[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- base painting

I've learned a lot about painting thanks to the articles and videos our comunity shares on Internet.
There is a lot of talented artists but I like especially the guys from Massive Voodoo for the way they live, see and explain the colors.
I've learned that sometimes It's good to do a mess with paints, don't be afraid to play with the colors, experiment and focus more on the atmosphere than on the details.
In the article below, Roman explains how he's painted his dungeon display using the base like a palette, playing directly with brush and colors on the wall and ground. I recommand to watch the video.
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.it/2011/06/creating-dungeon-display-base-part-2.html
I've used the same technique for my base and I have to say I had a lot of fun. Basically I've focused only the choice of colors and where to place them. The darker on the front and the lighter on top of the wall.
On the picture below, we can see the result of the first draft. I've rougly placed the colors and after 10 minutes of wet blending with my big brush, the global overview is quite finished. My palette was composed mainly with ocre, orange brown, warm grey, beige and black.
As you notice, I've also painted the first shadows. In front the foe's shades and on the wall Valeros' shade.  
 



After this first draft, I work with a smaller brush and increase the contrast of the different elements. More black on the shades, more saturated colors on the wall and the wood, higlights on the edges. I have also added some washes (secret weapon) of black green, stones, sepia and dark amor.

I put the mini again on the base to check the general atmosphere and the placement of the shades.
I've noticed that the scene was a little bit empty. The shadows of the foes were not very defined and didn't give the idea of the their presence. So I've added some weapons, arrows and dards. Probably I will come back on this details later to make them more realistics.

Enough of base painting for now. I will finish the details at the end of the project. I' going to start the miniature paintjob to be sure that Valeros matches well with the display.