The two images above show typical depictions of the planet Venus. The left image is close to what your eye would see if you were in orbit - extremely thick cloud cover. On the right is the radar height map returned by NASA's Magellan probe in the early 1990s. The false colors in the map highlight geological features for scientists to examine, but they do not accurately reflect the appearance of the surface, and to the layman give the impression that the surface is made of lava.

This next image shows the only two color photos of the surface of Venus, taken in the late 80s by the Soviet Venera probes. The surface is made of a dark, crusty basalt rock. The sky is a deep ominous yellow. My goal with this visualization is to use the Magellan height data in conjunction with guidance from the Venera images to hint at what any terrain on Venus would look like in full color.