Crow Dream Shadow

In a recent dream the power of Crow (an important feeling for me since I was a boy) was cast like a benevolent shadow completely across a huge colorful sky. It was like the shape in the image above, and it let light through it, like it was made of wrought iron.

When I woke I had a strong feeling but few details. The wings were looped or patterned like feathers, but not like on a bird - more like they were draped over the tops, but I couldn’t recall them clearly. The image had moved quickly across my dream (right to left), taking the gift I gave it, which was a heap of white plastic fragments I had collected and torn to postage stamp size throughout the dream. So I didn’t get to look long. I also recalled a circle in the center, and ray-like strips coming down from the bottom of the circle. The head was almost featureless, just enough for me to know it was Crow,

I’ve never tried to draw something from a dream before. For several days I tried to get the shape correct, and to fill in details that would align with the dream and with my feelings about the idea and power of Crow, but I ended up erasing nearly everything after several attempts. I left it for a few days.

Yesterday I went out for a walk in a local nature preserve. The weather was dramatic, including a quick thunder storm that actually dropped hail at home. The sky broke open at last light, the shortest day of the year, and clouds were flying huge and fast like Crow had in my dream.

I came home and drew and painted this without overthinking it. The hands are all sketched from mine, but they’re meant to be the clever taking, holding, and intention of Crow. The very center is Crow’s beak and eye. Finally there is a stepping Crow foot on the bottom left.

The most challenging part of this was drawing my right hand posing - because I had to sketch it with my left and then refine it from memory using my right hand before setting the ink boundaries. My left hand doesn’t get to draw much. I think that’s something I should fix.

I deliberately alternated hands around the circle - the fact that it came out 10 pairs, and that the largest (lower right) resembles my hands’ favorite Crow gesture, is all “accident.” Except that when I’m in one of those rare “flow” moments, nothing is an accident.