Memories of an Ageless Expanse

Memories of an Ageless Expanse reflects my desire to find freedom and choice in a world of rigidity and routine. The image brings together familiar visual themes from my work – industrial factories, cybernetic implants, dark fantasy elements, and a cosmic setting – to reflect the tension that exists for me within that desire.

This piece also marks the end of a particular drawing style that I'd been using for several years. That transition coincided with changes in my personal life, giving the art a special significance for me.

In this post, I'll talk through some of the feelings that inspired this piece, then pivot to a breakdown of the tools and processes I used to create it.

The Inspiration for Memories of an Ageless Expanse

As a child, industrial areas carried a sense of awe for me. Something about the scale, rigidity, and cold functionality of their design made them feel otherworldly. To my younger self, they became symbolic of confinement and loss of freedom – an association that followed me into my artwork as an adult.

Memories of an Ageless Expanse is a metaphorical battle with the machine – an attempt to outgrow the constraints of my environment in search of a truer self that can grow freely.

Here, plant life slowly overtakes the landscape while humanity gently rises above it – still connected and restrained by tubes and wires, yet calmly, perhaps even confidently, observing the transformation below.

A dark castle looms in the background as a conflicted promise. It offers escape into another life, but at a potentially grim cost.

The Process for Memories of an Ageless Expanse

I've talked about my pencil and ink processes in a previous post, but it's worth noting that this piece went through numerous revisions before reaching the color stage – including a complete re-inking on my iPad.

For reference, here is the final ink drawing before color:

Color is often a mysterious process in my work. Regardless of my intentions going in, each piece seems to have its own preferences. The real work is listening and responding to those cues, which often leads me toward choices I never anticipated. This was especially true here.

Below is an early color palette that emerged while I was working through the color separations:

At that stage, I clearly envisioned something darker, with a more overt horror aesthetic.

But the true identity of this piece emerged gradually. As I adjusted one area, another seemed to call for its own revision. After many careful refinements, I arrived at the final palette.

As I added texture, shadows, and highlights, the image continued to shift toward a warmer, more saturated palette. The final result carries a softer glow than I initially imagined.

That color-rendering process can be broken down into four main stages: gradients, texture, shadows and highlights, and finally, glows and lighting effects.

Gradients

I began by adding subtle gradients to each element, using the large planet as the primary light source. These gradients establish a foundation for the more defined shadows and highlights added later.

Texture

Next, I set my dodge and burn tools to a spatter texture and lightly brushed over each object to create a granite-like surface. I wanted this texture to remain subtle – present enough to influence the image without immediately drawing attention to itself.

I remember reworking the texture on the woman's face several times. Because she occupies such a central role in the composition, it was important to find the right balance of scale and contrast in the dodge and burn effects.

Shadows and Highlights

I tend to think of shadows and highlights as a paired process, since the techniques I use for them are closely related.

Both rely on the lasso tool to isolate specific areas. For shadows, I use the hue/saturation sliders in Photoshop to drop the lightness and gently shift the color toward blue-purple tones. For highlights, I use a combination of brushes and the bucket tool to fill selections with a warm, luminous color.

I especially enjoyed working on the leaves during this stage. I leaned into strong contrast there, as it helped those forms stand out and feel more alive.

Glows and Lighting Effects

The final stage consists of smaller finishing touches that, taken together, add depth and atmosphere to the image. This includes adding soft glows around light sources – particularly the planets and key details like the machinery of the woman's eyes.

I also spent extra time lightening the line art for background elements to create a sense of atmospheric perspective. Below is a comparison showing the castle before and after full color rendering:

This comparison highlights all four stages, including the softened line art on the castle and planets.

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Memories of an Ageless Expanse followed an unusual creative trajectory. I nearly skipped the color stage entirely, but ultimately reworked the original drawing, re-inked it, and eventually landed on a palette I never expected.

That process – and the moment this piece represents in my creative evolution – makes it a particularly meaningful work for me.

Thanks for spending some time with this image.

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I post process videos, sketches, and behind-the-scenes work as new pieces take shape. If you'd like to see the next stages of this world as it's built, you can find me here:

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