Big Water Dharma

Digital illustration in Procreate with various pen and texture brushes.

This is a riff on a classic portrait photo of a personal friend. For some reason I always saw this as an enlightened dharmic every-man with the towel evoking a monk’s robe.

From that I may have added a few lbs. to fill the frame as would the Buddha, and swapped out a beer for the hand gesture (This is the Vitarka mudra, meaning the “Gesture of Healthy Discussion”), as my friend is a writer and leads a small philosophy club.

I tried a few different things with the background... started with a gradient texture, then a tie-dye psychedelia, then a bright backlit sun which looked cool and auspicious but didn't work with the shading. I ended up with the flat orange as it evokes warm sun, makes the lake reflection pop in the sunglasses, and subtly nods to a Buddhist monk's robe color.