Primitive Assignment: Hydra

I chose to put a lot of effort into one "critter". I had just watched Disney's Hercules (1999) the other night so mythical creatures were on the mind. I decided that I could take the primitive approach to creating a hydra. The color palette is a favorite of mine. Burgundy is my go to color for a lot of things and I love to stay monochromatic, its also resembles the hydra in Hercules more.

I had originally started out with a farm landscape, but I had my first hiccup with Maya and couldn't find the file. The hydra was a good go to and I was very happy with the result. In rendering the image I would like to learn how to lighten the background (that might've been covered since I've been out all week).