Dragon Dreams
 

I made Dragon Dreams for a TFP member who had some very clear ideas about what he hoped to create for his family. He had spent a beautiful holiday in a Scottish castle with his lady and her Mum. They made a day trip to the coast and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset reflecting in the water, and then returned cheerful and tired back to the castle. This all came together as both a special moment and a happy family memory. Years later, Mum is gone but he now has a bright, beautiful, joyous boy.

Our TFP member wondered, could he somehow bring the spirit of that wonderful holiday, that rich sunset, the aged Scottish castle, and his new young joyous boy alive? Would an uplifted sharing of all these elements, using the magic of dreams and imagination finally bring Mum and the lad together? Oh, and would a dragon be the key to this joining? He envisioned it all coming together as a fit gift for his lady.

Today he tells me the answer is yes. It has indeed all come together, and Dragon Dreams is exactly what he wanted :thumbsup:

The story behind the work makes it even better.

I am the proud, new owner of Dragon Dreams! I was actually going to start my own thread on this, but kramus beat me to it. While I could spend my time speaking about the quality of the drawing itself, its artistic merits and all that, I think the work speaks for itself. I will say that the image above does not do the actual drawing any justice. There are layers of color that have been muted in the jpeg butchering.

I'd also like to comment on the experience as a whole:

Kramus faced a rather stringent list of requirements because I wanted to create a very distinct family memory and inject a fantasy within it. How does one explain to another a memory in sufficient terms to have it recreated? While I'd like to say I have some gift for that, I believe the gift was in kramus and his ability to "hear" the feelings surrounding that memory and transfer a few photos and a few paragraphs into a memory incarnate.

It was really easy to work with kramus, as I found him laid back and patient. I also felt the pricing was fair, considering the size and detail of the work. The finished drawing was 12x16 in. This will be a gift to my wife and son for Christmas, and I look forward to proudly hanging it on my son's wall.

This was my first experience at commissioning art, and I'm so glad I did. kramus rocks!

P.S. If anyone is interested, I will post some of the photos he started with. I think seeing them only emphasizes the kramus' accomplishment.

Wow, what a wonderful story to go with a beautiful work of art. Thanks to you both for sharing.

Having seen Kramus art up close and in person.. i can only imagine how awesome this will look on the wall.

My favorite touch is always in the details.. and in this case its the lovely windblown hat flying away.

Yes please.

Okay, so the castle picture I sent was attached. The sunset picture is in http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...boulevard.html post #13.

Here is a picture of the lad at "his" castle. A quick story: So, my wife and I love to watch the "InFocus: Visions" series where the put an HD camera on a helicopter over Britian, Italy, etc. Just great music and great overhead shots of landmarks. We were watching this show recently, and they happened to be going over Scotland. Each time they went to a place we had been, we'd tell our son, "You see that castle. We've been there!!" He would grunt and keep playing. As Scotland is silly with castles, it happened a lot during the show. Later that evening, we went for our evening walk, as we reached our driveway, our son pointed down past the house into the backyard. He said, "Daddy, see that castle? I've been there!" I still belly laugh when I think of it.

One of the things I asked of kramus was that we kept the perspective from the Oban Sunset picture. That perspective is what will have my wife return to that trip when she views the work. I think he did a great job of merging everything. I'll let kramus link to some of the work in his personal collection. I was particular about "which" dragon I wanted to use. He was very accommodating.

Excellent work Kramus!

I love that his hat has blown off! Very cool.

Cimarron has a clarity in his expression of imagery that is a pleasure to deal with. Couple that with his understanding of limitations when it comes to artwork, and his readiness to propose things such as a dream-melding of imagery instead of requiring some sort of magical realism make his commission a pleasure to fulfill. His vision included that hat dropping into space, it included everything you see. I just tried to execute as best I could.

It was fun.

This is amazing work, I love knowing the story behind it!

damn fine job bro........damn fine.

Update: So, after a few weeks of absolute agony, I was able to give it to wifey for Christmas. She cried. We just returned from the holidays, so I will post an image once I get it hung on the lad's wall. He liked it too. I think we are going to name the dragon "Kramus", but I have to check with the artist first to make certain that isn't Cantonese for "scrotum" or something. :)

Great follow-up Cimarron! I'm so glad that your hopes and my work came together with what sounds like a powerfully positive result :)

And if the dragon is named Kramus, well, that is cool by me. In the past I've googled kramus - found a metal band from the States and a mediocre online story featuring a magician of that name. I've had the name on and off since the early 70's as a minor family nickname based on my given name reversed/latinized. No Cantonese scrote-slang here I'm afraid :D