Category: Drawings

bookmark_borderDrawing: Forever Living and Dying

Posted on by savethesavages

Drawing from last week. As much as I enjoy posting crystals, I still very much enjoy drawing although it’s a lot more sporadic these days. It’s one of the few things that can still draw out the creativity in me, and it’s usually quite unexpected.

I can see the reflection of my inner world when I draw. And lately, it’s been roses and eyes; or should I say one specific eye – the third eye – the eye of psychic and intuitive vision.

Roses and eyes are occult symbols, and if you know me then you know I love all things occult.

I also feel as if I need more rose tattoos as I actually don’t have a whole lot.

Perhaps when I did the candle magic / crystal grid a couple weeks ago on the full moon, the energy of Venus is still doing its work – giving me the time to appreciate the beauty of all things, like roses.

If you’re reading this, I hope you are experiencing some of your own magic. I definitely am, as 2017 has been very good to me. Very thankful for it all.

bookmark_borderNew Moon in Virgo Drawing – 09/18/17

Posted on by savethesavages

Boredom can often lead to creativity.

And today I feel bored. Bored with the work I’m doing, bored with the content. Bored with my body, I want to float away.

The moon has a way of drawing that out I think; making you think you’ve cleared and moved past a certain issue, yet it comes back somehow. It’s a vicious cycle, really. One minute I’m grateful for what I have, next minute I’m bored af and questioning myself yet again as to why I’m still here. It drives me nuts.

We are earthy/airy/fiery/watery/spiritual beings all at once and the moon pulls on the watery, emotional/feeling parts of ourselves and takes us through those cycles.

I dream about the crystal store and imagine myself working at home. That’s all I want really.

I don’t want to be an entrepreneur who works on their laptop at the beach. Although that sounds very nice and great if you are doing it but I don’t want to WORK at the beach. I want to ENJOY the beach. I want to be present – breathe deeply, smell the ocean air, run sand through my hands and feet.

But I really just want to be at home.

Home is where I feel the most comfortable and happy.

I’m a simple human with simple needs.

bookmark_borderDrawing: Cosmic Wave Girl

Posted on by savethesavages

It’s been a minute since I posted a drawing. I think it’s important to pick up a pen or pencil everyday and write, draw or just doodle. I don’t always practice what I preach though and I want to change that. These days I’m usually typing or using my Wacom pen to create digital content. I don’t like to setup reminders on my phone to do things but I think I’m going to have to.

If I don’t draw, I’m not as creative. If I don’t write, I can’t articulate what I want to say as well. If I don’t doodle, my mind can’t wander and discover something new.

But at the same time, I don’t have a lot to say these days. I’m pretty much minding my own business – working, playing, experimenting, relaxing.

Like everyone I have goals but I still don’t know how they will manifest or what will happen next. That is part of living, isn’t it? As much as we fill our minds with knowledge, as much as we focus our will on our intentions, we still CAN’T fully know everything.

So let go and go with the flow. Ride the cosmic wave.

If you’re reading this, I hope you are well. I hope you are happy and living the life you want to live.✨

bookmark_borderRandom Thoughts | Seven of Cups

Posted on by savethesavages

Our thoughts / opinions about how we live life tend to change quickly, and a lot more often these days it seems.

For example, last year I swore I wanted to buy a house. I really wanted to do it, I was reading up on a bunch of stuff related to buying a house – the homebuying process, mortgages, costs, etc. I even had some money saved along with some other monies that came my way so somehow, it felt like I was in the perfect position to become an actual homeowner. My mom always used to insist that being a homeowner was the best thing you could do for yourself. Especially since my credit is excellent.

But then recently I’ve been reading more blogs about financial freedom and being free – free from debt, free from material attachments, free from the 9 to 5; learning to be happy with less stuff, saving your money and so now, perhaps I really don’t want to have a house.

Maybe I just want to live a simple life. I have told myself over and over that I aim to live a simple life, this has been my mantra for years now.

And yet other people will convince us that we want things, repeatedly over and over again until it finally becomes our own desire. Our friends and family members will try to do this, sometimes on purpose or unintentionally. They’re excited about something and so naturally they want you to experience it too. It never occurred to me until recently that maybe homeownership was and always has been my mom’s dream and she was passing it on to me. It really was never my dream…

On the other hand, I always want to buy more things and I always want to learn and acquire more knowledge. I spend my money on stuff I want – mostly books, crystals/gemstones, tattoos, classes, etc.

How do we free ourselves of wanting more stuff?

You don’t really. Bottom line is, if you enjoy it then go ahead and buy it. And if it means spending money to have enjoyment, then do so.

Just remember that we can’t take any of this stuff when we transition (most people call it ‘death’) to the afterlife or next dimension. We can’t even take our bodies, the same bodies that we obsess about so much.

So think about what is really important to you.

As I was thinking about what image to create to pair up with this blog post, the 7 of Cups from tarot symbolism came to mind.

In tarot, the 7 of Cups represents fantasy, illusions, dreams.

bookmark_borderWhat Would You Do If You Were Fired Today?

Posted on by savethesavages

I know what you’re probably thinking – the title of the post is completely unrelated to this image I created. Yes, your observations are correct. But I was in the mood, or better yet in a zone to draw crystals with my Wacom tablet while at work for some reason and attach it to this particular post. The title is still related to what I’m about to write…

What would you do if you were fired today? These are the kinds of thoughts that have been occupying my mind lately.

Continue reading “What Would You Do If You Were Fired Today?”

bookmark_borderRainbow Cobra Drawing from Guided Meditation

Posted on by savethesavages

Even though I haven’t blogged and I haven’t drawn or made new art, I have been creating. It may not seem like it, but everyday – every hour, every minute, every second we are all creating with our thoughts. And simultaneously, we are also destroying thoughts, ideas and mental patterns that no longer serve us.

Continue reading “Rainbow Cobra Drawing from Guided Meditation”

bookmark_borderDark Fantasies – V1

Posted on by savethesavages

I’m not going to lie; there is a part of me that really wants my art to sell, but that is definitely not my sole purpose of creating. I make art in hopes that I can push my creative limits and because I just love it. It’s part of who I am, like I’m just wired for it. Even when I don’t create anything for months, I am still drawn to some kind of art or I surround myself with it.

So I’m posting this because this is an example of me pushing my creativity. My friend & local art dealer Alfie is currently curating a comic book themed art show and this is what I came up with.

Continue reading “Dark Fantasies – V1”

bookmark_borderWhat Does the Term ‘Occult’ Mean to You?

Posted on by savethesavages

The term ‘occult’ seems to have a bad rep (depending on how you perceive it I suppose) – do a quick Google image search and you’ll see mostly dark, visual interpretations of the word. Different people interpret it in so many ways and that’s fine, everybody’s entitled to their own creative vision. In movies however, the occult has often been mostly portrayed as something weird, dark and scary. Synonymous with black magic, it’s become a permanent image in people’s subconscious that it’s an evil thing that can call in demons, vampires, witches, ghosts and otherworldy beings that can harm you.

The occult has also been tied to government conspiracies, the illuminati, the Knights Templar, Freemasonry, etc.

I admit that I was initially attracted to the occult by way of dark, strange imagery on the internet. I didn’t understand what the symbols meant, but I was drawn to it and knew that I liked it. It makes for great subject matter for when you’re creating something in the horror, cult, supernatural, sacrilegious, weird genres. One’s imagination can conjure up all sorts of imagery from the term. And it just looks damn cool.

Over time though I realized that the occult didn’t just encompass the dark, but also the light. My interest in the occult eventually led me to healing and learning about myself. The light and dark are One Thing. Duality only exists in our human minds, I believe it’s how we make sense of the chaos that is our earthly existence on this dimension.

The word occult simply means hidden from view; something mysterious, a secret. When I close my eyes and visualize the word, I imagine a beautiful shining light, hidden deep within my being and yours; something that you search for that’s really been there all along. This light has been dimmed by layers of programming throughout our human existence by negative beliefs and other mental junk and is just waiting to be rediscovered, awakened by our true selves.

All the things I have been spending time learning about these last 4 years – tarot, crystals, Qabalah, magick, meditation, metaphysics, mysticism, comparative religion, etc…all are part of the occult.

I hope this (sort of) clears up some misconceptions about that word. I’m sure someone out there can better clarify what I’m trying to say here but hopefully this will do for now. Feel free to add to this or expand what I’m trying to say.

On an unrelated note: the watercolor painting above was done when I was emulating the bold, traditional tattoo style of tattooing that I really like. I was trying to get into tattooing at some point and so my artistic style had that feel for a few years.

bookmark_borderHow to Add a Custom Background to Your Drawings in Photoshop

Posted on by savethesavages

This is a new marker drawing that I made today. Most of my artwork is usually feminine in nature so I wanted to channel in some masculine energy. I also promised to type up a tutorial so here goes!

Here’s a simple technique that I like to use for my drawings. Beginners new to Photoshop can follow along 🙂

I am using Adobe Photoshop 2015 by the way and the key commands I use are for Mac. Control key is the equivalent of the Command key on a PC.

1. I scan the drawing at 300dpi and it gives me this large TIFF file. You can take a pic with your phone, email it to yourself and download it from there but I find that the resolution isn’t high enough. I could be wrong though, feel free to try it.

2. My scanner software (Image Capture) is kinda janky so when it scans, it gives me a washed out scan. To fix this, I usually hit Command Shift L or Auto Levels in Photoshop. Or I adjust the Levels and Curves until I’m happy with it. In Adobe Photoshop CC 2015, it’s now called Auto Tone in the Image menu.

3. I want to add a cosmic background to the blacked out area of the drawing. It would be good to find a background that’s about the same size of your scanned image. In your layers panel, double click to turn your locked background image to a layer so that it can be edited. It’s going to become Layer 0.

4. Hit W on your keyboard to select the Quick Selection Wand tool, third tool on your toolbar.

5. With your Layer 0 still selected, on your image click the area you want to select and see how much it covers. You will see a selection (some people call it marching ants). If you need to select more additional areas, hold down the Shift key and click another area. The more solid the area is, the better your selection will come out.

6. Now that you have a selection, hit Command Shift I or go to Select menu > Inverse. This changes your selection. You won’t see it until you put a mask on it.

7. With your selection still active and your layer 0 still selected, at the bottom of your layers panel, click the Add Layer Mask tool, third one from the left. This masks or hides the area that you selected.

8. Now you can bring in your cosmic background by dragging the file right into your Photoshop document from wherever it’s located. It will place the file right smack in the front so once you’ve adjusted it to your liking (size and position), hit enter or return; now you can move that cosmic background layer to the bottom of your layer stack.

9. Make sure to hit Command S to save your work! Save often if you’re doing a lot of edits.

10. I like to play with the blending modes in the Layers panel, the tab that says Normal but has a dropdown menu. I added another layer and played with gradients and changed the blending modes on there too.

Endless fun!

If you want to practice with the files I used, you can download them here.