When beginning this piece, I brained stormed ideas of how I could alter the universe and tie it into my question about Texas. Before I knew exactly how I would connect my question in, I began working on my piece's alter universe section. I wanted the background to be of different mountain ranges to bring more diversity to my piece, so I first layer masked additional mountain images. The mountains would look proportional; I used my tools to play with the sizing and the angles. For the background, my goal was to find an image that would bring in more colors to my piece, so I got the idea to add the colorful galaxy. 

Continuing with my piece, I decided to add more aspects to my piece, which is why I said the different hands. Using my tools, I placed the hands behind individual layers to create a more 3D piece. I used my curves and contrast tools to play with different lighting aspects and finding the light source in my work. To keep my Texas theme, I had the idea to add additional Whataburger images, so I created a layer mask and placed them in different hands. I used my brush tool and took down the hardness to erase parts of the hands to look more realistic in the hands. I decided to take out one of the last picture's hands because I thought it would add more visual variety to my piece if I made the french fries come out of the mountains. I then created different layers for my shadows of the hands. 

For the final touches of my piece, I decided to add the Whataburger restaurant to complete my theme. I used a layer mask and different brushes to blend it in with my image. I created another layer to shadow the restaurant to add more depth and look more realistic. I also decided to add the outer glow behind the mountain range to create a shine and add more interest. My goal for this piece was to add different aspects of the Earth while also sticking to my Texas theme. I adjusted the lighting and contrast towards the right light sources. Using my stamp tool I stamped over parts of the restaurant to make it set more in with the my over all piece to finish it off.