Okay, on the previous post I layed out a page spread from start to finish. The sketch was quite loose but I had done a lot of sketching for this page. The Lion's Gate motif is something I've used before. Its a very graphic symbol, and its suprisingly common. A quick google reveals Lion's Gates in cities all around the world.

The image here shows my entire artboard with all the sketches and scans that went into the piece. Thats kind of how I work, I improvise a lot, just doing what I think feels right. Theres a lot of pick and mixing, a stroke from this image, a shape from that one.

The sign is a Dante reference, although depending on the translation the real incantation reads 'THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY, THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN, THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST. JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER; MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY, THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE. BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS WERE MADE, AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY. ABANDON EVERY HOPE WHO ENTER' and lacks the often repeated 'HERE'. Oh yeah, and its inscribed above the door and not on a sign as such. Artistic license, you can't beat it.