Process

At the present moment, this is how I generally go about producing these art readings:

I begin by tuning in to the sitter. If I have a picture, I'll usually use that to help me. But if not, I'll just visualize the person in front of me and determine what his/her energy is like. 

I'll then ask for whatever it is I'm supposed to be drawing/painting. If it's a guide, I ask to see the guide whom the sitter needs to know most about. If "higher self," I ask to see what this self would look like if it were human. If it's aura, I ask to see aura, and so on. For portrait readings, I will usually get a loose idea of what I'm supposed to be painting, and more details come through as I work. For aura, I see the colors in parts, usually starting with the left side, clockwise until I reach the head. I don't see the whole aura at once. For channeled readings, I usually begin with a color. Sometimes, I get an idea of what I'm supposed to be painting; other times I'm just nudged to begin drawing with no direction. 

The rest of the painting process is very intuitive. This means that - unless I'm doing an aura reading - I have no reason to stop and "look within" to see what I'm supposed to be drawing next. I just keep painting whatever I feel needs to be painted. This can include colors, symbols, certain shapes, certain defining characteristics in facial features, and so on. On a rare occasion, I may find myself blocked, but this has only happened a couple of times. 

When I finish, I try to glean any last impressions I receive from the work. I usually have a general idea of what's been painted (unless it's aura - then it's a lot of observation and interpretation of color relationships), although acquiring details is something I'm not too strong with yet. However, I'm much more confident now than I was when doing art readings last.

As far as the actual painting goes, it's about half auto-drawing and half already knowing what to paint. And it's all pretty natural. When I first began spirit/psychic art, I was very rigid because I had this idea in my head that I had to satisfy the sitter. This specifically pertained to spirit guide portraits, because I was painting them the way the stereotypical "new age" view depicts them: Native Americans, Greeks, monks, etc. However, after a few months of exploration, I came back to them and realized that I would paint them my way - with lots of symbolic colors and whatnot. It was then much easier to have these energies come through.

I have to say I'm excited to begin practicing these again. I'm hoping SF, tumblr, and FB will have some willing volunteers.