I'm not sure how to finish this or where to go with it. but thought i would share what i had done.

Love it thus far.
I am assuming that is a rock bridge? I would (if I could) add some highlights and shadows either side to bring out the rock or trees if it is a path in the forest. (Am I close?)

It's looking good so far. Nice sky and atmosphere.

if I may make a suggestion:
put some "structure" (texture) on the front components (rock, path); even if "invisible" at a first look, it should appear applying some "detail extractor" plug-in...

to tell the truth i just started painting. had no idea before hand of what to do. it took about 20 minutes to do what you see. kinda think highlights are needed to. not sure if i can pull it off.

thanks

On first sight I thought of an old Star Trek episode, the original series, where Kirk, Spock and all are standing beside a portal of some kind on a rocky, as usual, planet. The portal has more or less the same shape as in picture. Might be a direction to take the picture in.
I like the background and distant mountains, they both look good. But as others have said the foreground lacks detail and is the place that needs to be worked on. Good work so far though.

This image would be a good place to try out the dodge and burn tool. You could experiment lighting and darkening the rocks to make them stand out. Just a thought, There is always the Undo button.

thanks molly. i got it saved as a xcf file. will do more work this weekend. just having fun and ended up with this. more to come. i promise

agree on the detail of the foreground.