Aura

The skies sit above you, like the waters of a placid lake. Every now and then you find yourself wandering outside late at night, to clear your mind of the trials and turmoils of your life. Ho<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/w/w…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title="Wink/Razz"/>ing the blanket of night can cover your mind of the damages like an ethereal bandage, allowing your mind to feel the cleansing breeze of the night skies. However, you feel now that there is little healing that has happened lately. With the difficulties of the world growing more and more prominent, the night's healing caress does little to heal your newer, deeper wounds. Rather you look longingly up above, wondering about the uncertain future and where it could take you. Be it prominence or oblivion, the questions are always the same, yet feel different each time you ask yourself. The skies, once dotted with stars, even now are almost blank, as the void from within growing more and more. As things feel more and more encased in stone, you slowly revert your gaze from the heavens and make your way back to your home.

However, this would be one night, that would ensure the void that it isn't a certainty...

It starts off simply as a flicker; like a distant spark from above. At first glance you simply think that the action is over and there's nothing more, but suddenly the single sparks appears again and again. Before long the entire sky about you is ablaze as the light slices through the intangible veil of night. As the light above begins to subside, you take a risk to open your eyes. What you see before you staggers your body and mind. No longer is their a dark ceiling of stars above you, but instead a window toward the very cosmos itself. Distant planets once though to be invisible to the human eye, now float above you with defying closeness. The flourishing glow of nebulae clouds set the skies ablaze with eye-popping light and beauty, like a divine paintbrush has kissed the sky with life. The distant moon of your sister planet sits almost shyly behind it, as if to look back at its celestial neighbor with the same wonder and curiosity that you have for it. As you take in this universal feast for the eyes, you take one strong solitary breath...and with a smile on your face you head back to your home, mind revived and soul reinforced. Aura, created by The Luminarium's own `taenaron, presents us with yet another comprehensive image of the cosmos.

To begin with, the artist's signature skill and attention to detail are just as visible here as with his previous entries. The detail and the texturing on the planet's surfaces gives off a credible view of a distant and alien world. In addition to the landmasses, the atmospheric design on the planets adds even more to that dimension of artistic depth of the celestial bodies. Even more impressive with the composition would have to be the eclectic use of lighting that's being generated from the nebulae and the Aura. Both designs carry a very subtle and gentle brushing style, adding more to the appearance of gentle clouds above without too much sharpness or blur. The landscape itself works just as well, adding more to the general atmosphere of the composition and brings out a dark and mysterious feeling to the entire design.

However, there are still somethings here that could be improved on a bit more. Some parts of the grass in the foreground appear a bit flat in contrast to the rest of the field. While I do like this entry, it does seem a bit too similar to some of the artist's previous entries and doesn't really branch out too much or take any particularly ambitious steps; something the artist has become known for taking. Nonetheless, these are relatively small complaints and nitpicks that shouldn't in anyway truly detract from the general quality of the composition and presentation.

Aura is a further reminder for why we as a race will always look to the skies for inspiration and wonder. Its boundless mysteries and sights will always strive us to move closer and closer to it, with dreams to swim above its dark water sky and live among the stars. While its not exactly something too different for many of us, there's still no reason for why its not something you should enjoy. Good work as always Tobias! <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/c/c…" width="20" height="20" alt="" title="Clap"/>