Painting a Dreamscape

Dreamscapes! Some dreams are so mundane and realistic that it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't after you wake up. But some dreams tweak the landscapes well into the fantastic, developing into one huge world you can visit whenever you fall asleep!

I dream about my childhood adventures a lot. Places hidden in the mountains, far enough away from home that I wake up in a panic wondering how I could get to work on time. A little bit Tyrell museum, a little bit Mesa from Minecraft. Highways become Hot Wheels tracks. Familiar lakes are displaced wherever the landscape builds around them. In this case, inside a huge underground amethyst geode!

In my dream, I wanted to find the lake so badly. I knew it was there, with pathways carved into the rock and torches casting flickering light over the glittering quartz walls. I didn't find it in my dream, but through painting, I was able to coerce it into reality. That's the power of being an artist or a writer.

Think about the weirdest dreams you've had. Where did they take place? Who are the characters you met? Could you describe anything specific from the memory? Could you draw it?

I started with a doodle I did during a coffee break at work. Then I practiced a little bit with an amethyst study, since I didn't think I could accurately paint one from memory alone! And then I did a practice run in my sketchbook to see if it would work as a painting (working on composition, lighting, colour).

In the meantime, this painting "Amethyst Lake" is available in the shop!