This study is for an upcoming painting about the life of Christ.
The drawing itself took about two weeks’ time of working on it off and on. The
research stage took about two months. This study is attempting to capture the spirit
of being out on the water, walking with Jesus during a storm on the sea of Galilee. I
hope the viewer can feel Peter’s anxiety as he is sinking into the lake as a fierce storm
drains Peter’s faith in his ability to walk on water through the ability the Lord gave
him. I wanted to show how compassionate Jesus is to quickly crouch down to rescue
Peter from drowning and get him back to the safety of the boat with the rest of the
disciples, which is outside of the illustration.
Some people feel that I should have Jesus’s feet visible above the water so people don’t
get the notion that Jesus is sinking in the water too. But if I’d done that, it would have
altered what it would really look like in the natural world, because even if Jesus’s feet
were on top of the water, this might not be visible to the viewer because the waves in
front of Jesus might block the view of his feet.
This illustration makes me think about trying to accomplish a task that the Lord has
called us to do by depending on our own strength instead of the strength of the Holy
Spirit. Then we find ourselves sinking instead of making headway, and we must call
on the Lord to rescue us and put us back on the right track.
(September 22, 2015
