Shakti (original artwork)

I make no claim to be an "artist" — I tend to be more of a "doodler," instead. But still, this is a drawing I made from an original design idea that popped into my head. The concept is the personification of the eternal Feminine aspect of the Divine, known as Shakti (IPA: 'ʃɑːk - tiː), which permeates all of Creation.

The concept of a Feminine aspect of the Divine is foreign to some religions, but is present in a much greater number of religions across the world than not. It stems from the belief that women are as important as men — both were created in the "image of God," rather than that distinction being reserved for only males as the patriarchal religions teach — and that it is through the interaction of feminine-Yin and masculine-Yang energies that the process of creation is possible in the first place.

Medium = Ink and colored pencil on art paper, drawn and colored freehand. I wanted this illustration to be as minimal as possible, so it is styled with few lines. In my mind, the absence of detail in the face allows the figure to be a representation of all women, not tied to any age, race, or ethnicity.

Of all art I've ever drawn in my life, this is definitely one of my favorite pieces because of its simplicity and the way I was able to execute it. And, oddly, I have been planning this post all week and happened to stumble onto this mention of Shakti by another woman on Steemit shortly before I posted this! Great minds think alike! Big hugs to @katrina-ariel for her heartfelt post.