This painting represents a personal challenge to do a matte painting without the use of photos as painting material. However, I used many photos for reference, though. All the brushes were painted from scratch, too, without any photos. I hoped to achieve a more painterly look like this. It was inspired after seeing photos of Dubrovnik which really looks like a beautiful city. There are so many fantasy elements in it, that you could almost place it in Middle Earth. It was done entirely in Photoshop and took me about 13 hours to complete over 3 days.
This is truly one of your finest work. I actually find the elements of fantasy that can be comparable to Middle Earth. With the amazing detail, blending scenery, and the wonderful coloring and tone, this is digital art is one of the best I've seen on Deviantart. A wonderful job.