its a start. i'd like to see you take into PS and **** with it. maybe it could colorful bubbles of oil or something idk. you could come up with some cool stuff i bet
The only thing that's bothering me is the inconsistent shading in between the scales or whatever they are. I really do love the amount of subtle detail, though.
Really like the curvy lines and watery-infection-esque shading on the edges (how'd you even do those??). Like titmar said, you should put it in ps and see what you can do. I'd love to mess around with it in ps
I wanted to try this concept using an oil effect, with each cell being a bright color that fades quickly to the inky black edges. If I had Ps, I'd definitely try it out, but alas, GIMP is a pain in the ass. The shading looks about 5000 times better than you see it there, but my scanner can only do so well. The one darker cell in the middle does bother me too, though. Feel free to mess with it, I'd love to see what you come up with. If I made the thin dark parts much darker, I think thinning them would be a good idea. As for the shapes, I wanted them to retain a sense of structure, like a web or some sort of geometric system.
I really, really like that first version, Erico. That's almost exactly what I was imagining, and you chose a great selection of colors for that.