Mirror's Edge Catalyst - Still Alive

Inspired by Mirror's Edge Catalyst.  I still like Faith's old look better, but maybe that's just me.  Created with GIMP.

Still Alive: How I Made it [Step by Step]Let me begin by saying that this is in no way a tutorial; I am still a beginner in GIMP (My very first piece was "SpellThief,)" which I completed on 11/11/11.  At that time, I didn't even know how to use layers.  I still have very much to learn and do not pretend to be a professional.  However, I thought that at least one of my six watchers might take interest in how I make my artwork.  Still, feel free to critique me to your heart's content.  I'm eager to learn!
Now that that's out of the way, let's begin!  
 
I started with a photo I took on a stormy afternoon from my front porch:

Taken using my Samsung Galaxy S4; not a professional camera, but not bad considering.
I thought that if I flipped it upside-down, the blue sky shining through could act as a sort of "glow" coming from the city.  Fortune seemed to favor me, as it turned out much bet