The Surrealists and other more spiritually inclined and influenced art movements and genres depended on methods considered to be ‘intuitive’. What does this mean? It means using what you feel, without judgement or analysis, to guide your actions — in this case, your art. No matter if your are more of a realist or figural artist, to a completely abstract conceptual artist, one can use any of these techniques to add form, depth, movement, and flow to their work, along with the very unique signature of your intuition in action.
Lots of experimentation is intuitive. When I took water media in school, my quirky professor very quickly turned it into an experimental unit where we tried brush techniques, paper marbling, book transformations, etc. All forms of experimentation were welcomed. And from that my painting style took a very abrupt change from fairly realistic to heavy abstraction. Now, I’m a fair mix of both, leaning towards a visionary style aided by intuitive processes, with intentional compositions. Experimentation, particularly the personal practice of intuitive mark making, can really add authenticity and delicious depth to our work, and it is absolutely encouraged.
Some of these methods I developed or learned in class, and some I’ve yet to try, but are down in the history books as hella spiritual and free-flowing. So grab your sketchbook and take these ideas down. Note that most materials are easy to come by, or easy to substitute. As always, be safe when experimenting.
INK BLOWING
This one is one I use all the time, and results in beautiful patterns, color interactions, etc. It’s a very organic, dendritic method that can lend suggestion to nature, our nervous system, and water. You can use whatever kind of ink you want, or watery pigment. such as acrylic or watercolor. All you need is paper, ink and a straw. I ecommend caution on this one if you have breathing issues, as doing it for long periods of time can be rather taxing.
- Drop the ink onto paper and blow the straw, sending the ink out into dendritic shapes and paths. Turning and pointing the straw in different ways as you blow can change it’s direction and how it goes across the page. How hard you blow can do this too. It’s a process you have very little control of, and can be fun to play with
- Take this process up a notch and grab a brush pen or your favorite ink pen. Get grounded and centered, and just very casually look at the picture for recognizeable forms. Don’t intentionally look for anything, think of it more as cloud gazing. When you find a cloud, take your pen and delineate however you please whatever forms you see.
This process is very freeing, as you can’t really control totally where the ink goes, how it blends. While there is some control with direction and color, the rest is a delightful surprise, and gives us unconditional permission to flow with the process.
AUTOMATIC DRAWING
You have probably heard of this one, as it is the epitome of Surrealist technique. Artists such as Hilma af Klint and Salvador Dali used it frequently, and was a huge part of constructing their works. It can be hard to really get into it at first, but once we push past the analytical brain, it can become a great pre-practice to work, or apart of our work.
Think about it. For people who can remember: You’re a young child on your computer, playing on Microsoft paint. You take the black brush tool, and just scribble all over the white space, creating all sorts of odd cells, shapes, and doodles. Then, you take the fill tool and just randomly color in your work. That was a form of automatic drawing. Returning to our inner child can really remind us what we can access, and as we loosen up, automatic drawing becomes available to us.
- This process can be done plain Jane and let it flow through you, or you can make it juicy and add a spiritual touch: Meditate beforehand, ask your favorite deity or your name for Source to guide your hands, and make it into a ritual. There’s no rules with automatic drawing. Just remember not to judge or edit your work. It is pure and from your heart, it can always be used later.
GUIDED MEDITATION/VISUALIZATION
This is one of my personal favorites, and something I use regularly, mainly as a byproduct of my regular mediation practice. It’s a good way to document your meditations and visions, and can even be used later in larger works in some way, should you choose. A huge amount of my visual language and personal symbols came from an intense reikie session where the phosphenes (look ’em up, it’s a fun rabbit hole) were very active. The “sprite” in my logo came from this session. A good visualization can really inspire you in multiple ways, and I recommend it for your practice.
- Choose any favorite meditation. You can meditate without guidance, or choose your fave from Youtube, Insight, Calm, or whatever you use. I like to use Insight and Youtube. Really allow your visualizations to develop here, but don’t over focus or force anything. Just allow whatever images you see to pass through. Afterwards, you can recreate what you’ve seen, and maybe even journal a little about it. Again, there is no wrong steps here, what you see or experience is all valid, and can be used for your work, should you choose.
DECALCOMANIA
Perhaps you’ve never heard this term before. How about Rorschach and inkblots? This is a form of decalcomania, where you press an object with paint or pigment against another. It’s very popular in printmaking and painting. This is a practice in my work, inspired by Susan Chrysler White, the decalcomania queen of our era (in my humble opinion). It’s very simple and can lend itself to work splendidly. You can also do whatever you want with them: Cut them out, press them on other substrates for a printmaking effect, collage them, quite literally whatever you want.
- Take paint and paper. Try to choose heavy body pigments and sturdy paper, as the method can cause the paper to cripple itself, or the pigments won’t spread in the most desirable way.
- Apply paint to the paper in anyway you like, just don’t let it dry too quickly. When done, either fold the paper or press it against another surface. Smooth it, move it around, get jiggy with it, or just hold it still. Then remove or open back up. Behold the beautiful mini abstract painting you’ve just made! These are fun to meditate one, especially where colors meet each other. Now do with it what you like. I like to cut the shapes out and then add them to my paintings, or scan them into my computer for later use in mandalas.
You can get equally interesting results with other pigments and suitable papers. Approach it like you would the blown ink for the best results.
SMOKE PAINTING
This one I will admit I haven’t really applied to my artwork, but I have used it as a form of scrying. Take care with this method, as flame is involved. It can create beautiful, soft shapes and forms, and can even be manipulated depending on the surface, as it is just soot captured on a substrate.
- Take a paper and a candle. Without burning the paper, hold it over the flame, so the soot from the candle covers the paper. Freely move it around, like you’re drawing with the flame. When done, either keep it as is, or experiment over it with water, graphite, dry brushing, etc.
It’s also a spellbinding way to incorporate the elements into your work!
As you can see, there’s tons of fun ways to spice up your art practice, all of which can be sprinkled with some spiritual intent if so desired. Feel free to share your intuitive practices!
