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TB8S β The Oneironaut
by-nd
Published: 2012-11-05 06:15:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 4111; Favourites: 155; Downloads: 38
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Description
This is my first commission piece from a close friend/coworker. This is the largest drawing I've ever done and a new set size for future pieces. Took around 40 hours to complete. I'm very proud of it, so well worth the time spent. An oneironaut is a traveller of dreams. This is based off the phenomena of lucid dreaming as my friend is a constant lucid dreamer. I'm going to upload a better quality picture of this once I find a scanner.14" x 17" ink on bristol
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Comments: 64
I'm glad my suggestions made sense. I try to be a bit cautious since I've never learned theory etc. Much like you learning through experience and other's suggestions.
Since it's not a perfect science (no hard proven evidence?), I feel the theories are based off what humanity in general perceives to be enjoyable art. That being said, there are no rules. So I just go about saying how I would personally approach the piece of art. Though I do my best to keep my personal biases at bay. Everyone has their own style.
I'm jealous that you remember your dreams! And who knows, bizarre delusions and personal issues can be great inspiration
I like how you think. With both your art, learning, and critique 
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Ah, glad someone finally mentioned the writing. Yes that is a very important factor in the theme of this picture so your suggestion is very suitable considering you're the first to point it out. I'm not sure what I can do to make it stand out, but I'll put on my thinking cap and work it out.
I like your suggestions for flow and composition. I am self taught, so I am unrehearsed in traditional design/comp theory. I've always had a good eye though, so I use it to my advantage. The great thing is you're always improving as long as you take critique seriously. I am a full believer in taking what people say with a grain of salt opinion wise and taking to heart technique wise. In other words, some people may be rude if they don't like your artwork, but even rude people can offer good critique. Everyone is important to the art process. That is why I think we were put on Earth in the first place; to create.
On a side note, while this piece talks about dreams in particular, most of the art you see of mine is based off of how I perceive the world in my own personal dreams. They are very cerebral and often take place in large open M. C. Escher-esque landscapes. I don't dream in black and white, but I like the monochrome style for my ink drawings. People have been receptive since I started so I kept going at it until I had my particular "style" down.
Thank you immensely for the critique! It truly means a lot to me. I started making art as therapy for my own bizarre delusions and personal issues, but after several years of intense happenings people began to tell me to make it a career. I shrugged it off for a while thinking I wasn't "good" enough, but now I'm taking it very seriously. I'm not in school currently and have never had a formal art class in my life, but I constantly study techniques, art history, anatomy, geometry, psychology and philosophy to expand my knowledge as if I was enrolled somewhere. You don't need a formal school to learn. Knowledge starts with a spark of curiosity and the moxy to make it happen.
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Great title. "Oneironaut" gives me the notion of the sleeping girl traversing through the dream world, adding extra depth to your drawing. Titles can make a break an art piece, and you went with a good one.
You clearly put a substantial amount of effort into this, and it paid off. The drawing is dynamic, intriguing, and has a lot of room for interpretation. "Why is she dreaming about this or that? What significance do the characters at the bottom right have? Etc."
This may just be a style-preference, but I do think the girl could use a little work. The shadowing on her face is a little odd and distracting. I have mixed feelings on her dress. In one respect, it creates contrast with the remainder of the drawing, pulling my attention to her. However, it also looks somehow incomplete when compared to the rest of your work. Again, had you decided to add more detail to her, you would have run the risk of her image fading into the rest of the artwork, so the approach is entirely up to you.
A few other things I noticed: the girl's hands seem unusually large, masculine, and flat when compared to the rest of her. The light house also loses some of its dimension toward the bottom, losing its appearance of roundness and becoming two-dimensional. This could be fixed by having curved the lines rather than having them linear.
These are just minor things I noticed after staring at it for a bit. I don't think they're anything to fret over, but this wouldn't be a valid critique if I didn't take the time to point them out. The only thing that I think really takes away from your drawing is the way it has been scanned in. The center is extremely bright and shows a little bit too much of your pen strokes, whereas the corners are dark and have lost quality. I would suggest shooting the drawing with a camera, being sure to turn the flash off. Make sure to get a photo that's not too dark or too light, then bring it into photoshop. By playing with some of the digital filters, I think you could get this drawing to really "pop out". In my opinion, this will make a dramatic difference for the quality and appearance of your drawing.
I hope that helped! e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
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I really enjoyed reading this. I unfortunately have to use an iphone to photograph my pieces right now, but I'm about to go get all these high res scanned in at a print shop so hopefully the new version will look a little nicer. I agree with you about the hands in particular, but it wasn't something I noticed until after I had finished it. No sense crying over spilt milk though. Typically my pieces are mostly stream of consciousness with little predetermined material thrown in. This was the first piece I truly sat down and sort of mapped out so to speak so it was a test run in that aspect. I can see what you mean about her face shadowing as well. As I may have mentioned, I'm self taught so my crosshatching/shading may be a little wonky at times, but that's why I like critique. It helps me improve. But yes, the girl in particular was left a little less detailed to have her more in the foreground since she is the subject of the picture. As for the lighthouse, I can see what you're saying about the loss of dimension. I never picked up on that when I was sketching it out. I'll keep these in my mind while I finish my next big piece so hopefully it shows improvement.
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What is Awesome~!
I really love the idea. It is very detailed and has a lot of meaning behind it. You really interpreted dreams and in particular, lucid dreams very well. It is obvious you put a lot of thought into this. Your shading is very well done and what you added to this drawing gives a very unique style. Makes me want to try and figure out the story within the dream.
Suggestions:
It is very busy and it makes the artwork seem distracting in some areas from the actual subject. Perhaps try to make things more focused in the future.
You did an excellent job~!
Keep up the good work!
I look forward to seeing your future works e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
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There is a great deal of information to absorb in this picture, as it is so cluttered, that I had to view it in smaller sections at a time and then piece it together. While this may seem like a negative criticism, its actually the other way around: every little bit makes sense on its own and tells a story, and is also woven into the fabric of the rest of the dreams; collectively, they make more sense than some of the sections on their own, when you view the image as a whole....which is a catch 22, since, as I just said, it is alot of visual information to absorb if you try to analyze it this way. Really good.
On a technical level, attention to detail is what gives this portrait it's ability to express itself in the intended way. If you had little to no detail, or just skimped in order to fill in empty space, the portrait would have visually fallen apart as a disaster. There are so many little intricate details, patterns, and even different drawing techniques (I'm seeing crosshatching, for example among others).
This portrait rewards the viewer with more visual treats the more time they devote to it; I'm sure that there will be something to uncover each time it is viewed.
Great concept, great execution, and awesome attention to detail! e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
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can you explain how you got so much detail in it but it only took 40 hours?
I quite love it. Β It reminds me of the cover of Revolver by the Beatles: Β images.huffingtonpost.com/2013β¦ Β
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Sorry for taking months to answer you. I rarely check my DA account anymore. To be completely honest, back when I made this I was taking a lot of adderall and other things which left me staying awake for days at a time. Since this was a commission piece from a coworker, I felt more engaged in the art, and due to my highly increased attention span, I was able to knock it out pretty quickly.
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WOWWW!!!!
Bit psychadelic hahah. Damn this is so awesome. SO much detail and so much to gaze at! I love art that you can just stare in and constantly find something new.
You are fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
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It's so easy to get lost in this piece--the detail s amazing!
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Oh wow, very great concept to perform work on. 
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An excellent showcase of what one can do with a pen with a bit of imagination. I think the finer pen strokes and patterns work well in depicting qualities like dreams. The checker patterns and stairs help to add depth to otherwise the two-dimensional drawing surface.
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This piece is incredible! I also lucid dream on a constant basis, interestingly enough. The detail you've put into this and the constant flow of everything makes it so easy to stare at. I like the mix of rigid and organic lines.
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do you know why you lucid dream? Β I think most people only occasionally have a lucid dream.
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You do very nice work
In my minds eye I hear Dave Brubeck Quartet "Blue Rondo A La Turk"
Very nicely done
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I really appreciate it!
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You're very welcome! Artwork made ββa huge impression on me. Only someone who has an incredible imagination can do the drawing. I work mostly with photo or draw from nature. You're right, the photographer. Certainly inherited ability, aesthetic sense and the ability to observe the world. That's a lot.
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whoa..this is a lot of detail done in 40 hours! i wish i can do that much detail of work XD
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I think I could add a lot more detail with 40 hours, but if you say so haha.
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ahh, well that makes sense 
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Now this must have taken hours and hours (40 I see) to complete. I think i could look at it for a long time and always discover something new.
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I try to give my pieces "replay" value. It offers a distinct experience each time you look at it, but it's also fun for me trying to hide things for people to stumble upon. Too many Where's Waldo and I Spy books as a kid I suppose.
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Thank you dearly friend!
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I like the way I can lose myself in the painting and the surreal vibe it gives
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Thank you so much! My intent is to get people to explore the piece in depth. I find myself getting lost within it even though I know exactly what's in it.
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I really appreciate this in earnest. I just recently started calling myself an artist in seriousness because I never felt like I had reached a high enough level to be worthy of that title. It's all I do outside of my job so I finally feel like it's how I should label myself. Thank you.
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Your style has a jarring, dark quality to it, and I just love how so much crosshatching and detail has been crammed in.
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I looooooove me some crosshatching haha. I'm about to start mixing pencil and ink to enhance the crosshatched areas by giving sections a grayscale on top of my usual shading. I teach myself, so it takes me a while to get comfortable with a certain technique. I really love how you describe it as "jarring and dark". My life since I started making art has been exactly that. I've gotten straight now for the last few months, but I used to be on some really hard drugs and went through hell and back with a cast of characters and situations suitable for a Hunter S. Thompson novel. Art is my coping device now, so there's bound to be some remnants of my past life and my own mental illness (bipolar type II, OCD, ADHD) weaved into it. Thank you so much!
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You're welcome! I really love it when artists can take bad experiences or feelings and turn them into something really talented and beautiful via art! It's also such a deeply personal and brave thing to do, even if people can do it sub consciously - it really makes the work so much more expressive. The grayscale idea sounds brill, can't wait to see more work!
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Wow, this is awesome. All the details you put into this are incredible!
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If I had a dollar for everyone who said they loved the details, I'd have a lot more free spending money than I do now haha. It's funny because the detailing is more a byproduct of my severe OCD than just wanting to fill up space. I suppose it's therapeutic in that sense.
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Interesting! I suffer from severe OCD as well, but it manifests itself in my case with more obsession than compulsion. I am close to what they call a "pure O" OCD case.
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You're fabulous!
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Thanks, TBBS. You got some great work also
Thanks for the faves and the watch
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Thank you so much! I try to be "actual" epic with my artwork. Glad to see I'm succeeding.
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those are some great buildings and stairs and i like the girl's eye makeup
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Man I love stairs. I think it's my obsession with Escher that has made me include them in my recent work. I'm getting something ready for you to collab on so get excited!
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