Eclipse is not just one piece.
It is many.
The first visual experiments became the foundation.
From there, I began building Eclipse one layer at a time.
Each layer began as part of the larger work, but as I worked, some developed identities of their own.
Patterns emerged. Colors changed. New compositions appeared.
Pieces that were never intended to exist outside the original artwork started becoming complete works in their own right.
Some capture a specific stage of the process.
Others are combinations of multiple layers, revealing relationships that weren't visible when those elements existed separately.
Together, they form a visual record of how Eclipse was built.
Eclipse: Starburst Collection
The Foundation
The first layer of Eclipse wasn't something I drew.
It was something I saw. 🌈
These twelve starbursts trace the beginning of the work I would later name, Eclipse.
Some are rooted in what was happening around me that day. Others reflect the symbolism of the eclipse itself.
Together, they follow the fracture, the wound, the reckoning, and the first steps toward choosing what came next.
On April 8, 2024, I watched the solar eclipse while my life was already coming apart.
I was dealing with betrayal in business relationships, watching things I had built begin to unravel, and trying to hold everything together while Izzie's health was steadily declining. I decided to put everything down and witness what was happening above and beyond the chaos surrounding me.
I sat down outside with Izzie, wiped my tears, put on my sunglasses, and watched the total solar eclipse through the reflection of my tablet screen instead of looking directly at the sun. The black glass became a mirror. I saw my own bloodshot, swollen eyes staring back at me. For a moment, it felt like my reality was cracking open.
Eclipse Starburst 01 • Solar Eclipse: Aries — This is where Eclipse was born. The foundation was already cracking. I was being forced to confront broken trust, betrayal, and the realization that things weren't what I believed them to be. The eclipse arrived at the exact moment I was being asked to choose what came next.
Eclipse Starburst 02 • Broken Trust: The Foundation — I was beginning to understand that some of the things I had built my life around were not as solid as I thought. Business. Mentors. Expectations. Trust had become a question mark.
Eclipse Starburst 03 • The Fracture: Betrayal — Then came the break. What had been quietly unraveling became impossible to ignore. The pieces didn't fall apart all at once. They fractured one connection at a time.
Eclipse Starburst 04 • Alienation: The Storm — When the structures around me started collapsing, so did my sense of belonging. I felt scattered. Abandoned. Alone in the middle of a life that no longer felt like home.
And then I noticed something strange.
Prismatic rays were spreading across the screen, creating strange little bursts of color around the eclipsed sun.
You could see the crescent moon getting closer to totality within the starbursts. So I photographed it.
I didn't know what I was looking at yet, and I definitely didn't know what it would become.
I just knew I wanted to remember it.
Those photographs became the first visual material that would eventually become Eclipse.
Eclipse Starburst 05 • Loss of Control: The Unknown — Everything familiar was moving beneath my feet. I couldn't control what other people chose, what had already happened, or what was coming next. I could only decide what I would do with what remained.
Eclipse Starburst 06 • North Node in Aries: The Call Forward — The eclipse arrived in Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac, near the North Node. New beginnings. Forward motion. A life that hadn't been written yet. I didn't know where I was going. I only knew I couldn't keep going backward.
Eclipse Starburst 07 • Conjunct Chiron: The Wound — Chiron, the Wounded Healer, was sitting with the eclipse. It felt almost painfully literal. The things that hurt the most were also the things demanding my attention. The wound wasn't something I could outrun anymore.
Eclipse Starburst 08 • The Invitation to Heal: Reclaiming Myself — Healing wasn't about becoming who I was before everything happened. It was about rebuilding the parts of myself that had been handed over to other people. My confidence. My agency. My sense of self. I had to start taking those pieces back.
I began reflecting them, layering them, distorting them, and experimenting with the patterns they created.
These 12 starbursts are some of the earliest experiments that came from that moment.
The rainbow became a reference layer.
The reference layer became drawings.
The drawings became patterns.
The patterns became layers.
And eventually, those layers became Eclipse.
Eclipse Starburst 09 • Inner Balance: Me + We — The eclipse also brought questions about relationship, reciprocity, and the balance between the individual and the collective. Where does me end and we begin? How do you open yourself to others without abandoning yourself in the process? I was learning that connection requires both vulnerability and boundaries.
Eclipse Starburst 10 • The Pain & The Antidote: Healing Is a Choice — There was no version of this that didn't hurt. There was insecurity. Self-doubt. Fear. Grief. But the wound also contained information. If I was willing to face it, the same place that hurt could become the place I began to heal.
Eclipse Starburst 11 • Discipline in the Storm: Learning Where to Put My Energy — Mars and Saturn brought a different lesson: Energy without direction becomes exhaustion. I didn't need to react to everything around me. I needed to learn how to stop, gather myself, and decide where my energy actually belonged.
Eclipse Starburst 12. • Choosing Myself: The Leap — Eventually, all of those lessons became one choice. I could keep trying to rebuild the life I had lost... or I could begin building something of my own. I didn't know where the leap would lead. I just knew it was time to jump. The net would appear on the way down. • High Contrast Study: Revealing the extreme color information hidden inside the original image
The artwork grew far beyond the moment that inspired it.
But the light was there first. 🌈
Work Details
Created: April 8, 2024 - September 17, 2025
Released: August 12, 2026
Collection: Eclipse
Category: Major Work
Medium: Digital Illustration • Autodesk Sketchbook • Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Tablet & Stylus
Dimensions: 4000 × 4000 pixels
Techniques: Hand-drawn fine line illustration • High-density linework • Layered composition • Kaleidoscopic base construction • Optical depth through color and form
Primary Themes: Transformation • Betrayal • Grief • Identity • Cycles • Self-Reliance • Rebirth
Primary Motif: Eclipse • Layers • Fractured Light • Sacred Geometry
Related Works: Starfox, Heaven’s Gate, Grief’s Cage, Genesis of Gaia, Izzie’s Garden
This piece is one chapter in a much larger story.
Discover what came before, what followed, and how this work fits into the evolution of my artistic practice.
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