August 21, 2017, an eclipse crossed a good portion of the United States. I was not in the path of totality, but travelled north with my family to go see it. To this day, it was one of the most amazing, and aweinspiring things I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing

This drawing was greatly inspired by this experience, but rather than just redrawing what I actually remembered seeing, I wanted to try to capture the awe that I felt. The more I drew, the more fantastic and otherworldly the drawing became, which I felt meant it was on the right track.

There was a lot more to the eclipse than just the visuals. I of course didn’t actually see a giant planet and several additional moons in the sky when I viewed the eclipse, but what I did witness was everything growing darker, and stiller, and quieter. The temperature dropped a good ten degrees, and the air grew almost apprehensive—waiting to see what would happen as the moon swallowed the sun.

It was otherworldly.

So I aimed to try to capture some of those sensations in a way that a purely visual medium could convey, even if the end result didn’t accurately portray the visual aspect of the event.

Personally, I feel I captured the sensations, but I suppose art is very interpretational. What feelings do you feel, looking at this illustration?


otherworldly | ˌəT͟Hərˈwərldlē | adjective 

  • relating to an imaginary or spiritual world

Details:

Title: “Dreaming, Waking, Breathing”

Medium: Digital, Photoshop

Canvas size: 3,000 x 4,000 pixels