"When I enter the jungle, I need nothing but jungle to survive." - Rajan
I've been exploring the idea of third eye activation and the image of a pinecone as a symbol of the pineal gland. This symbol can be found throughout many ancient cultures and some attribute it to the idea of spiritual awakening.
The idea of the unfolding pinecone and eyes as an unfolding of higher consciousness is heavily inspired by the work of master painter and visionary Alex Grey.
Early sketches
Final sketch/idea
Digital sketching
I started sketching the final design directly in Photoshop
I continued refining the sketch on the same layer for a more freestyle workflow. (I duplicated the layer every now and then to save my progress shots)
I decided to have the lower eyes a bit more closed to create a sense of gradation and I settled on this as the final render.
Final image
The quote at the top of this page is something I was reminded of while painting this. I found it on a piece of street art that I photographed in the city of Istanbul a few years ago.
This turned out really cool, I'm a big fan of alex grey!
Thanks! Same here. The man is totally brilliant.
awesome! great idea and great execution! upvote :)
thank you! Appreciate it:)
You are definitely onto something, here!
Thank you, and thanks for stopping by!
Yes this is a much more hopefull approach to the theme "awakening". Really great and I must admit I also think your sketches are great on themselves. I never heard of Alex Grey and have to research him.
Congratulations for your beautiful (and meaningful) work of art!
Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it. And I'm sure you'd enjoy Alex Grey. His painting Artist's Hand is where the "hand" in my nickname comes from. Its part of a series called Progress of the Soul which is one of my favorite things ever. You're in for a treat!
Absolutely fantastic! Loved the whole process from sketches to the final execution. Alex Grey is one of my favourite psychedelic artists, right up there with Android Jones. This came out really well. You've got a lot of talent!
Hey thanks man. I'd never heard of Android Jones till just now, holy shit! hahaha😮
Haha, yeah he's on another level altogether.
You have some serious talent, my favorite is the actual top of the pine cone it does look like and eye in the middle of it!
hey thanks! yeah come to think about it I could have done something similar with the rest of the eyes, but oh well. At least its the most open eye!