Bridge Between Galaxies

I put a coat of varnish on this painting today. Once again, a project that started out as a fun diversion has surprised me by evolving into a finished piece that I really love.  As I was working on the drawing of the girl on the rock and mulling over background options that would give some context the scene, I hoped to find a way to convey how immersive a book can be.As fascinating as the characters and adventures found in the pages of a good book, so are the new worlds they inhabit. From a slightly altered version of our own world to wildly exotic locations in galaxies far, far away, from the beginning of time to millennia into the future, a good book can take you anywhere, put you behind the eyes of a protagonist or antagonist in any situation imaginable, and sweep you up in the emotions of the characters and their changing plotlines.What is truly wonderful about a good book is that the experience is personal and different for each reader, as their own imagination colors their interpretation of the story and fills in those little details.A painting can evoke similar reactions and emotions in its viewer, although more as a snapshot of one moment in time, with perhaps hints of the full arc of a story instead of a sweeping narrative. It can create a new world and provide the viewer with a window to that world, to new characters, and to new ways of seeing the universe.What are your favorite books that have whisked you away?To further allude to that theme, I think 'Bridge Between Galaxies' is a fitting title. I'll be having the painting professionally photographed later this week, and will, of course, post a final image as soon as I get it back.