Ideas for Witchcraft Using Art

ritual-and-chaos:

[REPOSTED FROM OLD URL]

A compilation of ideas I have read or thought up! I do not claim originality for this post. Some ideas crossover between fields and are not repeated.

Two-Dimensional

• Program your drawing tools with intent – for lighter/darker lines, for clarity of the stroke, for following through with the motion, for consistency.
• Draw sigils on your drawing board or easel or table for inspiration.
• (And if you’re using a flat table to draw, consider getting a drawing board. Drawing large on a flat surface distorts your POV.)
• Energize your brush water for better removal of paint.
• Draw a sigil on your palette or mirror/glass for paint to keep your paints moist for longer.
• Use a clothes pin (for pink rubber erasers) or a 2B/light graphite pencil (for the kneadable erasers) to draw sigils for better removal of lines.
• Enchant all your tools – brushes, paper pads, canvases, pencil cases, anything – for durability.
• Program a stone (of your choice) to prevent loss of your tools and keep it in your backpack, pencil pouch, or portfolio bag.
• Draw sigils on the back of your finished works for extra attention.
• Sacrifice the first tip of your pencils and charcoal (both light and dark and especially anything past 6B) to a jar, and put a spell on the jar to keep your light lines light and your dark lines dark.
• If you use a ruler or a stick to check proportions, dip it in enchanted water the night before – enchant the water to give you clarity of vision.
• Optional: Enchant your clothes to repel paint stains, charcoal dust, pastel sticks, etc. (Optional because unless you’re Yves Klein, most artists I am familiar with are careful not to get excessively dirty because of wasted materials.)
• Keep your paints/color-tools in a container enchanted to maintain their vibrancy.
• Draw a sigil on any face-mask you have so that it filters all hazardous fumes out, especially if you are using spray paint.
• Enchant spray paint cans for less dripping, as well as fixative cans.

Three-Dimensional

• Enchant any and all materials and projects for durability, especially after welding, gluing, slipping, or firing a project.
• Use chalk to draw a sigil on welding or plasma cutter surfaces for clean lines and careful motions.
• Enchant any material used to bind objects together or secure objects with power and specific purpose (ex. glue to bind these two pieces of wood together, straps to bind these several pieces of plaster mold together).
• Use magic to make a specific place where you rest your work (a table, a board, a section of floor) so that while you are away it is protected and safe.
• Enchant all your small tools so that they are returned to you if lost. (Also sharpie your name all over those things. Do it.)
• If you have access to YOUR OWN power tools, put a sigil for sharpness and durability on any saw blades. Do not do this if you are at a school using public equipment – you may not be allowed to draw on blades or remove them from the machines to draw on.
• Siphon any frustration or anger as energy into hammers for extra force.
• Invent a small chant to increase precision and say it before drilling, cutting, or altering anything.
• Write sigils for protection, durability, and good color on paper and leave them in the kilns with your art work during firing. (For ceramics and hardening metal casting sand-resin molds. Wouldn’t advise it for glass kilns due to potential contamination by ash in small glass kilns.)
• Enchant the hell out of your workspace for cleanliness, organization, and loss-prevention. Do this like everyday, I swear. I know sculptors. DO IT NOW.

Textiles/Printmaking

• Sharpness enchantments on every single blade in your work area.
• Draw durability and precision sigils on any sewing equipment used.
• Enchant water for color-vibrancy and attention and use it to anoint all fabric lengths (usually best while they are still rolled up or immediately after purchasing them).
• Energize paper reams with color-vibrancy and attention rather than using water.
• Cast spells on all inks for good consistency and ease of use.
• Enchant ink-mixing area for cleanliness and lack of contamination.
• Likewise, enchant cleaning supplies (mineral oils, etc) for extra power while cleaning.
• Say a protective chant over your pieces while they are drying to prevent damage.
• Sigil the back of your stamps (and the printmaking word for the ‘stamps’ you use, I forgot) for durability.
• Visualize your paper/fabric as imbibed with energy of fire for faster drying times.
• Enchant thread for strength, enchant needle for sharpness, enchant any backing for protection.  

Digital/Photography

• Cast spells all over your electronics for protection, battery life, memory space, anything you can think of.
• If you use a tablet, clean it (carefully) and while doing that visualize your intent for the tablet to provide you with clean lines while drawing.
• Draw a sigil on your workspace to remind you to save, frequently, often, and with more than one file name during a big project.
• Enchant your external hard drives and USB sticks with loss prevention spells.
• Draw a sigil for attention on the background of your digital file before starting a project, erase it for the sigil to activate or leave it hidden in the background for permanence.
• Turn your digital signature into an enchantment for protection, attention, or theft-prevention.
• Draw a sigil lightly on the reverse of any photographs printed for protection, attention, or theft prevention.
• Hold camera lenses up to the sun for good lighting and angles and to the moon for clarity and cleanliness of your lens.
• Ritualize cleaning of equipment to imbibe materials with specific attributes.

Performance

• Enchant water pre-performance for strength, focus, and energy.
• Draw sigils for attention on your body underneath your clothes (if you are the performer) or on the focus of your art.
• Enchant digital or recorded files of your performance for protection (from loss due to accidental trashing) and for locating it later.
• Sorry I don’t know much about performance, but call upon the spirits of Carol Schneeman and Joseph Beuys and I bet they’d help. (Schneeman’s still living but summon her anyways.)

General

• Enchant your coffee, tea, or drink of choice for clarity during critiques and focus during those same critiques.
• Put sigils on your clothes to decrease anxiety and stress, put sigils on your clothes to prevent damage to yourself or to your clothes.
• Invent a chant to increase retention while studying for Art History.