What Dreams May Come (Part 3) | A Mixed Media Art Project for Alien Art Hive's INKTOBER PROMPT [#3-Path]

In response to the Alien Art Hive Community's Inktober Prompts that were part of their Cosmic Creations Edition #6 Contest, Cosmic Creations Edition #6 is LIVE: INKTOBER PROMPTS, members were encouraged to choose a prompt theme from the Inktober Prompts list for their entry into the contest.

After my entry into the contest with Prompt #17 - DEMON which I published on 9/23, I decided to take the Inktober concept one step further. I will focus on the remaining 30 Prompts on the list, beginning with Prompt #1. How fun the themes will be preparing my projects utilizing the mixed media art themes. If a Drabble story (100 words) or other flash fiction emerges, then all the more fun!

What Dreams May Come - Part 1

What Dreams May Come - Part 2

Below is my project for Inktober Prompt #3:

"To die, to sleep –
To sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub,
For in this sleep of death what dreams may come…”
(Hamlet, act 3 scene 1) ¹

"Do not give up. Do not surrender. This is not your life's path. Do not leave your soul in this place." Sophie clung to those words. The echo penetrated the capsule. Coming from a familiar place, she tried to muster a smile. Jacob. She tossed her head from side to side, willing herself to wake. Pressure tightened. Her breathing difficult.

Sophie opened the capsule slowly, permitting only a small amount of the steam to escape.

Immediately, from behind the barrier in the dimly lit room, a tall, thin shadowy figure with a heavy walk on the stone floor reached out with long arms and slammed the capsule shut.

Unable to breath after dislodging the tubes, Sophie struggled to locate the mask and return it to her face.

With eyes fully open, she gasp at the attendant standing over her.

Her face reflected off the metal.

"You are transformed. You will be p-l-e-a-s-e-d," the deliberate voice in a tone unlike any human she recognized penetrated the capsule.

She could not see the words coming out of its mouth. She sank back into the pod as the humanoid pumped in additional fluids. One eye gazed blue, while the other turned crimson.

The humanoid raised a mirror.

Her love of the forest. Her body floated upward inside the tank as earth and vines filled the area.

What is the purpose of this transformation? It's not the hue of my face, nor my body.

But the power felt surrounded her.

A self awareness stirred. It began with an acknowledgement. It filtered through with examination. It blossomed with acceptance. And it came into fruition.

The humanoid opened the capsule. It scooped her up and held her until she could stand upright.

Slowly, she walked away from the capsule. Why was she not restrained as the others? she wondered.

The humanoid guided her to the mirror. Staring, unable to recognize the person she knew inside, she felt the desire to cry. But tears would not come. Instead, her mind focused on strength as the gold shield surrounded her body.

I can rule the world. I can remove anyone in my path with just a thought. I am invincible. The path to greatness has been laid before me. All these thoughts culminated into her new self.

She could not remember the old as it was once upon a time when she and Jacob were young.

She was Sophie. She was now Sophia.

My approach to the Inktober Prompt #3 - Path was a continuation of my What Dreams May Come. The path Sophie was forced to take was not of her own choosing. Once she was transformed, she basked in her new powers and strength.

For the female in my story, Sophie, I chose to create a person based upon a free-sourced image to see how the stable diffusion program, StarryAI would handle it. I was pleased with how my vision of the female turned out as though enclosed in a tree.

For the remaining images I wanted to include, I chose two awesome pure fractals that I created in Apophysis 7X, the advanced fractal rendering software. One served as the shield around Sophie. The other served as a glowing object on her head.

In preparing my project, I utilized Canva as my design program. Below are my procedures from left to right:

To a blank, white canvas. I added the female diffusion image.

Changed the canvas background to black, then duplicated the female image to fill the canvas.

Added mirror fractal.

Duplicated the mirror frame. Resized and positioned them.

Thanks for taking the time to view my post. I hope you like my mixed media art project.