World tree on the back of a tortoise

The creation mythology of many different peoples is about the world standing on the back of a tortoise and the tortoise rising out of the sea. It will remain motionless for many centuries, but if it does move, the result will be an earthquake, a tsunami.

Another element of mithologies is the World-Tree or Life-Tree. I don’t know if the tree and the tortoise meet in myths, but now that comes to mind.

The tree on the tortoise's back grows to the sky, through the clouds, towards the stars.
There are different worlds in the tree, between which there is only a connecting path through the branches of the tree. To do this, you have to climb a tree, but it’s a dangerous thing, so only the strongest, smartest can do it.

My idea was a spacious tree, with clouds and mountains among the branches and two cave-like gateways under the lower branches. The tortoise in the water was painted after a free Pixabay picture (since I didn't know exactly what it looks like in a side view). Well, that's not a sea turtle but a land elephant tortoise from the Galapagos Islands. But it doesn’t matter now, since it’s an imaginary world, where the tortoise symbolizes the Earth element (physical world). In fact, water is nothing but an ethereal medium that completely fills the world. In another sense, this medium is consciousness.

The picture was painted with Sonnet watercolor on Fabriano A/4 paper.

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I think you're wondering how it was made.
Let's see!

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Details:

Among the clouds

Roots on the turtleback:

Gateway to the Golden River:

Gateway to the Unknown

Underwater turtle: