Day 4: "underwater"

[asakiyume]

Another possibility I considered was a world of huge inverted mountains--icebergs, as seen from underwater, a world of floating mountains. But it was too cold; I didn't want to draw a cold thing. (I haven't checked ahead to see if there's a prompt "cold" or not.)



When we imagine the world above water, we focus (usually) on the floor of the world--the ground underneath our feet and the things that spring from it and, like us, walk on it, but when we think of the world underwater, we focus (usually) not on the ground level, but on the air (except it's underwater, so it's not air; it's water) above. Imagine if it were that way above water and most of our landscapes were airscapes. But we're bottom dwellers in the world above water, so that's what we depict.

Comments

[okrablossom]

Those are amazing! Wow! Reminds me of Agnes Arber.

[asakiyume]

*runs to look for Agnes Arber*

oooh! Thank you!

[okrablossom]

Sorry to post twice/pester but this would make a lovely greeting card. Oooh...

[asakiyume]

It's not pestering! It's flattering--thank you ^_^

[asakiyume]

(And feel free to download if you like--you can click through to Flickr for a larger size)

[okrablossom]

Oh, thank you! I will. It's gorgeous.

And I'm glad you are enjoying Agnes Arber. I have been trying to write a poem for her for about 3 years now. It...still needs work.

[amaebi]

I. Love. That. Drawing.

[asakiyume]

Yay! I'm really glad!

[osprey_archer]

we're bottom dwellers in the world above water

Ooooh - I love that - although it seems almost sad. Like a quote from a lost poem, though.

And beautiful drawing. (Have you ever thought of selling any of your drawings or photos as greeting cards? I saw someone else mention it up above, and it definitely seems promising.)

[asakiyume]

The thought's crossed my mind, but the pragmatics of it would make it too onerous. But people are welcome to download the image and use it for cards (I appreciate credit in cases like that but)

Lovely!

[light_of_summer]

Oo, that's a lovely drawing! (Water lilies? Lotuses?) The plants and the fish complement each other so well!

I love the streamlined shapes and graceful movement of fish, in general. The way you've rendered these particular fish seems to me to communicate a moment of shared thought or inquiry, which goes very well with your beautiful thoughts about human point of view, both above and below water.

Oddly, I can provide one counterexample to your thought about us (generally) depicting landscapes, rather than airscapes. My last neighborhood was pleasant, but didn't make for good photographic landscapes. I took a lot of close-ups of flowers and insects, but also long shots of clouds. Most of the cloud photos weren't really satisfying on their own. So, at one point, I composed several of them into a virtual "quilt," which I remain very happy with: https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/light_of_summer/10496101/310470/310470_original.jpg

Re: Lovely!

[asakiyume]

Oh that is a *beautiful* virtual quilt--love the center four panels especially.

When I look at clouds-and-sky, I always get the feeling I'm looking at an ocean. A novel I abandoned writing was going to have a part that took place in that ocean above and I've had dreams of wading through clouds like surf.

[light_of_summer]

Huh! For me, sky and ocean feel very distinct from each other, so feeling them similar is a very new thought for me to try on.

...I have to ask, but please feel free not to answer: when dreaming about wading through clouds like surf, could you tell what you were standing on? I can't quite picture whether sky became ocean, with sand below and air above, or if sky stayed in its usual position but you were so tall that the clouds were around your legs, or what.

*curious mind is curious, but willing to do without an answer*

[asakiyume]

No worries ^_^

I can't recall that I had anything solid under my feet, so maybe it was like being able to walk on water, only not **on** the water, but just a little below it? Like your feet are in the water, but not very far in, maybe ankle amount.

[asakiyume]

I guess if I were to diagram it, it would be like: there's land here beneath our feet (and the ocean, for a whole other realm, but there too, there's ground at the very bottom), and air above us... but imagine that if you got up to a certain point, the air became water, and on the surface of that water, there were clouds floating and blowing about, and then above the surface of that water another layer of air, with, above it, maybe yet another ocean, who knows?

[light_of_summer]

That is very cool! Thank you for explaining!

[sovay]

But we're bottom dwellers in the world above water, so that's what we depict.

I really, really like this one.

("Oh, tree! Eat the fish!")

[asakiyume]

"Oh, tree! Eat the fish!"

*loves you forever*

[sovay]

One of Gordon Bok's albums I've been trying to track down for years is called Another Land Made of Water (1979). We didn't have a copy in my house when I was growing up and I think I've never heard it.

[asakiyume]

I would **love** to hear this.

[sovay]

I would **love** to hear this.

It's on YouTube! I keep not remembering to look for things that existed before YouTube did.

[asakiyume]

~ listening now ~

[asakiyume]

It was very cool! I wasn't expecting a whole storyworld to be presented.

[umadoshi]

That is beautiful! *^^*

[asakiyume]

As is your icon! (and thank you)

[queenoftheskies]

I love this. It feels so peaceful and free.

[asakiyume]

So glad <3

[rachelmanija]

Lovely! The fishies are adorable.

[asakiyume]

Thank you! Glad you like them

[ivy]

I have often thought about what it would be like to be able to easily move through three dimensions in the way that we can through two. I think that's part of why flying a helicopter was so satisfying for me... you can actually do that. Every so often, the world is like your dreams, and that's mind-blowing.

[asakiyume]

I wish I could believe that I'd **relax** in a helicopter and really be able to enjoy it--maybe I could? I settle down in a plane (and I've flown in some very tiny planes). But that's why for me what's ideal is flying dreams: flying, but completely within my control the way walking is. And man, is that bliss, zooming low, just a few feet above the ground, or up above the treetops. The best.

[ivy]

I totally preferred being the pilot to being a passenger for that very reason... we could just go where I wanted to go. Dreamy. [grin]