Working on some secret commissions, so here is a throwback for one of my favorite portraits from last year, such a beautiful cat.
9x12” pastel pencils on pastelmat
The photo uploaded on October 15, 2020
This painting illustrates a man who finds safety from drowning in a stormy sea by
climbing on to a platform in shape of a cross.
The storm itself represents the trial we face in life. The shipwrecked person shows that
we have nothing we can approach God with that would sway Him to help us when we
call on Him for help.
Only out of grace and mercy does He rescue us. The platform in the shape of the cross
represents that God has provided a way for man to escape punishment for his sins,
which would have been casting him into the lake of fire after death.
Through God’s love and mercy, He punished Jesus for man’s sin; the guiltless Son of
God was punished so that the guilty sinful humans could be saved through faith.
The step represents man’s need to come to God humbly through Jesus to receive anything from God. The light breaking through the clouds represents God hearing the
man’s prayer and answering it.
(October 28, 2017)
Apparently, Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubaten and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds fame actually did this to his school back when he was a lad! I needed an idea for a convoluted weird-as-they-come title, and after reading that story I knew I had something, heheheh :)
This is a painting of a first century Galilean fishing boat, most likely the very type of
boat used by Peter when he was called by Jesus to follow him.
This illustration is part of a bigger mural I am working on, about the ministry of Jesus
the Christ.
If you notice, the boat is beached facing backward, with the fishing net coming from
the back of the boat. This is to signify that Peter, like all the other apostles, except
Matthew the tax collector, dropped their fishing occupation and followed Jesus, Who
would make them the fishermen of men’s souls.
Here is a truth about me as an artist. Two parts of this painting gave me trouble in
carrying out this illustration. The fist was illustrating the ropes of the rigging. My first
attempt was horrendous it took me a second try to get it right. I had to look up pictures of ropes on the Internet to overcome this challenge.
The second was illustrating the rocks on the bottom of the Sea of Galilee and the
reflections of the boat on the water. I must have made about five attempts until it
finally clicked. Even when I kept looking at the reflections of boats on water, I could
not make the breakthrough.
In creating the kind of art that I do, it is very rare to find a model that meets all my
requirement for what I am illustrating. So, it takes photos and imagination and the
grace of God to create an illustration that looks better than a stick figure and communicates the message intended.
So, I figure God has me go through these challenges to keep me humble because, without humility, God is not able to use our talents for His glory.
(October 12, 2017)
The Soul Harvest
The Soul Harvest is done in a surrealistic style and is spiritual in content. This painting
illustrates the world as being a field filled with souls from every corner of the earth
needing to be saved from eternal death, which is the punishment for sin.
But by hearing and understanding and receiving the good news, through faith in
Jesus’s death for the sin of man, man can be forgiven and have eternal life with God.
The farm tools leaning against the fence are an invitation to those who know Jesus
to pick up their God-given talents and go into the world and use them to spread the
good news.
The inside of the barn, with the wheat sheaths standing up, illustrates the souls that
have received eternal life through the work of the believer, and the crown is their
reward from God.
(October 28, 2017)
The Soul Harvest is done in a surrealistic style and is spiritual in content. This painting
illustrates the world as being a field filled with souls from every corner of the earth
needing to be saved from eternal death, which is the punishment for sin.
But by hearing and understanding and receiving the good news, through faith in
Jesus’s death for the sin of man, man can be forgiven and have eternal life with God.
The farm tools leaning against the fence are an invitation to those who know Jesus
to pick up their God-given talents and go into the world and use them to spread the
good news.
The inside of the barn, with the wheat sheaths standing up, illustrates the souls that
have received eternal life through the work of the believer, and the crown is their
reward from God.
(October 28, 2017)
This was my very first attempt at the grid. I restarted drawing about October or November of 2020. I was watching something on YouTube and a video came up about a street artist who uses the grid method when scaling up their artwork for the sides of buildings. It got me thinking ... and drawing ... and learning. Its so much fun to watch something slowly come to life from the paper. This was done in a sketchbook. After that I went and got a 9 x 12 inch Strathmore drawing pad - series 300. I have researched paper and I found a great deal on the Strathmore Series 500 roll. 40 inches (or something) by 8 yards! I can't wait to see how the projects improve when the quality of the paper increases. I am currently working on a gift for a friend. Its a drawing of their baby in a little piggy outfit. Unfortunately - I won't post it because its a picture of someone's baby ( I don't have permission - yet) ... but I am super happy with it so far!
This painting was done for my sister. She loves dolphins, and she asked me when I
would paint a picture for her. When I considered doing this painting, I thought about
how I could design an illustration that would use the names of fish to teach her the
attributes of Jesus being the Son of God and Savior of the world.
The names of the fish who reveal something about Jesus’s attributes are labeled in red,
just as in a red-letter edition Bible, the words spoken by Jesus are printed in red.
The names of the fish whose labels are blue are different breeds of angelfish.
Three dolphins represent the trinity of God—the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
The silhouette of the three men on crosses represent the price Jesus paid on the cross
to buy man out of slavery of sin and deliver man from being cast into the eternal lake
of fire.
The black-and-white fish is called a sheep head. John the Baptist called Jesus the lamb
of God, who would take away the sins of the world.
The reddish-orange fish is called a flaming angel. John said that he baptized people
with water to call themselves back to God and to repent for their sins. He said that
Jesus would baptize with fire the person called the Holy Spirit. The gold-yellow fish
is called the shepherd angel. In the Bible, Jesus is referred to be the Good Shepherd
because He takes care of His followers as a sheep herder would take care His sheep. He
provides for their needs and protects them from danger.
The brown fish with the fanned-out fins is called a lionfish. The Bible call Jesus the
lion of Judea. Jesus first came to the Earth to deliver mankind from sin by offering His
life to pay for our sin. The second time He comes, He will come to set up His earthly
kingdom and rule over all the nations for a thousand years.
The small fish with a scarlet head is called a king demoiselle fish. Jesus will have all
authority to rule over all the nations given to Him from God the Father.
48 49
SALVATION
The large orange fish with the green fins is call a rainbow parrot. The rainbow represents a covenant between man and God. Just as God put a rainbow in the sky once
the great flood ended to remind man of God’s promise not to destroy the world by
flood again. So, do we have a covenant through the blood of Jesus that if man will
accept the terms to be delivered from sin, its eternal punishment, and turn from pursuing a rebellious life toward God, God will give them eternal life.
The sleek brown-and-white fish is called a schoolmaster. Jesus spent the last three years
of His life teaching about who God is, what heaven is like, what hell is like, what sin is,
and how it keeps man separated from God. What is God’s plan to redeem man from
sin? He taught how man should live to be pleasing in God’s sight.
(October 28, 2017)
Playgrounds were opened in October then closed again the first weekend of December, and then re-opened yesterday! So grateful. This is one of the renovations by SF Rec and Park while they were closed: Alice Chalmers Playground. It's a pretty crazy climb inside (my five year old needed me to help him down the slide). The Q-bert type iceberg things are super cool, too.
The prompt word toward the end of October- ominous. Ravens are known to bring ominous news! Although that may be influenced from Game of Thrones (I miss that show!), 'Dark wings, dark words", as Old Nan used to say! Check out the rest of my Inktober posts on IG: @dittofunkysketch123 ! :D I am now participating in Inktober 52, so new adventures for Kitty and Buddy. teepublic.com/user/sketchcadet for some of these series on products! :D
Starring Don McLean: American Pie (1971).
Let me tell you a story about realizing that good old times are over. About "the day the music died" when three rock'n roll legends died in a helicopter crash. About Buddy Holly's widowed bride left behind.
Tricolor linoprint using one lino plate. October, 2020.
Saw this missing cat poster whilse out running errands the other day which started off with the sentence "Answers to Esme", and those words have been circling around in my head ever since. Naturally, the end product here had little to do with the finished artwork!
Tried to follow some art propmt lists this October to get my creativity going again. Abandoned this particular list a couple of days in, but I really like this sketch. Pencil on paper.
Fancy Cat but this illustration was more a focus on Edgar Allan Poe who died on October 7, 1849. Check out my up-to-date Inktober posts on my IG account: @dittofunkysketch123!
