Illustration XXIX- Dimensions of Seeking
⬅ Check the illustration post before this, Illustration - XXVIII
The Geometry of Understanding
"City human, seeking for meaning, outside the window,
inside their mind,
As he takes steps closer to meaning, sets seeking for more meaning.
Stop looking outside for the meaning of what you comprehend.
look inside cause you will never be able to see things you don't understand.
like looking for balance in a smaller dimensional world."
A little piece I made out of a clear dream I had. I often find it difficult to comprehend the meaning, but as the poem suggests, I can't see the meaning of things I do not understand. One can feel something not knowing it exists. As someone described philosophy as, "Everything that you already know put into words". For if it was something you did not know your mind would not accept it.
The seeker in this position is like a variable and with all the abstract shapes with a hint of resemblance is like navigating through a dream.
This piece emerged from one of those rare dreams that don't evaporate upon waking—a dream that arrived fully formed, geometry and all. I'm fascinated by how the subconscious communicates in symbols we almost recognize but can't quite translate. The human figure navigating abstract forms represents that strange space between knowing and understanding—how we can sense meaning hovering just beyond our cognitive reach.
Technically, I wanted the illustration to create that dream-logic feeling—where things simultaneously make perfect sense and no sense at all. Used a combination of rigid geometric forms and more fluid organic shapes to create that tension between structure and chaos that characterizes both dreams and philosophical seeking.
Buoyancy in Pink Waters
"you got a big heart, U'll float."
There's something about floating that perfectly represents surrender, isn't there? Not the negative kind of surrender that comes from defeat, but that liberating surrender that happens when you finally stop fighting against yourself.
This piece shows a figure floating over a bright pink swimming pool—that moment of realizing that the very thing you thought might drown you (sensitivity, emotion, care) is actually what keeps you buoyant.
Created during one of those rare mornings where waking felt like an extension of dreaming rather than an interruption. The pink palette was a deliberate choice—wanted to reclaim that color from its saccharine associations and reconnect it with something more visceral and honest.
Print available here.
Nocturnal Companion
"The Crow"
This one emerged during a particularly rough patch of insomnia, with Vancouver's skyline as both setting and metaphor. The crow perched on the insomniac's shoulder represents that peculiar company we keep during sleepless nights—thoughts that are both familiar and alien, comforting and disturbing.
Vancouver has this quality at night—beautiful but slightly menacing in its beauty. I wanted to capture that same quality in the relationship between the figure and the crow. They're companions but not necessarily friends, bound together in that liminal space where day hasn't quite arrived but night has worn out its welcome.
The technical challenge was balancing the gloomy atmosphere without losing detail in the darker areas. Used a combination of digital brushwork with some unexpected coffee stains (the authentic artist's medium of 3 AM productivity).
Urban Abstractions
Cities have always fascinated me as physical manifestations of collective consciousness—how millions of individual decisions eventually create this emergent structure that no single mind could have conceived.
This abstract cityscape explores that tension between intentional design and chaotic growth. The composition intentionally blurs the line between architectural elements and more organic forms—that messy intersection where human creation meets natural evolution.
The color palette draws from that particular quality of light you get just before sunrise in urban environments—when artificial illumination hasn't quite surrendered to daylight, creating impossible colors that exist only in that brief temporal window.
Contoured Connection
There's something about physical embrace that transcends the purely corporeal, isn't there? This illustration explores the contours of a couple hugging—how two separate beings temporarily create a unified form through connection.
I've been fascinated lately with the idea of boundaries—how we're simultaneously distinct entities and continuous with everything around us. The hug represents that paradox perfectly—a moment when separation becomes connection without either person losing their individual identity.
Used a minimal line approach for this one, focusing on the essential contours rather than details. Sometimes less really is more—the brain completes the image more effectively than my hand ever could.
Blooming Dance
Two hands dancing around abstract flowers—a simple concept that became something more complex in execution. There's something about the relationship between hands and flowers that feels significant without being obvious. Both are expressions of life, both unfold according to intricate patterns, both are simultaneously delicate and resilient.
The composition creates a circular energy—the hands and flowers in perpetual motion around each other, neither being the center but both creating a center through their relationship. Used a combination of precise linework for the hands and more organic, fluid shapes for the floral elements to create that contrast between intention and growth.
The Inner Intruder
"Sneaky little bitch"
This final piece explores that uncomfortable sensation of being observed from within—how we sometimes feel like strangers to ourselves. The illustration shows a figure peering through a door inside the artist's head, representing that intrusive self-awareness that can simultaneously spark creativity and paralyze it.
The "sneaky little bitch" refers to that part of consciousness that watches the rest of consciousness—the observer that can never be fully observed, the thinker behind the thoughts. There's something both comforting and unsettling about never being completely alone even in solitude.
Technically, this was the most challenging piece of the series, requiring a composition that felt simultaneously internal and external. Wanted to create that sense of infinite regression—the awareness of awareness of awareness—without losing visual clarity.
Dream Logic
Looking at these pieces together, I see they form a kind of fragmented narrative about consciousness—how we navigate external and internal landscapes, how we connect with others while remaining fundamentally separate, how we seek meaning in places we may not yet have the capacity to understand.
Maybe that's what art is for—creating containers for experiences that exist beyond the reach of direct comprehension. Like dreams themselves, these illustrations don't necessarily "mean" something that can be translated into words. They exist as experiences unto themselves, inviting viewers to recognize something they already know but haven't yet articulated.
Until next time, fellow dreamers and meaning-seekers.
— Your friendly neighborhood philosophical illustrator
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