Here is a piece of art I created in response to the prompt Surreal Street View.

Here is the full image:

Every two weeks, a few of us at work run a drawing prompt club. This round the prompt was “Surreal Street Scene”.

My first instinct was a rainy sidewalk where the reflection disagreed with the world above it. Two versions of reality stacked on each other, only one being a common street and the reflection contrasting something about the urban environment. My early ideas were quite literal: sunny weather in the puddle, a forest down there instead of a street.

What if someone stepped in the puddle and their reflection was different? Then: what if they weren’t in the reflection at all? What if the person wasn’t there, and the reflection was the only one who existed?

The umbrella and the anonymous suited man are common symbols in surrealism, and I leaned into the tropes.

The umbrella also has a job. It exists to protect a person from rain. Floating there unheld, the picture asks its questions: What is it protecting? What is holding it up? Does the man exist, but is invisible? I wasn’t going to answer any of these; I want the sense of intrigue.

The umbrella also had a job because it highlighted the absence of the man. Without the umbrella, it is just a mistake with a reflection but no subject. With the umbrella, the choice is intentional. It also helped with composition.

This is my second surreal featuring a reflective puddle. The first was Surreal Dreamscape 1 – which I also published here.

I’d planned rain from the start, but I got tragic personal news the same week I drew this, and the piece absorbed it. The palette went cold and stayed there. The only colour is a crimson that reads more like a bruise than a bright spot.

This was a piece where I had to stop myself from working on it. I was futzing with it and not making it any better. I told myself out loud: “Colin, you’re done.” My son heard me, thought it was funny, and helped me get out of my hyperfixation. I put the tablet down, and here you are!