Decoding DDs: Nightmare and why we met there

Share with readers the details of how this piece came into being. Did you have a clear story idea/inspiration from the beginning? 

Most of the time my concept will reflect my emotion, how I feel about certain things.  It will come to me as a vague image, or a quote that I will soon note down.

Half minute sketch

This piece focuses its concept on my observation about dreams, which is what reflects our state of mind while we sleep. I think dreams can't be described as just “bad” or “good” dream. But rather a short journey in our own subconscious world. That means sometimes the dream can swing back and forth from good to bad, depending on what happened at the time.

In this work I depicted a giant boy's face along with his mini heads all over him, looking at the girl with his doubtful eyes. I want him to represent an emotion of someone who questions his own personality, and fears that it might isolate him from someone he cares about, which appears as the girl who is lost in his chaotic subconscious world. She is what a “good” dream is to the boy. But his skeptical personality will doubt her being, reject him from his good dream. Thus it has become a bad dream in the last second before he wakes up.  And that's where I got the name of this one."

“Nightmare and why we met there” challenges the viewer with its symbolic details and imagery. Please, walk us through your process on the painting and the very distinctive style it highlights.

The process started from a scribble pencil sketch to lock down the theme and feeling I want to represent in the work. Then I will scan it into my computer to start laying down the outline and ground color. I do this step in a low resolution file so the  computer won't suffer from lagging.

Rough Color sketch

The rough color sketch is where I lose my big chunk of time because the early pencil sketch barely touched any detailed parts of the piece. I will play around with more ideas here until everything starts to looks like they belong together. After that, I will scale up my painting to what size I have in mind, at 300dpi resolution, and move on to do the detail part, where I use Photoshop for brush texture and Painter for blending color. I didn't make any step-by-step screenshots because my progress is all over the place. I just paint wherever I think it should look neat first. But I always start with the face, and try to keep the layers amount as low as possible. It is easier to do the color blending when everything is in the same layer.

I try to keep my references at minimum, especially on the idea part, to avoid familiarity with someone else's work. So most of the time I use just anatomy and symbol references."

Did you encounter any creative challenges when working on the piece? If so, how did you tackle them? Is there anything you would do differently now if you could? 

During the color sketch where I have to solidify each symbol and color composition in place, yes. In some works I would sit all day just to solve one little spot that doesn't fit with the rest, which isn't a very healthy method. So now I try to take a break when I struggle.  I  am also too obsessed with the details and sometimes forget to look at the big picture. It gets better along with experience; I just wish I realized this problem sooner."

What’s one piece of advice that you would share with other artists hoping to reach this standard of work in the future? 

I think our art matures along with ourselves. So don't rush or force your style. Just keep making them and it will naturally be your own."

What does this DD feature represent or mean to you at this stage of your artistic development? What can your watchers look forward to next? 

I'm glad to see many people appreciate my art. And I have to thank the DeviantArt team for featuring this piece and making it reach a wider audience. My theme is currently about how we as individuals grow up into the complexity of society, and how it has its effect on us, whether we accept or refuse to be part of it. I hope to explore more about this subject in the future."

Bonus question: Can you cite a memorable reaction to this piece in the comments at DA? 

comments: 'Very nice work! I adore the title, very much. It gets the viewer questioning things. Congratulations on your much deserved DD! Enjoy the limelight.'

I always appreciate when someone notices some small things like the title, which, in my opinion, is the important part of viewing and interpreting the meaning behind the art."

Special thanks to pruchsintunava for kindly consenting to the interview!

Visit his gallery for more surreal masterpieces: 

 




Previous Decoding DDs:

Path of Ruins
Le Cannibal Hotel
Air Awakens Omnibus
Dracit
Dead End
Wizard and a Goose
Twilight Enchantment
Bewitched and Betrayed
Walls
The Cordyceps King
Vicious Cycle
Spoiled Princess
Retired
Incoming
Artificial Guardian
Mountain View
Monster Eating Vampire
Roth
Death Knight
Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)
Dragon Watchers
The journey and the big fish
Forrest Defender
Red Snow
Catching Spirits
The Tomb King
I'm fine
Despoiled
Cat Girl
Forest of Bunnies
The Journey
Boulderback
FIELD OF THORNS: OFFER
Malavestros: Muse of Madness
Jet Futura
The Northern Administration
Prisoned Singer
Don Kichote
On The Hunt
The Platform
I know a bank
Love and war
52Hz
Chase, The Dreamer
Mad
Until the End of the World..
Crow Temple
Accolade
Dragon's Breath

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