Here is quick update of the Artisan Earth Island showing a bit of wear and tear and Skylanders. The text is on the picture...

Here are some shots for all the Hot Dog fans out there. While he's not one of my "go to" Skylanders, He is fun and a lot of people like him. This is him on the Artisan Earth Island (hanging on our wall to display all of our Earth Element Skylanders and the first in what I hope to be a series of 8, one for each element. I'm presently working on the Artisan Air Island)
On an interesting note (at least to me!), the background skyscape is from the Dark Edition Swap Force Starter Pack we got from GameStop. It looks great and is a really handy portable backdrop for any Skylander pics. I plan to paint the wall where we are putting up our islands. I'm not master painter but I am going to give it a try. There are a lot of help videos on YouTube as examples. Believe it or not, Bob Ross is one of the best for this kind of project: encouraging, detailed, simplified as much as possible....And let's face it...Very Relaxing!,,,lol.

Here are some un-watermarked versions for anybody that wants to play with them. Use it in any way that you wish-Enjoy!

Not part of The Lightcore set, this is a shot of the artisan Earth Island we have hanging on our wall. After completion, I took the wall display out into the backyard in full sun and put some Skylanders into position. I created sunken display pads in various places to hold them in place and better conceal their often color mis-matched bases. A bright orange sheet was placed behind the model to act as a "green screen". I was able to remove the orange background fairly easily with editing software and substitute in the sky background. I don't mind doing this at all but I like to explain to you which pictures have been tampered with and which pictures are all "in camera" effects. 

This picture shows a downward looking angle that I like.

Enjoy!

Here is the final version of the Earth Element Island. Its ready for wall hanging and Skylanders figures. I set it up outside to take some pictures in full light. and to document how it came out. (also to have comparison pictures for how it takes the wear and tear of use).
They turned out excellent. The picture at the top of the blog came from this shoot and was not touched up in any way. (with the exception of being rotated and an identification logo added) The blue sky in the background is just that: regular blue sky. My wife said it almost looks fake!! lol.
I cut the island away from its background and posted a full shot of it above.
I have been considering how to proceed from here and I think I will be gathering some of the "concept art" and pictures I took during construction to present the process in a step by step way. As I moved from the idea to making it a reality, I had to brush off old skills far out of use (soldering for one...YES! soldering!!) and research a whole bunch of methods requiring skill sets I have NEVER had (painting realistic rock for starters). "YouTube" turned out to be my classroom!!