I was able to do another livestream session yesterday. The energy was wonderful, as always... I got to paint for seven, and all of them were Source self portraits, with the exception of one soul connection portrait and a guide portrait.
A Source self interpretation for someone I've already painted for. This lovely young lady identifies two different aspects of her Source self - kind of like polar opposites. According to her, I painted her "darker" self in the past, so she wanted me to interpret her "lighter" self in yesterday's session. I'm not entirely happy with the way I rendered the figure/torso, but I had to move on. This one initially felt prideful and regal, but decided she would much prefer being represented as more serene.
This one proved to be the most challenging. It was also a Source self interpretation, but this one - for the first time ever - didn't have a sole color that it wanted to be represented by. The colors depicted in the aura were the ones that I kept seeing; however, I felt no guidance on how to render the figure with four colors. After stewing on it a bit, I felt the inclination to go for a simple white figure with the colors I had seen surrounding it. My team and I have our own interpretations on the meaning of this, all of which seemed to resonate with the sitter.
Another Source self. What's interesting is that my sitter was part of the first batch of guide readings I had ever done (back in fall of 2011), and this painting seemed to be an "evolved" version of the one I had painted for her back then. I really dig this chick and am pretty satisfied with how the painting came out. The arm does bug me, but it's insignificant.
My favorite of the batch, which has a similar story to the one mentioned above. The sitter for this one was also in my first ever batch. Back then, I had painted an enigmatic (but also magnetic) woman whom I always referred to as "Lady Night" in my mind. The sitter and I never figured out "who" she was (guide or Source self). Well, since the sitter specifically requested a Source self portrait, I can now say with confidence that "Lady Night" was the interpretation of her Source self one and a half years ago. But where she was laid-back and carefree, she is now focused, determined, and full of strength.
A guide portrait. This energy did feel as though being "seen" was unnecessary, which is something I don't encounter often from guiding energies. The eyes do bug me a bit, but I kind of like them at the same time, because they're not as "beautiful" as the eyes of almost every other energy I paint. Not in the aesthetically pleasing sense, anyway. The sitter did seem to resonate with her, though, so that's always good.
Another Source self for someone I've never painted for. It was refreshing to paint an energy attuned to gold - these kinds of energies are really something else. They always feel so pleasant. Otherwise... not much to say on this one!
And last... the soul connection portrait. We had a mini-debate about this one because the sitter originally asked if I could paint the Source self of someone who had no idea he'd be painted. In the end, we decided on a soul connection portrait, and if he popped up... well, he popped up. And I guess he did, because some of the interpretations of his energy matched that of the person my sitter was trying to understand/assist. That's all I'll really say for this one.
So in other words: another great session. I mentioned this in my personal blog, but I'm still very dissatisfied with my skill. These readings rely on my technical skill, so if I can't draw something, I can't draw it, which means I normally have to omit it or draw something else. I also need to work on acquiring more detail. I've gotten lazy because my interpreters usually say everything that I pick up on (then again, that's why they're there: to put my feelings into words and pick up on a few extra details). However, as I turn this into a "business," I would like to be able to start working independently unless I can find a person - or people - who would be willing to work alongside me for some extra information.
We'll see, I guess.
I can say with confidence that my spark for spirit and psychic art has been reignited. For a long while, I've been wanting to do these readings, but, of course, being in school disallows me from doing them. Fortunately enough, however, I caught a break in homework flow this weekend and was able to do a livestream session yesterday. I knocked out 8 readings, most of which were Source self portraits:
I started out with this one, which was a Source self portrait of a long-time friend of mine. This one came through relatively easily, although there were a number of reworks done, particularly in the face/eyes. My interpreters nailed her personality and story like always... they were able to say the things that I couldn't form words for, yet could communicate through the painting. The eyes do seem a little wacky, but an interpreter had a good thought for them: that they looked "blissed out." That's perfect.
This was my favorite one of the day. It's another Source self portrait for someone whom I've secretly wanted to paint for but was always too nervous to ask because of her perspective on things like this. Connecting with her was tricky because I found she had many facets to her; this warm facet was the one I felt most strongly about. She seemed to resonate with it quite a bit, so that's a success in my book!
Another SS portrait. This one's of a guy I don't know so well but whose energy I admit I enjoy. I had a bit of fun with this one because the energy of the SS was very... amusing. However, I don't consider this one finished, because the SS energy kept having me fix, rework, add/delete things and I knew I had to pick a place to stop for time's sake. Even now, I can sense that this SS wants me to finish...
A channeled piece from Leo to another dear friend of mine who happens to be in a similar situation (quitting an undesired job/etc. to follow her passion). She wanted to know how this situation may turn out, and the Leo energy wanted her to know that in the end, everything will be fabulous. It might take some stress and frustrations to get there, but she'll be happy.
My only guide portrait of the day. I loved this one because it came straight through and knew exactly how it wanted to be portrayed. Little to no reworks, etc. I really do love its energy, too, though - packed full of healing, compassion, and even a slight bit of humor. Reminds me of El'azar, but without all the sternness.
This one was a SS portrait for one of Tri's friends. When I connected, I immediately knew this woman was very in-tune: I knew what I had to paint almost instantly. Like the previous energy, this SS knew exactly how it wanted to be portrayed with no reworks. This woman's energy is very amazing, with a peaceful, healing quality to it that I really enjoyed. I'm happy to have been able to paint for her.
My interpreters joked about this one, because it was a SS portrait for a telepath who had paid little to no attention to the stream as I was painting it. According to him, he was locked up in other conversations (telepathic ones?)... and I didn't hear a word from him until after the stream was over. I have to admit I was a little hurt by his unwillingness to pay attention to the process (I mean, he was there at the stream, but didn't want to watch his own painting?). To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with how this one came out, but you know - it fits him. And that's why my interpreters were joking around: they thought it was appropriate for him being "away in other places."
The last piece of the session was a past life glimpse for someone I've read for before. I did struggle a bit with this one; I knew I had to paint that purple sky/environment, but the figures and everything else in the painting "trickled" through. I still don't know how accurate this is in regard to an actual "past life," but the sitter did admit that she knew exactly who the figures are, and that at least one of them looked exactly like a TF/SC she knows. So a partial success, but a success nonetheless.
That was yesterday's session. It was refreshing to do this again after so long (the last time I did these readings was early December). The energy during the stream was amazing. I'm happy people are still fond of these streams... it means a lot that my process is interesting enough to watch.
I'd like to do more of these, but I'm afraid I won't catch another break until school's over. I'll cross my fingers, though.
Because I've been thinking about this lately, I wanted to document where I'm at currently with spirit/psychic art and readings in general.
I haven't been doing them. And as much as I would love to get back into doing them, I don't have the motivation right now. School is playing a big role in this. But it seems at the current moment, I'm meant to be focused on other creative things right now.
I'm hoping that the desire will return. I'd like to think that my technical drawing skills are improving, so when I finally do start doing these again, I'll be more proud of them. I was looking through my folders earlier to find an accompanying artwork for this post, and it made me miss the process.
I realized something, though: the best results come when I'm working with people I'm close to and/or are interested in. As you can imagine, I receive a lot of requests when I announce I'm opening up slots. And a good majority of those requests are from people who just want to snag some free answers from me or want the work done for them (mainly referring to spirit portraits). I guess what I'm saying is that most of these people don't want to work hard to make any progress, and assume that they can make a nice request and get all the answers on a plate.
That's why I secretly love when they get a reading which they can't immediately understand. Because then they have to sit down and actually connect with it - interpret its meaning for themselves.
I'm not saying this to be mean. But what one has to understand is that all my life, I've been offering these for free. I recently came across a post on tumblr that pretty much said in a nutshell: tarot readers who read for free have an obligation to their "clients," and should provide information on the status of their reading whenever possible.
As much as I love to keep my sitters informed, I have to disagree. And that's for tarot reading. As a card reader myself, I know how much energy it takes to sit down, focus on the sitter's question(s), draw cards (I pick them intuitively; I don't shuffle and deal) for each question, contemplate their meanings, and then finally type it all up. And the disappointing part? More often than not, I'll type up this whole big fat reading, only to receive about a sentence of feedback, or a mere "Thanks."
All about compassion, I guess. Helping each other out.
Spirit art can go either way. It's hard to say whether art takes more energy than tarot reading. For instance, guide portraits don't take that much out of me because they're easiest for me to do, but if the sitter doesn't attend a livestream, then I have to spend about 30 minutes on the painting, then move on to type up a description about the energy in as much detail as possible (because almost always, the question arises: "can you tell me more?"). And because most people who make these requests are unfamiliar with their guides, I'll get one main response: "I don't know who this is but I love the painting."
Aura readings are on par with tarot. I have to focus on the individual, and then, one at a time, in a clockwise motion, paint each color I see, and the details of the aura, only to then sit down and write in-depth on what the colors mean and how their positions relate to those meanings.
But I digress.
It's a shame that I made this blog only to pretty much abandon it after a month. This would've been most beneficial about a year ago, when I was on a roll with readings. At the time, though, I wasn't that interested in blogging. Just know that I haven't completely strayed from spirit and psychic art. School's eating me alive, and it seems life has me focused more on my own creative projects right now. My senses are dull, anyway. It would take a lot of work to return to the level I once was, when I could connect immediately.
One day, though. I'm hoping that summer will bring me a bit of motivation, but right now, it's difficult to tell. It'll happen when it's meant to, I suppose.
