Grey Dream Project – Part 2

 

Welcome back, travelers! I have had several folk voice their desire to continue on this little adventure with me and have been looking forward to Part 2 on this journey. As a recap, in Grey Dream Project– Part 1 I explained what triggered the start of this massive project, my own doubts and internal conflicts, and the beginning of the project itself. Let us continue on, shall we?

What is the Grey Dream?

I've had a few people ask what exactly is the Grey Dream. I'm honestly not sure if it's an official or readily recognized term but it is what I refer to the space between pleasant dreams and nightmares. The thin dividing line between the two where imagery still makes visual sense but could go either way depending on how things are interpreted. I supposed you might say the neutral zone between the two. So with each image for the cards, my goal was to show visuals that could fit within that thin space between positive and negative.

Organization of Thought

Normally with many of my smaller projects, I would just come up with a rough draft concept to see if I like things in certain spots and just proceed with finalization. With this however, I realized fairly quickly that I needed to actually be organized about it. What started as written notes scrawled into a notebook like the rambles of a mad man quickly changed to a spread sheet document. I went ahead and made a list of card names with columns labeled rough draft, lines, final and notes. The note column was mostly to remind myself which images I would be adding a little more shading or completely redoing from scratch in order to have the feeling and imagery that I wanted portrayed. As I slowly worked through the list of images I have for myself, I realized that they could be put into order once everything was done to tell a story. Of course along the way I've also discovered that a couple of the images that I had already completed makes no sense or meaning so those are in the process of being replaced. At this point, I am perhaps nearly at the halfway point on my list of imagery I'm doing. I say 'nearly' since there's 40 images in total not including what I still need to design for the back of the cards and once I'm done with main images, I need to see if anything needs extra work or to be completely redone.

Another thing that I realized early on was that I needed to write down what each design was going to mean. That in itself has been an excersize of patience since I am having to sort out my jumbled thoughts and then put them onto paper in some assembly of order that doesn't sound as if I rolled my face across a keyboard. Each entry is a mini story describing the image you've stumbled onto then the pros and cons of what you've pulled. I've decided part way through that it would best for me to do the writing after I'm done with the images so that my thoughts are less scattered and focused on the next image that I need to do.

Roadblocks and Caution Signs

One of the first things that I realized that I need to accept is that I will need to learn and figure out digital art. Why? I want to be able to add border details and the name of each image to the cards. Could I theoretically do this by hand? Yes. However I am well aware of my own skill level and know that I would not be able to pull off what I am picturing without a great amount of frustration and heartache. Could I also ask to hire friends who are more familiar and skilled with digital work to do the work? Also yes, though over the years I have been finding that this is a skill that I need for future projects in general and would help in furthering my little art business without having to be on another individual's timeline. Thankfully I have several friends who are willing to assist in helping me learn. Am I scared of this new adventure? Oh absolutely. I have been strictly traditional art for my entire career. Originally, when I was younger, I wanted to focus on traditional handmade work because at the time I was seeing that people were turning to digital and I had a fear that folks would forget how to even draw or paint in traditional mediums. So, like the stubborn lunatic I can be, I refused for the longest time to avoid doing things digitally. That worked well for what I was doing at the time but the last few years I have come to realize and accept the fact that though I do need some digital work for projects, that it doesn't have to be the main focus. I have accepted that doing things digitally will just be me reaching for another tool in the box to give the desired affect that I need. It is certainly going to be an interesting learning experience and one that I find myself actually looking forward to.

Another stumbling stone that I've come across is production of the deck once I finally get to that point. Doing research and price checking, I've come across a possible company. The issue? The printing price for their lowest amount of decks (500) comes to $3250.22USD (not

including sales tax and shipping) and the booklet that I could have go with each deck would only be 24 pages. Saving up to the amount is completely doable, however I question the quality of the decks themselves, the box they would come in and wonder at the possibility of having the booklet the size I need for all of the information on the cards. So back to the drawing board on this particular front. I may need to contact a couple of fellow artist friends who had already their own decks produced to see if they have any recommendations.

Other then basically skill issues resulting in me accepting that I need to learn a new skill and price checking production costs, the project has been slowly coming along. I tossed out my initial timeline expectation last year after I realized that particular goal was not realistic in the slightest when having multiple things going at the same time and life. Will there be a Part 3 in the near future? The possibility is fairly high since so many of you have been voicing your interest in following along with this adventure.