I get what you mean, my issue is I feel my friends can be creative "yes men" as they are all musicians or artists or writers in one form or another who find it hard to honestly critique each others work. Even myself, only recently told a friend I hated a song he wrote. I tried to be honest about why I didn't like it and as helpful as s to why I felt that way. He didn't take it well.

As for what I was trying to achieve; I'm not sure to be honest. When I draw its usually spontaneous. Out some music on and sit for a few hours and start out and see what comes to me. Mostly I think this was influenced by the music I was listening to at the time (Electric Wizard) so I'd hazard a guess and say 80s swords and sorcery fantasy a la Conan the barbarian and dungeons and dragons. The evils wizards library, strange tonics and occult books of power, that kind of thing.

I've always had a huge interest in the old role playing games art style, black and white drawings on yellowed paper of fantastical landscapes and heroes and monsters.