At this midway point through my rendering process, I still hadn't developed the atmosphere or details quite enough. A few elements continued to change from here on out as I realized certain designs--the leftmost character's shirt, for instance-- weren't working as I'd like.

I ultimately blended some of the ideas from my color thumbnails while also changing the flow of certain elements and one of the main characters to convey more energy and incorporate more bookishness to the scene. 

I tested out a few color and lighting schemes to make sure I knew what I wanted. Some of these ideas ended up changing more down the line, but with this I had a good base to begin. 

I began by drafting a few thumbnails for different compositions I could try to tell the story of excited, bookish youths marveling at the Tree of Babel, a great library that would serve as the centerpiece for my oasis. I made a point of trying different perspectives and exploring different possible designs for the massive trees in this environment.