So I haven’t been keeping up with you guys lately, apologies for that. August has been an interesting month as far as trying to expand my horizons and at the same time dealing with issues of mental health. For both – I’m getting a bit into art. I’ve spent a small fortune on pencils, watercolor paints, and special papers. I’ve had much more considerable luck with Graphite rather than watercolor at this point – though watercolor is said to be a more difficult medium to pick up. I’ve been focusing more on graphite in order to learn some of the basics. Portraiture is something I’ve been improving on over a fairly rapid period of time. I’m slightly less optimistic about figure drawings – particularly gestural works; I prefer to have some kind of outline. I’ve purchased a decent sized book by Andrew Loomis on figure drawing.

Here you can see some of the progress of sketching each day for the first week. Bernie was the only one I used a reference photo for. The last image on the bottom right at first was only meant to be about the eyes but I wanted to frame them. I struggle with noses still. I’m currently in the middle of working on a piece from reference; a drawing of our president by request.

The point behind this is to eventually create divination cards. I’m not certain of the medium I’m going to do them in – between Watercolor and colored pencils. I may make a simple lenormand set with graphite as I improve with graphite.

I’ve had a name and a vague sense of purpose before I had any suitable direction or definition for the oracle deck I’ve had in mind. The name I’ve had in mind is called ‘Human frontiers.’ I knew there was a bit of a higher purpose and a /way/ for it to be imagined but I wasn’t thinking in the correct concrete ideas of how it was to be done. I’d came up with and abandoned systems in the past. Now I understand it as a ‘mythic oracle’ to be read a certain way that is fairly different to more conventional oracle decks based on angels, crystals, herbs, and animals among other things. If anything it reads in a way similar to tarot with less in the way of a predetermined elemental/numerical/kabbalistic system; while it also maintains some qualities of an oracle deck. A few of the cards I have names and meanings for – ‘Daughter of Wolves,’ ‘The Mountain View,’ ‘Cannibal Princess,’ and ‘Aquarian Queen.’ Hopefully those names will give you an idea of the feeling of the deck. I plan to include some fantasy and surreal elements to the art while grounding them into the ‘human experience’ on an emotional and spiritual level as mankind has had stories of deities, heroes, and nature spirits. The goal of each card is – to explain it in a more dimensional sense – is to portray a character or set of characters that represent a multitude of values, situations, and archetypes – similar to Tarot.

The story behind the ‘Daughter of Wolves’ can be told from different perspectives – with slightly different meanings and varied inter-relatedness. It’s not always about the orphaned girl herself, but think about the people that found her, loved her, or tried to integrate her back into humanity or ‘society.’ There are many possibilities within this ‘library’ but it comes down to a basic truth on a spiritual level. On a physical or emotional level, you could see different interpretations – radical transition into a new lifestyle and/or environment, adoptive family/intimate companionship, unconditional or ‘simple’ love, a person with a dark or desperate past, an outcast, a person who’s upbringing was difficult or traumatic, or having to ‘fend for ones self.’ In the reversed position it would have other layers pertaining to the challenges of relationships and the need for individuality and trust. One of the underlying mantras for the card would be ‘love is simple.’

Each card should ideally have some personal meanings as well. Perhaps for the example above, a reader would find a meaning most pertinent to her and what she’s perceived of in the world. Over time the cards would develop more layers and meanings for him/her.

Other updates:

One other things to mention is that I’ve been continuing my channeling work on a weekly basis over at Ivan Tellers Youtube channel under the name ‘Retro.’ I understand I can be a bit hard to follow for a few people. The uploads have gotten a few disgruntled commentors but the prevailing advice has been to ignore them. Still I mention this as a fair warning – my writing is generally better than my speaking.