Where Dreams Begin

Every year I recreate the exact same scene,

Sometimes I share it, sometimes I don't,

It's very personal to me you see.

As this was the first scene that I ever created way back in 2020 that was actually half decent,

I remember it being the first image I had created that ever got likes and comments, I was so proud at the time,

Reality was I was just happy to be able to put anything together that almost worked, but the truth was far from that,

The lighting was pretty awful, the pose, terrible and well as for actual cohesion to the scene it was basic at best,

However that scene kickstarted something that went far beyond, so far beyond that even now some six years later I'm still only just truly realising how much came from that scene.

It started my character creation fascination and the desire to write and tell stories about them.

Becoming the simple starting point of my journey into writing, which would lead to me becoming a published author in 2024,

Indirectly it also came to lay the foundation for every character that I have created or story that I have told since.

Much has changed since those early day, more elaborate software and much more refined creation processes that I would never had dreamed of back in 2020.

Never would I had thought to deliberately arrange ferns and moss to create a frame through which to see Evelyn resting peacefully.

Nor would I had carefully selected plants based on whether they could truly exist in her world,

Using the rule of thirds or any kind of composition? Nah, back then I was just happy to get something okay, where now I'm quite more focused on finer details than I was back then.

Yet it's origins will always remain the same and I suppose maybe this is why I recreate this scene every year,

Firstly to show me how far I have come and grown since then,

But also to remind me, that no matter how far I can make this go,

It all started with a once nameless girl, sleeping by candlelight, in a forest.

And that this very forest was where a nameless girl became my first character, Evelyn.

This place was where the dreams began.