MERCH & IMAGE BREAKDOWNS
Graphic design one of the thing I've come to do, and after having done it for a little while, I gotta say, it's pretty fun to do... when you're doing it for your self. Building your own brand is a whole other world, so if you're on that path, here's some of the behind the scenes in the whole "clothing brand" side of Samurai Ruach. Designing is great, and the most fun part for me, and maybe for you too, but I have to do all of the other parts as well, and unless you have a team or some top notch AI agents, it becomes a balance and battle of staying motivated to set goals and do all of the boring crap that "someone" has to do but there's no one but you to do them... staying inspired to keep creating and keep the fire and passion for what you love doing... even staying on top of things like technology in your field and trending themes. If you're into doing print-on-demand, there's keeping tabs on the leading products, methods, and companies, I get into a lot of these things, and you see it in real time, in the videos. Not only that, but if you were looking for the meanings to the designs-- because there's a lot packed into them, and how they were done, you're in the right place. I've done some written blog posts if you're a reader, and because of how things are as far as living situations, doing videos ended up being faster, so here's both.
CONVERSATIONS (In Depth Writings On Subjects)
HERE IS A LIST OF ALL OF THE IMAGE BREAKDOWNS. The text link AND THE IMAGE both go to the page that breaks down that image/design. I just put the images so you can see what they look like. I'll try to keep both in A-Z order:
Agnanadi; AllLies; The ArtWork's Outside The Box; BEING Symbol (Classics); BEING Symbol (Skull version); BEING BE-ing Being (Str8 Outta); Black Knight; Blacklight Quotes; Boney Phace; Charlie Beats; Coal Diamond; Don't Jesus The Christ Out of Yeshua, Your Self, or me (Artist); Don't Jesus The Christ Out of Yeshua, Your Self, or me (Park); THE DOORS ARE NOT EXITS; Fire Warning; Future's So Bright; Garuda VI; Green Hero Man Guy or Girl Woman Person Thing; HappAi Face; Head In The Clouds; I Love Um...; I'm Doing My Best; Just Let AI Do It; Kemuri Ashain; Meditate On The Word Night & Day; Mind Over Matter (Game); No One Or Thing...; NOT OK; One Fire To Another; Peace & Blessings; ProvidenceBC's; Rugpull; Samurai Ruach (Logo); Shmokey Phace; Sky's The Limit; Take A Sabbath; Trying To Have A Nice Day; Warm Jesters; You Still Have Time;
If you click on a design image or name above, you'll go to that section on that page, or you can go right to THE SHOP (store) here.and then to the different COLLECTIONS/ CATEGORIES: Agninadi (Fire dragon); Bags; BEING Symbols; Blacklight Vibe; Books, Games, & Music; Coal Diamond; Everything Else; Garuda VI; Hats & Headwear; Jackets, Jerseys, Long-Sleeves; Ladies Only; Spiritual Fire; Tees (Raglan baseball tees); Tees (short-sleeve & tanks); Text Only; Trying To Have A Nice Day; Vibrant Vibes;
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
CRAZY TALKS #49: NO OTHER GODS BEFORE WHO? (02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #52: I HOPE THIS HELPS TOUR (hacked for social media - 02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #30'Something: "HONEST Real Talk" (01.24.26)
Agninadi (The Fire Dragon)
AGNINADI is one of the fire dragons in the story. He does not like humanity. Even more, he does not like the dragons created by humanity, and he does not like the role AI has played in their creation, manipulating mankind's hubris to create things that could destroy humanity. These "unnatural" abominations, global warming, the war, and a few other events are the things that triggered the Fire Dragons to come out of their caves. With The War raging, they took their lands (The Land of Dragons) which is just the one territory they claimed, and were driven into, seen on the map. Looking at the war torn world (or what was left of the world that Agninadi considers to belong to their race as they were there first), Agninadi rose to be the leader of the Fire Dragons, and vows to rid the earth of humanity, their digital and synthetic replacements, and any and all others who stand in his way of "purging the earth" to purify it for their race.
Because he's such a powerful and fiery character in the series, the clothes that i ended up designing that reflected that type of individual (possibly) i just put into one collection/group. That really started the individual collections. Above you can see some of the items with the Agninadi vibe to them. You can check out the whole AGNINADI COLLECTION here if it resonates.
THE NAME? AGNINADI basically translates into "River Of Fire" in Sanskrit. I did a lot of research on the names of a lot of the characters to make sure their names were accurate to the regions, and their nature (personalities/character). IF YOU WERE TO GOOGLE IT, you'd get something like:
Based on Sanskrit dictionaries and related terminology"Agninadi" is not a standard, commonly recognized phrase, but it appears to be a compound of Agni (fire) and potentially a suffix meaning path or sound, or a slight variation of other terms.
Here are the most likely interpretations based on the components:
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Agni (अग्नि): Means fire, the deity of fire, or the digestive fire (jaṭharāgni) in Ayurveda.
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Nadi (नदी / नाडी):
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If interpreted as Nadi (नदी), it means a river. ThereforeAgninadi could translate to "River of Fire".
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If interpreted as Nādi (नाडी), it refers to a channel, nerve, or pulse in yogic philosophy. Agninādi could refer to a "Channel of Fire" (an energy path).
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Contextual Variations:
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Agnyādi (अग्न्यादि): A common phrase meaning "fire and so forth" or "beginning with fire".
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Agnidāyin (अग्निदायिन्): An incendiary or one who sets something on fire.
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Agninayana (अग्निनयन): The act of bringing out the sacrificial fire.
If you encountered this in a specific text, it likely refers to a "fire-channel" or "fire-river" in a metaphoric or ritualistic context.
THE DESIGN is easy-- it's just all of the red and black (and red & white) and sky color themed items. It started when I was making the COAL DIAMOND stuff, which is a charcoal plaid. After that, and getting down the process of making patterns, i wanted something really "fancy" and deep, something fiery, so made a paisley pattern, but in the dark coal color, which some of it was used in the COAL DIAMOND stuff, but I made it red, and then played with the red and black spaces. Yeah, photoshop again, but to get the exact patterns I actually used Chat GPT to do a small section. It was working more accurately than LEONARDO.AI which I'd paid for, and that was a lot to pay for inaccuracy. If you can do it in the perfect black and white scheme, it's nothing to invert that to get white on black, and then to colorize both to turn the white space whatever color. I was into doing the jerseys at the time, and i still love those-- but I figured to just make a collection with all of the things that had that energy to it, so anyone who is on that same vibe could easily find all of the things that resonate with them. You can check out the AGNINADI COLLECTION in the shop (store) here. There may be a few of the items in the video playlist below.
This section written 02.28.26- last edited 02.28.26
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
CRAZY TALKS #49: NO OTHER GODS BEFORE WHO? (02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #52: I HOPE THIS HELPS TOUR (hacked for social media - 02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #30'Something: "HONEST Real Talk" (01.24.26)
AllLies (Red Flag)
AllLies (Red Flag) is one of those "political" statement designs. Politics is a bit of a crap thing to have an opinion about, mainly because (i believe) politics is just a part of the economic governance of humanity-- the business of regulating the flow of human currency (current-see). Politics eventually gets down to a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, building your own prison, and lovingly so-- or as much as people are led to believe they freely thought on their own. Living gets interesting like that. A lot of what's "reality" is someone else's plan. THE NAME? After a while, the allies are All Lies, and everything is a red flag. Still, since "they" feed on fear, you have to move accordingly.
THE DESIGN is actually one I'd been sitting on. This is one version of it. There were some slogans at the bottom of other ones, where there was a barcode in the bottom right corner, showing that some patriotism and beliefs are a product sold. It also said "All lives matter. This is business." Meaning that everyone counts, and since people (time, mind, and resources) are the currency, everyone is every one (like $1). There's a bunch of them in a collection I did years ago, but never got around to because I didn't have what I needed to do it how I wanted it done. I found PRINTFUL and CUSTOMCAT (print on demand companies), but had issues linking CUSTOMCAT to the websites, so i went with PRINTFUL, which was pretty close to what i wanted. The prices are a little higher, but everything can be reasoned when you're paying for it. Either way, I did this one as a test to see if it would come out good, which it did, so I guess I'll do more of the ones I was sitting on.
This section written 02.26.26- last edited 02.26.26
The ArtWork's Outside The Box
THE ARTWORK'S OUTSIDE THE BOX was one of those production driven things. I'd gotten it into my head that if this whole project is to fund itself, then [one of] the most (even? fair? balanced?) ways of giving back would be to dive into t-shirts and print-on-demand stuff. So, i started working on some inspirational, uplifting, snazzy types of designs, like this one. It's artsy and quirky, yet simple enough, says me. Creating it was not so bad-- once the computer was all warmed up and decided to work, then I just went into it. There's a video of the making of this whole thing, which is a part of that whole "Production" mode of thought-- creating useful videos to show whoever else might be on a similar path (POD, designing, looking to do a store, etc.) how I did everything here on this site, so I made some of the actual creation of store items, from thin air, to finished product "on the shelf."
THE NAME? That's one of those quirky things. Even the spelling of the name, as in the design and positioning of the letters-- all of that is a part of the name/design. I know, that sounds redundant. Watch the video, you'll see what I mean. Basically, though, it means that YOU are THE ART, and you work best when BEING (not just thinking) outside of the box.
THE DESIGN was work, in a sense that as much as it was fun to do, the logical designer side of me overpowered the more freely creative and emotional artistic side of me. This design is a simple note to the reader, inside of a decorative picture frame (a cellphone), reminding them to spend some time in the art of living life, and the art of being your honest, pure, sabbath self. The part that was tricky (as you can see in the video) is the text-- more specifically, the phrasing (wording), especially from a design aspect. There's "The Artworks" meaning plural works of art... "The ArtWorks" which is a play on words, meaning Artowrk (expression) and action of the Artwork Working (ArtworkWORKS=ArtWorks)... and some other thing I get into in the video. Also, the flipping of the letters, and making it digital in aesthetic (shape/style/font) has a meaning, showing that everything else looks natural in a digital world when you've been programmed to be digital. You won't notice until the natural part of you sees that digital part, or notices itself in a digital world (inside of the phone). It's a bit of a "triple take" thing: You notice the digital twist... and then you notice the natural letters... then you notice how the natural stuff is existing inside the digital box. To add a fourth layer, there's the whole "you in 'reality' looking at all of this on a shirt... in the matrix perhaps?"
Sometimes you can just feel a design, from start to finish, and it just flows. Other times, you hit logical technical bumps, and have to work through them. It's nothing too big, and usually it's all in your mind. Then you remember, "It's Print On Demand!" You can make a million designs, upload them all, and nothing will get printed until someone orders one! There's no overhead! That free's you up a little, but then there's the whole "TWO, NOT THREE" thing, where people presented with 2 options can choose more easily than when presented with 3. If you give MORE THAN THREE then people might shut down, overwhelmed, wanting everything and burning out when trying to decide. I still plan to go back and do it over, with just a clean simple cell phone image, but i made the phone a really decorative frame to show how it's a bit of a "Findhorn/PineCone/We'reBored Conversation" thing (My Dinner With Andre'), where the phone is a digital prison people have constructed so lovingly and well, invested so much in this work of art, they can't see (or refuse to acknowledge) how it's a box locking them in... sometimes. Some people break free. I'll add that clip below so you know what I'm talking about.
This section written 02.28.26- last edited 02.28.26
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
CRAZY TALKS #49: NO OTHER GODS BEFORE WHO? (02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #52: I HOPE THIS HELPS TOUR (hacked for social media - 02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #30'Something: "HONEST Real Talk" (01.24.26)
BEING Symbol
(Skull Version)
The SKULL Version of the BEING Symbol came when designing t-shirts like the Silver and Gold version. While the original version BEING SYMBOL, with the fire and water, is very cool, it still has a look that's more solid and somewhat basic. There's a heavy eastern philosophy vibe to it too, which made it look kind of classic and even a little "martial artsy" in a way. Even doing them in the Silver and Gold, both generations-- it was still missing something. I wanted it to pop, and appeal to a whole new crowd with a different way of thinking. I guess having written The Book Of Blacklights, and having started on the Second Book of Blacklights, influenced the style, and vibe.
I tried out some of those AI image makers, just to get specific elements, knowing how AI loves to NOT give you what you wanted after getting you sooooo close-- before it goes off into oblivion and eats your credits or points or whatever. I even did some sketches at first as a reference because I knew what i wanted. It evolved a little more after the first design. Adding the arrowheads at the bottom of the leaf stems was tricky, but I think it came out pretty cool. So, yeah, The Skull Version-- It looks more mystical, which it's really not, and might even have a bit of a darker, maybe rock "goth'ish" or metal kind of appeal to it, which I'm fine with. So, just to have something more trendy and "t-shirty" I did this one which has the same symbolism, but spins the whole energy a little differently, telling the story from a different angle. Maybe making things a little more specific adds more flare to it also. NO, it's not any type of secret society or cult, or club, or group thing (Other than Samurai Ruach maybe). I'd say it's esoteric because, even though the meaning is pretty obvious, there's a lot to each layer which, to some, might still be kind of hidden. Meh, I dig it. There's a lot packed in there, so, since we're here, here's a breakdown from the TOP of the shirt to the BOTTOM. ALSO, i understand that YOU (especially if you have that shirt, thank you for your support) may have your own breakdowns of things here, and what they mean to you. I'm all ears and would love to get your take on it. So I added a COMMENTS section at the bottom. Share!!!!
"C'EST LA GUERRE" - "that's [the] war (struggle/battle)" is the phrase at the top of the shirt. The actual delivery of that phrase, which has evolved over time, has come to be "C'est la vie, la guerre, et le jeu." That means "That's life (living), the war (the struggle/battle), and the game (the play)." That's a metaphor for BEING, or more specifically CONSCIOUS BEING, which is "That's the Soul/Spirit (la vie), the mind (la guerre), et le jeu (the tangible/the body)." The reason that "C'est la guerre" is at the top of the shirt is because most of the MIND elements are there (at the top of the skull).
THE FIRE CROWN AT THE TOP = The crown of fire has 9 points at the top, which symbolizes consciousness and illumination of each of the 3 states of BEING (Pure BEING, Pure CONSCIOUS BEING, and Pure NON-CONSCIOUS BEING), on all 3 levels (Body-The Game, Mind-The Business, Spirit/Soul- Pure Being). So it's full illumination of BEING-- that's Awareness which is universally natural, and Consciousness (focused willed awareness) which is individually voluntary. So it's a nod to all of the 3's inside all off the 3's, which goes in and out of itself multiple ways. Check out The Book Of 3's and you'll see what I'm talking about when I say "all of the 3's." This illumination and consciousness allows you a conscious knowing of divinity, which is what makes you royalty on all levels and in all realms-- so, the crown. It's more than an awareness, but an actual focusing and application-- a manipulation of awareness. However, there is no perception or understanding of self, heaven, divinity, time (moments which are versions, shades, and degrees of the knowing of divinity of self) God or Kingdom, honestly, if you are NON-CONSCIOUS BEING... because there's no consciousness of it. Non-consciously (Spirit) the awareness of the divinity is just there, because you do exist, and it does exist, but you are not conscious of it, even if it and it's inhabitants, and even the conscious being "God" are conscious of you. THEY'RE conscious. They can do that. I guess I'll have to write on CONSCIOUSNESS VS AWARENESS too, so I can explain that there, and not go off subject here. Man, this just stretches out, huh? Anyways, 9 point crown of fire = Consciousness and Awareness of Divinity of self on all levels of BEING, so Pure BEING BE-ing Being(s) awareness and consciousness of divinity of self in the now.
CROWN OF THORNS = Consciousness is a burden. Consciousness is also perception, which is where all judgment comes from, and division. Here your consciousness is from the perspective of being human, so the crown of thorns is two strands twisted like a DNA strand. I didn't put the ladder rungs in thinking it would be too detailed and get lost, looking like some crusty DNA stick. There are three openings in the crown of thorns, but only one has an eye in it. Speaking of the DNA strand, there's the CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS part. CHRIST is the fusion of a Pure Conscious BEING (Having/Being WITH/Being IN] The Spirit of GOD, AND The Spirit of HUMANITY. The two spirits together as one is Christ-- per the Samurai Ruach explanation. The "I" part of "I AM" is the perception. It is that that divides it from Pure BEING ("AM"). Also, it is perception that makes you royalty, and that it's a divine nature all ways, always, is part of what keep the crown on. It's the WANT mixed with the WILL to BE (as opposed to just simply purely BEING), and in that, to BE "GOD" and "MAN" which is what Christ is, says the Samurai Ruach perspective. Everything God can be as a man, and everything Man can be as [a and even as THEE] GOD = Christ. Every aspect of that. People will have a problem with that. C'est la vie, la guerre, et le jeu. Be honest, all ways always, and walk your walk.
If you are thinking there is good and bad in that, then you're getting a taste of what it's like, because there is no good or bad, only what things are to you, which is even based on who and what you think you are IN THAT MOMENT. If you are thinking you are weak and broken, then a Higher Power is great. If you are thinking you are the highest power, then a Higher Power is evil. Meanwhile, you can only think of things that exist, and everything exists. Walk your walk. One thing that dilutes and even dirties or mixes the Pure CHRIST SPIRIT is the perception of GOD as God or god(s). That GOD CONVERSATION gets into that, but in short, "God" is a conscious being, "god(s, and goddesses)" are conscious beings, "GOD" is a non-conscious spirit, or energy, that makes "God" and "god(s) and goddesses" into GODS. It's the same way that having both a Degree and Experience to express the degree makes you a [whatever you studied and "are": doctor, lawyer, preacher, teacher, etc.]. So if "GOD" is the way, and you want to be the top one, then you have to limit everyone's access to that, and maximize your own access to that spirit and way. SPIRITS have a way of consuming. They're fire, in a sense. They don't have a consciousness, so when they consume, it's not that they want to, its that it's just their nature, to be every aspect of their self. THE 3 SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS gets into that, maybe best explained in THE BOOK OF 3's, but I'll get into it shortly here (sigh)... because I don't know if you'll go and read that, so since we're here, why not? Really quick, You are YOU which is a CONSCIOUS BEING. That's all you are. That never changes. There is a Y. (sigh) Here's a picture... (every time I try to make it short...)
Ok, so, the above image(s), lets focus on the first two-- the one with the RED Fire Y, and the black and white image (split down the middle, white side, black side, circles kind of in a diamond shape) are the one's I'll talk about the most. The rest are there to show you the whole system.
THE ONE WITH THE RED "Y" - You are YOU which is a CONSCIOUS BEING. That's all you are. That never changes. There is a Y. You can see the "Y" there. It's red (fire) because that's CONSCIOUSNESS (the Conscious BEING side). That fused with the blue one (the NON-CONSCIOUS BEING side-- or pure SPIRIT side), according to the philosophy here, is the "whole picture" or BEING. So, you as a conscious being, draw from the abundance of non-conscious spirit. So, at the top of the Y, on the Left
THE EYE INSIDE THE CROWN OF THORNS = represents how you see things one moment at a time, not all 3 levels at once. There are three holes in the DNA crown, but only an eye in one, so you are seeing this reality one level at a time. There is an eye with the pupil being the world where the land masses are gold and the water is black. The land mass is gold because you are a pupil here, which is a golden opportunity. The water is black representing what's hidden in the spirit, which you draw from and produce more solid gold moment (knowing) and being. Since I'm breaking it all the way down, the middle level is where the seeing takes place, while the other two on the sides are hollow. That's a representation of presence of mind. Your mind is how you see things, and the mind is in the middle. The doorway from the mind to the physical is logic. The doorway from the mind to the spiritual is emotion. That minds eye's lid is the veil. On the other side is the eye's (it's reflection). It is looking inward to the spiritual through the emotiona door, looking into the void to see what you feel like. Things manifest by passing through from the abundance in the void, through the It's also nod to the Third eye, which is still itself, meaning, that form of you-- those eyes, remain long after the physical ones have turned to dust. That eyelid is the veil which keeps the logic, and illumination on one side, relating to the physical, and the emotion and void on the other side, relating to the spiritual. That vision is the gatekeeper-- your mind. One eye looking out, one looking in. What does that mean? Ok, ascension (rising) and descending (falling) is a matter of focusing awareness. Focusing awareness is called consciousness. Where your focus is is where you go. So, at "the top" or higher frequencies, levels, etc. is the Spiritual, where your Soul comes from. The soul, according to the Samurai Ruach philosophy, is an individual conscious expression of a spirit. The Non-conscious expression of a spirit is the pure spirit, or way, or energy-- HOW TO BE that thing. The Conscious Soul is WHO IS BEING that thing. For instance (for those who didn't get that) there's THE SPIRIT OF HUMANITY (Spirit) and HUMAN BEINGS (Souls). Spirit of Humanity is everything that makes a human being a human being: empathy, logic, emotion, etc. You can be a different type of being and still express your self via/through the spirit of humanity. For instance, when animals do human things, and even stop behaving as animals but take on human logic and behavior. They're walking and being IN, the Spirit of Humanity. They're not Human Beings, nor do they have Human Souls, but they're in the same Spirit-- when they are. Check out THE 3 SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS and you'll understand that more.
THE SKULL = Wearing a skull, to me, is just honest. You're doing it right now. You're not your body. Life is "a dream," an illusion, like death. How is death an illusion? If you died, and saw the other side, then you didn't die, now did you? However, the illusion is a gift, because we're infinite immortal beings, and since we really don't die, we can come here to at least have the experience, like going on a ride at an amusement park. What's real death? Well, to me, since all things are BEING, then you're always being something. Even NOTHINGNESS is a thing, so even when you're "nothing" you're still something that exists. Death, to me, would be absence of, or non-Illumination-- like being a Non-Thought. Not lack of consciousness, but more like a thought that never happens, like how there are things that you cannot (more than will not) think of-- that would be death.
FIRE IN THE EYES = The fire there has 3 points, because you see in 3 levels, illuminating things 3 levels, but one plane at a time. The roses are Conscious side (red) and Non Conscious side (Blue) with their elements Fire, gold, light and water, silver, darkness... the words are also lit (illuminated) to their corresponding levels, whether Pure BEING, The BUSINESS, or "The GAME". You can figure the rest out, or read one of the books (Book of 3's might help, Book of Blacklights explains it too, and The 2nd Book of Blacklights that i'm working on now is no holds barred)... Anyways, here's a shirt.
Along with one of the more common phrases in the Samurai Ruach writings "C'est la guerre, la vie, et le jeu. (that's the war/struggle, life, and the game)" this unisex t-shirt also has a different spin of the BEING symbol. All of the same elements are there but in this more trendy expression. Like how there are the red (divine masculine, fire) rose, which opens and closes, balanced with the blue (divine feminine, water) rose, and how the stems have the arrows for red, fire, conscious clock-wise, and the eternal anti-clockwise motion of the blue. You can figure the rest out. There's a lightweight soft feel with the right amount of stretch for wherever your path takes you. It's comfortable and flattering for all.
• Direct to garment print (DTG) on a Gildan 64000
This section written 09?.??.25- last edited 02.26.26
Agnanadi; AllLies; The ArtWork's Outside The Box; BEING Symbol (Classics); BEING Symbol (Skull version); BEING BE-ing Being (Str8 Outta); Black Knight; Blacklight Quotes; Boney Phace; Charlie Beats; Coal Diamond; Don't Jesus The Christ Out of Yeshua, Your Self, or me (Artist); Don't Jesus The Christ Out of Yeshua, Your Self, or me (Park); THE DOORS ARE NOT EXITS; Fire Warning; Future's So Bright; Garuda VI; Green Hero Man Guy or Girl Woman Person Thing; HappAi Face; Head In The Clouds; I Love Um...; I'm Doing My Best; Just Let AI Do It; Kemuri Ashain; Meditate On The Word Night & Day; Mind Over Matter (Game); No One Or Thing...; NOT OK; One Fire To Another; Peace & Blessings; ProvidenceBC's; Rugpull; Samurai Ruach (Logo); Shmokey Phace; Sky's The Limit; Take A Sabbath; Trying To Have A Nice Day; Warm Jesters; You Still Have Time;
If you click on a design image or name above, you'll go to that section on that page, or you can go right to THE SHOP (store) here.and then to the different COLLECTIONS/ CATEGORIES: Agninadi (Fire dragon); Bags; BEING Symbols; Blacklight Vibe; Books, Games, & Music; Coal Diamond; Everything Else; Garuda VI; Hats & Headwear; Jackets, Jerseys, Long-Sleeves; Ladies Only; Spiritual Fire; Tees (Raglan baseball tees); Tees (short-sleeve & tanks); Text Only; Trying To Have A Nice Day; Vibrant Vibes;
The Black Knight
THE ARTWORK'S OUTSIDE THE BOX was one of those production driven things. I'd gotten it into my head that if this whole project is to fund itself, then [one of] the most (even? fair? balanced?) ways of giving back would be to dive into t-shirts and print-on-demand stuff. So, i started working on some inspirational, uplifting, snazzy types of designs, like this one. It's artsy and quirky, yet simple enough, says me. Creating it was not so bad-- once the computer was all warmed up and decided to work, then I just went into it. There's a video of the making of this whole thing, which is a part of that whole "Production" mode of thought-- creating useful videos to show whoever else might be on a similar path (POD, designing, looking to do a store, etc.) how I did everything here on this site, so I made some of the actual creation of store items, from thin air, to finished product "on the shelf."
THE NAME? That's one of those quirky things. Even the spelling of the name, as in the design and positioning of the letters-- all of that is a part of the name/design. I know, that sounds redundant. Watch the video, you'll see what I mean. Basically, though, it means that YOU are THE ART, and you work best when BEING (not just thinking) outside of the box.
THE DESIGN was work, in a sense that as much as it was fun to do, the logical designer side of me overpowered the more freely creative and emotional artistic side of me. This design is a simple note to the reader, inside of a decorative picture frame (a cellphone), reminding them to spend some time in the art of living life, and the art of being your honest, pure, sabbath self. The part that was tricky (as you can see in the video) is the text-- more specifically, the phrasing (wording), especially from a design aspect. There's "The Artworks" meaning plural works of art... "The ArtWorks" which is a play on words, meaning Artowrk (expression) and action of the Artwork Working (ArtworkWORKS=ArtWorks)... and some other thing I get into in the video. Also, the flipping of the letters, and making it digital in aesthetic (shape/style/font) has a meaning, showing that everything else looks natural in a digital world when you've been programmed to be digital. You won't notice until the natural part of you sees that digital part, or notices itself in a digital world (inside of the phone). It's a bit of a "triple take" thing: You notice the digital twist... and then you notice the natural letters... then you notice how the natural stuff is existing inside the digital box. To add a fourth layer, there's the whole "you in 'reality' looking at all of this on a shirt... in the matrix perhaps?"
Sometimes you can just feel a design, from start to finish, and it just flows. Other times, you hit logical technical bumps, and have to work through them. It's nothing too big, and usually it's all in your mind. Then you remember, "It's Print On Demand!" You can make a million designs, upload them all, and nothing will get printed until someone orders one! There's no overhead! That free's you up a little, but then there's the whole "TWO, NOT THREE" thing, where people presented with 2 options can choose more easily than when presented with 3. If you give MORE THAN THREE then people might shut down, overwhelmed, wanting everything and burning out when trying to decide. I still plan to go back and do it over, with just a clean simple cell phone image, but i made the phone a really decorative frame to show how it's a bit of a "Findhorn/PineCone/We'reBored Conversation" thing (My Dinner With Andre'), where the phone is a digital prison people have constructed so lovingly and well, invested so much in this work of art, they can't see (or refuse to acknowledge) how it's a box locking them in... sometimes. Some people break free. I'll add that clip below so you know what I'm talking about.
This section written 02.28.26- last edited 02.28.26
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
CRAZY TALKS #49: NO OTHER GODS BEFORE WHO? (02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #52: I HOPE THIS HELPS TOUR (hacked for social media - 02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #30'Something: "HONEST Real Talk" (01.24.26)
Charlie Beats
CHARLIE BEATS was a quick design, but not quick at the same time. THE NAME is essentially what the design is-- a mix of Charlie Brown and beat-making (producing): Charlie... Beats-- two things I enjoy. Yeah, I'm more of a Calvin & Hobbes individual, and even more of a Far Side than C&H, but the Peanuts gang was always cool and calm. THE IMAGE i did it in photoshop. I do pretty much all of the designs in photoshop. Again, it was quick but not. Quick because i knew what i wanted. I wanted the feel of the "Charlie Brown shirt" but a hip hop version, in a sense. Instead of the regular zig-zagging stripe, I wanted a drumtrack waveform, and one that could even possibly be playable if there's an app or something that could read it. Not quick, because getting it to be HOW i wanted it to be was tricky. I'm thinking (not sure) that it may be a waveform image of the Clyde Stubblefield "Funky Drummer" break (solo), which is one of the most iconic drum breaks of all time, if not, it's in the top 5. I got the sample of the break from the HAMMERHEAD Rhythm Station (Drum machine) which is one i started using back in the late 90's (1998, 1999?) or early 2000's when I first got Sonic Foundry Acid (Now ACID PRO), and started doing music. So, yes, if you know how to read waveforms, you can read this shirt and hear the drumtrack play. HOW'D I DO THAT? First I played the sample of it I had from ACID and took a screen shot, but then I got an idea to separate it all, doing the kicks and snares in black, and running some high hats/cymbals (i know, two different things) also inside of it in a lighter (that gray) color. Then getting those to line up was tricky. I think I did ok. It's one of those things that IYKYK, but you should know now since I just told you. I figure producers, musicians, and maybe even drummers might dig it.
The song below the Clyde Stubblefield video, is just a song I did, chopping up some bit of the iconic Charlie Brown theme song, "Linus and Lucy". The theme song was composed and performed by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi in 1964, and first appeared on the album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown and became the signature theme for the Peanuts animated specials. For some reason, in my head, Charles Mingus plays it, but that might be a Mandela Effect or something. I dunno.
This section written 02.26.26- last edited 02.26.26
SOFTWARE? Photoshop. There was a whole "back and forth" process for this design. I did a sketch and then put that into Chat GPT. Then the image i got from Chat GPT i put into photoshop and fine tuned to get what i really wanted. I knew what I wanted in the image, so it wasn't much to it to do. I'm still working with this copy of Photoshop 6.0, so, yeah, whatever you're using is probably way better, so I expect you to do way more, way faster than me. I'm using what I have... that will actually work. I do still have the drawing tablet that works well... whenever THE HORSE (the laptop) decides to run it... properly. Sometimes it will run, but won't show me the icons/tools, or other features just turn off. Other times, even though I didn't do anything differently, it runs flawlessly. It's very frustrating, so unless I'm mentally prepared for that heartache and headache, I'll just do it the more tedious way in photoshop, using the mouse.
When it comes to using AI (GPT) it does that 80% - 90% thing, where it gives you like 80-90% of what you actually wanted, and then when you try to get it more exact, it goes in the other way just to piss you off and use up all of your credits or whatever (if you don't have a paid plan. If you do, it just messes with you because it's getting paid to do that. You paid it.).
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THE DESIGN? It's a robot, representing AI (because that's what robots run on, even if it's simple basic programming), and the robot is dunking a human skull and spine. It's funny to me in a sarcastic, maybe even satirical way. The while idea of how that jump-man was first Jordan, which was representing one of the peak athletes in his prime, soaring, a master of his game-- now replaced by AI, and the AI is dunking him away. In a sense, humanity is the game-- not AI as most people would think, and it's being played out by itself, using AI. It's not really that deep.
I was going to be all technical and count out the spinal cord and vertebrae, but it didn't have to be that serious. ONE REASON I put THE SPINE in was because of Chrism Oil, and spiritual enlightenment. People go to AI for that now. Most of humanity, humanity's spine, it's backbone, is becoming more and more dependent on AI, and it's like humanity can't stand on it's own anymore, so... the spine. A headless, spineless humanity.
As far as the "full logo" with text, there were two designs done. The first one was the character (dunk-bot?), and the second one was just the text. Because Printful uses layers, I could then resize each piece (figure, and text) separately to get different effects (different color image and text), and placements (text above, behind, below, etc.)... but to have the whole design be more uniform I did a second one with the robot and text all on one image. Graphic designers do things like that. Most people who are not graphic designers would just do one design. The way I was taught to think was to make the design to look great in black & white, in multi-color, large, small, and everything in between-- which is why when you pa graphic designers to do things they give you so many options. We have to make sure that we cover all bases for you, and you image looks good on: t-shirts, fliers, business cards, letterhead, websites, billboards, stickers, pencils, etc. I bet that's why AI gives you the option to do 4 generations at once. Either way, i was making sure that i designed enough to work with the 5 layers that PRINTFUL gives you to work with. ALSO, some of the designs i was told to add the words "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" so that people don't confuse AI (Artificial Intelligence) with AI (Allen Iverson) since it's a basketball'ish logo.
Here's a thing that bothers me... kind of a lot: "AI Artists" or the people claiming to be that. Stop doing that. If anything, you're a PROMPT writer, not even a coder, because it's not even code. You have to learn a whole lot more to learn to write code. Sesame Street can teach you to write a prompt. The AI does all of the work. If anything, the AI is the artist. It really bothers me when it comes to music, because music is such a universally soulful thing... or it can be. I only bring it up because this shirt pokes fun at that concept [of being an "AI ARTIST"]. Even more [disgusting?] is how people have businesses being content creators, and how they're flooding the market to make money, meanwhile, they have no love or passion, or event he slightest interest in what they're selling and/or making the AI "create" or put together. Because of that, the people who are trained to do those things, who are also passionate about that field, are being overlooked and underpaid, washed out by the AI oversaturation. It's the whole soul and spirit of humanity being sucked out, and the shell of it being fed a photocopy of it, and not even a good one. That's one of the messages at the heart of this shirt.
Written 11?.??.25 .... last updated 02.26.26
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
CRAZY TALKS #49: NO OTHER GODS BEFORE WHO? (02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #52: I HOPE THIS HELPS TOUR (hacked for social media - 02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #30'Something: "HONEST Real Talk" (01.24.26)
YOU STILL HAVE TIME! Just TAKE your time, mind and resources... Yeah, sometimes my outlook isn't the best, and i can take all the positivity living is willing to give. I figured, why not spread some positivity too, and just let people walk around encouraging others?! Even on the days i feel like crap, even if i can't find it in myself, at least the shirt will say it for me, and when it lifts someone else up, and they thank me for it, then that will be the kickstart i needed to get back into the positive zone. T-shirts do that. It's one of the reasons I do t-shirts-- to say the things people can't, but want to, or need (to).
THE MESSAGE is an easy one to get, and one that people need to be reminded of a lot of the time. YOU STILL HAVE TIME. Take your TIME, MIND, and RESOURCES. You don't have to make them. They're already there. Just take 'em back, and have them... and DON'T WASTE THEM NOW. If you did waste them... (read again).
When you get that reminder, sometimes it's frustrating because things aren't how you want them NOW, and patience seems like crap when others (some who don't do anywhere near as much as you do) are getting help, and support, and people care about them and what they do, and then others come tell you about it like its something new and all they did was your idea that the people telling you "look at that guy over there! WOW!" who you told about--- nevermind. You get it. YOU STILL HAVE TIME. Keep at it. All of that frustration and idiots take and disrupt the flow of energy. TAKE THE FLOW BACK. Time, Mind, and Resources is how things get done. You have to have all three, and you actually DO, ALL THE TIME, but living life distracts you. Don't freak out. Also, people tell you you have to MAKE your mind, or make time, or make resources (money)--- its already there. You just have to figure out how to TAKE them back. ALSO, there's a crowd for everyone. There are people waiting for, wanting, and needing what you have to offer. No one else will do it how you would do it, which is why life trusted you with the things you'll experience, and to be the one to create the experiences you'll create. Don't hold back. You still have time.
THE DESIGN was done in Photoshop. I have Photoshop 6, if you haven't read that yet. YES, they ARE on WAY MORE ADVANCED VERSIONS!!! I'm working with what i got, that works. The equipment is tricky over here, and with it comes more tricks from life and living. For instance, someone gave me a desktop computer-- all i had to do was transfer all of their data off of it and set it up for me to use. It took about 2 weeks to get the password to unlock it, and then a weekend to clear everything, save their info, try to put on the programs I'd need which wouldn't load, and when I got everything as usable as it would be, the computer stopped working. Whole weekend down the drain on that one. But I got their stuff done. SO, whatever positive vibes come my way, I'm all for it. When the computer decides to work, if i have to time to sit and work it, I'm going all in until i pass out and didn't know it... which happens a lot just waiting for the computer to work right, steadily.
I know there are a few videos in the playlist for this design. As of today (2.26.26) i probably still have videos of this design that need to get edited. Yay life. I still got time.
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
EXPLAINER VIDEOS (Merch, & Images)
CRAZY TALKS #49: NO OTHER GODS BEFORE WHO? (02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #52: I HOPE THIS HELPS TOUR (hacked for social media - 02.05.26)
Crazy Talks #30'Something: "HONEST Real Talk" (01.24.26)
It would be nice if the laptop would run the drawing tablet again, but until then I'll just have to do things in the photoshop i have... which is ...old.
SOFTWARE? Photoshop. I did that design in photoshop. I have Photoshop 6.0. Yeah, I know. Well, what are you doing with YOUR version of Photoshop? I'm using what I have... that will actually work. As mentioned above, I have a drawing tablet that works well, but THE HORSE is THE HORSE, and when it doesn't want to run things (which is usually when I need them most) then it WON'T. So, I have drawing tablet, but... not.
THE DESIGN? Old grizzled man but faded into a skull, like aged away, but the eyes and the fire in the eyes remains. It's like a "you can't kill wisdom, or ideas" thing. I started with a pic I AI'd of the Old Grizzled Man, and then the Skull picture. I had to make sure the eye sockets lined up. Then it was just stacking copies of the layers on top of each other, and erasing, like fading them away. The old man Is on the bottom I think, with multiple layers of skull on top, but those skull layers are erased, masked, and filtered so that they all fade more and more. The old man can be seen more on the left side, and is blue (MATTER), while the skull is mostly on the right side and is red (MIND). No, it's not directly related to the game. It should be, but... no, I wasn't thinking of that. Doing the eyes was the most fun part, and tedious. It pays to use AI to make your own stock photos that you can use. I did that with the fire, and I had some of eyes, so I basically cut the fella's eyes out, like a Batman mask, and then blacked all around the inside in a lower layer. So it's Skill on top, then man-face, then highlights on the eyes, then fire, then eyes, then masked fire underneath for extra glow but kind of muted to look more natural (under the skin of the eyes-- yes your eyes have skin. I had a metal splinter, and a splinter of fiberglass in my eyes before-- trust me, you eyes have skin), and then black to fill in the eye socket, and then more man face beneath that to seal it.
A quick bit about Artist and Art vs Content Prompters and AI... Yes, Content Prompters. You're not even content creators anymore, because you don't create anything. AI does it. You just make a prompt. And you can even get AI to do that. It's sad. And disturbing. Seems like a bit of work, but when this is one of the things you DO-- like know how to do, love doing (for your self, not so much for others), and are actually good at, then you don't mind experimenting and actually putting in work. It's a process, a journey-- it's fun. SADLY, there's folks who just want to make content for sales. There's no logic, no skill, no talent, no real effort, just a prompt, and if they had any know-how, it's which AI bots to use for marketing so the folks who actually DO THIS, but don't know all of those tricks (because we're too busy working) get lost in the huge pile of CONTENT STREAM CRAP. That's a sad thing about artists and art-- especially in this day and age. It gets lost. The soul people are looking for is out there being expressed, but it's drowned out by all the AI screaming for attention, because you're looking for the soul you drowned out with your content for likes and money-- because you've lost your soul ... to the computer world.
VARIATIONS... There are currently 3 different variations of this shirt. There's the 1 - WOMEN'S (All Over Print) and a 2 - MEN'S (All Over Print), both of which are in a set called the Splash Series, because of the splash of color strip on the bottom. The last one is 3 - The Unisex (Mens & Womens) Bella canvas tee. They're all pretty soft and comfortable, but the Bella Canvas one is more plain, with just the front image. It's printed a different way also. The ALL OVER prints are actually white shirts and the entire shirt is printed, so it's almost dyed black (printed black), while the Bella Canvas shirt is a black shirt with the image printed on it. I'm using PRINTFUL at the moment to do the print-on-demand, which is why the price is what it is.
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Anyways, BACK TO THE DESIGN... The skull part was annoying. It was tricky to balance because the man's face was so grizzled, but that's what I wanted. Look at that guy. He's been through some stuff. Doing the guy in Blue, as in MATTER, was a bit of poetry, mostly on the side of the Skull being in Red, representing MIND. Why is the Skull the dominant Mind? Because our bodies pass away. The fire in the eyes is what moves on. So in a sense, the skull is more of a solid reminder of who and what we are, beneath the skin and age and scars. The fire in the eyes is the cleanest and most solid thing, so that cuts through everything. Since it's faded and masked on top of the blue, it comes out purplish, which is cool, because it's got a bunch of Blacklight Philosophy on it, so, that works. Speaking of which.....
THE WORDS?
"ONE FIRE TO ANOTHER
1. Consider until you Understand until you Know until you Are BEING.
2. No one or thing that is conscious to the point of being, thinking, and expressing, does anything unless they get something from it... and the thing most sought after is the experience that yields a knowing of divinity of self in the now.
3. Be Honest. All Ways, Always.
4. You are BEING: (1) WITH a Spirit, (2) HAVING a Spirit, or (3) IN a Spirit.
5. Everything is something to do.
6. You can't help but judge. Try not to condemn or glorify. Everything is what it is. Nothing More, Nothing Less. There is Divinity in all things and moments, despite your perception and opinion of it.
7. Know The Word. The Word is GOD.
8.Walk YOUR Walk. It will take your entire eternal conscious being to know your self.
9. You are BEING here for a reason. All WHYS, WISE, and Y'S are universally the same. Know YOUR WHYS. You know all, as all is in you. Here in this "Reality" of deception, illusion, distraction, division, etc... you are made to be thinking of what you know... but you still know.
C'est la vie, la guerre, et le jeu."
One Fire To Another is a phrase that you may see here and there in the Samurai Ruach philosophy writings. The rest of the words are have a clean Blacklight edge on them. "They block a lot of the face!" Yeah, they were supposed to. The idea is the ideas. The face behind the ideas is the face behind the ideas-- get it? I've done a few Blacklight Philosophy or Blacklight themed shirts. There's a BEING SYMBOL shirt which has a blacklight edge to it, the Skull Version is heavily blacklight in style. What's "Blacklight?" You must not have hit that link. Here's another one to get you caught up, but basically the philosophy is a style of being who is balanced in a way most things might not agree with or understand. It's a true "Honor Thy Father (Mind/ Fire/ God/ Red/ Divine Masc.) and Thy Mother (Matter/ Water/ Spirit/ Blue/ Divine Fem.) so that your days (knowing, illuminations of being-- which creates time) will be long..." The balance of the two sides expressed as an unlocked Pure Being is Blacklight fire (red & blue balanced fire) which is one of the hottest, and also least visible. It's a way of being, and an honesty and knowing of self that most will actually fear, and misjudge it a lot. It's rooted in "seeing the light in darkness, and the darkness in light." So, not being fooled by anything, and seeing everything. As it was once said in the movie i like a great deal, GHOSTDOG: The Way Of The Samurai, "Power, Equality... Always C Everything."
The videos are there because I'm lazy and tired. I made a template and fill in the pages, so the videos were just down there. You might find something interesting in there so I left it. AND I was thinking about how I have to do this page AGAIN to format it for phones, which just drained me, so... lazy also, and tired.
This section written 10.??.25- last edited 02.26.26 (as of today the tablet is kind of working again with the program... when it wants to.)
Apocryphon of John
Apocryphon of John
The Book Of Enoch - Definitive Reference w/ audio and text, full apocryphal religious narration
The Secret Book Of John - Gnostic Text From The Nag Hammadi Library - Full Audio Book
