Fog Statue

Workflow:

It was really useful to analyze my references first. To figure out how these artist used fog and then experiment in unreal to achieve a similar result.
(Artists: Ruslan Ragimov & Vladimir Motsar)

After that was done I first set up the landscape and filled it with some basic foliage. I then chose my main camera angle and made sure that it would have a good foreground, middleground, background structure.

I decided on the statue as my focal point and after that was done I placed some more structures around it.

The fog was set to volumetric and I added more foliage and rocks to have them fade in the distance.

I made sure to repeat elements multiple times to make them seem less important and not draw attention away from the statue. They were supposed to support the composition, not draw away from it.

I specifically used some wooden planks to guide the eye and added lots of leafs for a more overgrown feel.

With the lighting I made sure to highlight the shape and edges of the statue. It needed clear contrast to stand out from the background and other less important elements.

Some additional fog planes were really useful to highlight certain edges or trees further away.
The fog also lead to nice value grouping which I tried to further support through some post processing adjustments.

Animated lights were quite helpful to support the overall mood and made the flames behave more like real fire.