thousands and millions in total, but they read more like individual fish.

Painted in watercolour and casein, 10x13"

Description
The Colony of Ootmo, seen floating from beneath. This is an introductory image of the life-bearing environment from my project "Pelagea."

In essence, it is a colony of many interdependent species, that form this massive thing, that floats across the surface of the world. As it floats, it absorbs sunlight through tons of algae, which creates food for the many species in its upper layers, which are in turn food for more further down. Underneath the algal mass, coral-like polyps form massive spheres that become home to even more species, and so on, all the way down. Towards the bottom, minerals, detritus and carcasses from above splinter from the colonial mass, dropping into the darkness below. The tentacles, comprised of bundles of more delicate fibres, allow the colony to anchor to other colonies, grasp large (very large) hydrosaurs. The idea is inspired by "Portugese Man-O-War" colonies that roam the oceans looking for food. These things are that evolutionary idea blown up to monstrous proportions - to such an extent, that they become an eco-system, amongst which my characters' story will unfold.

It was tough to show any kind of scale for the colony in context. My story calls for the colonies to be several kilometers across, and stretch to the deeps of a "standard" sea. Though they probably wouldn't stretch all the way to the seabed, or below (trenches), they would trail far below. The size meant that I couldn't paint the colours of the ocean to scale. In reality, most of the colony in the picture would be in total darkness, as light only penetrates the first few hundred meters, so I fudged it for aesthetics. Same goes for the scale of the fish (all those little dots near the top). Each of those dots should really be a shoal of fish, many thousands and millions in total, but they read more like individual fish.

Painted in watercolour and casein, 10x13"