Overall

Vision Vision

Originality Originality

Technique Technique

Impact Impact

It starts; yet another day at work. Each and every day you sit from your terminal and watch as ships and cruisers fly by into the unknown. Ships of countless shapes and sizes cascading the dark skies of space, their ion trails vanishing in the distance as they vanish in the thunderous crucible of their hyper-jumps. Off jamming with stars and burning the skies, everyone moves on. All except for one; you. There was a time when you were one of them; a face filled with the eagerness to take to the skies again, ever so eager to travel and discover more about this vast cosmos that we call home. You were always the first to find and discover new, the first to test new technologies and the first to meet those we once called strangers. Now you sit at your aging terminal, watching it light up whenever a new ship enters the local airspace and whenever one leaves. Every so often you'd turn around and wave to a passing scientist or worker, with an empty smile as you pretend to give a damn about their lives. From exponentially adventurous to exponentially tedious, you go from work to home to sleep, then repeat. Just once you wish you could go back into the unknown again, to rediscover the reason why you left earth and set your sights on the cosmos. Then you ask yourself that grounding question:"How?"The last of your funds went to recovering what little supplies you had lost from your last trek. Your only home is the base you work at, unable to even afford personal housing. Plus years of injury and varying degrees of toxins have taken their toll on your body. You still may be young, but you feel as old as the stars themselves. As your rest your head on your desk, your mind drifts on, floating through the memories of your past glories, hoping in vain that something will spark up one more journey; one last adventure. Little did you know, that someone...or something is preparing to grant you that wish. Something that is slowly making its way toward you., created by *moonxels, presents us with an all too familiar scene in science fiction, the encounter with something unknown from beyond, yet shines it in a different light so that we can look at it for the first time once again.To begin with, the artist's signature style is here and it brings out quite a bit of the overall detailing within the piece. From the many scratches on the surface of the metal-plated floors to the varying sources of light within the scene's background and foreground, there's definitely a lot that's bringing this scene to life. One can almost imagine being surrounded by the silent humming and gentle glow of the lights and machines within the intergalactic base. A subtle use of blue haze in some of the corners give the image an almost surreal feel that presents an almost dream-like element to the composition. As if the subject is stuck between the borders of his reality and the mysterious lands within his subconscious. These elements work hand-in-hand quite well giving a very nice balance and style to the piece that this artist is known for.However, while there's a lot that works in this piece, there are a few things that could be done to make it that much more of a sight. While some of the details look better than others, which is understandable, there should be a general increase of overall detail in the foreground elements to contrast from the background. Some parts are barely identifiable and could use some fleshing out to differentiate them from other elements in the composition. Perhaps by sharpening the details in the foreground and applying a depth of field effect on the background elements to give it that extra feeling of dimensional and dynamic depth. One smaller suggestion would be to slightly crop the piece with two vertical black borders to give the piece a more cinematic presentation as well as a more dramatic feeling to the overall composition. Keep experimenting with these elements and styles and see what you could add for the piece's benefit.The depths of space hold countless mysteries and unknowns; all just waiting to be discovered and understood by us. For those willing to make the journey, they will do all that they can to find as much as possible to branch us that much closer to further advancement. While there are others who are unable to make the journey, they are still there with those who can in both spirit and memory, from the untrained but interested eyes to the grounded veterans saluting in honor of the new generation's triumphs.shows us what potential encounters and adventures that could be had in the distant depths of space within our not-so-distant future. While there are definitely some parts of the composition that could do with some tweaking, there's still enough in this piece to enjoy both in its style and presentation. Good work David! e.deviantart.net/emoticons/c/c… " width="20" height="20" alt="" title="Clap"/>