169. Submerged

I had a dream the other night of being underwater – typically in these dreams I’d wake up quickly realising I can’t breathe, but in this case I could – which was a bonus. Anyway, this stemmed from that dream.

Is he drowning? Is he trying to say something? Up to you, but it was an image that stuck in my head after my dream. Kind of scary, kind of not. He could just be blowing bubbles.

I promised to someone that I would go further into my technique used on my pictures. This particular piece is very simple, I just wanted to draw it quickly so it was typical brush work straight into Photoshop for me. Very similar to traditional painting techniques, I splashed in a base shape of a dark colour then painted in lighter shades to create the shapes. I put the bubbles and the background on separate layers so I could tweak those as much as necessary without ruining the focal figure.

Hope that helped… in some way! If you have any comments of any sort, please use the fancy new comment box below (update: Now on the right). Go on. Go on.

Dreaming of being underwater!

So, what do you think?

Write your own

1. Tom H
   September 26, 2010 at 1:24 pm

   > Kind of scary, kind of not

   Nope, it’s scary. With those sunken eyes I can’t see any enlightening aspect to this one!
   I like the way the bubbles are rendered, looks as though they’re emmiting light. And props for doing a background, tis very serene!

2. ian
   September 26, 2010 at 1:25 pm

   i like it. His shoulders seem pretty narrow, but i dig the shadows under his eyes and his lower lip is great. how did you get that slight sheen to it?

3. deVin
   September 26, 2010 at 1:25 pm

   I like how he appears to still be sinking, hence his hair being up. And yes, it is scary with the sunken eyes. I’ve been waiting for your next drawing! Nice job.

4. Tom
   September 26, 2010 at 1:27 pm

   I really like this Tom! great style. I like the idea of dreams being used in your work too, I have a bit of an obsession with dreams…Keep it up as always!
   Oh nice colours too!

   oh and last note, I don’t find it scary, although drowning seems horrible it is also meant to be the most Euphoric way to go.

5. radianc3
   September 26, 2010 at 2:04 pm

   Nicely done, as all of your artworks. Wish i had such skills ^^

6. dl
   September 26, 2010 at 2:35 pm

   I don’t feel it’s scary. It’s almost kind of peaceful. Like its like everything around him has paused and is quiet. He can get away from it all and have a big sigh of relief. Like a cleansing.

   Which I suppose death could be too.