Sunday Sermon Series: April 24, 2017 - Colossians

Hello friends, I hope you are all well! Today I have another sketch in my Sunday Sermon Series. I drew this while listening to Pastor Shaun's sermon yesterday. We began a new study in Colossians.

This is my cartoon version of the apostle Paul. Here we see Paul writing to the Christians in Colossae, people he had never met before. He introduces himself as an apostle (not a disciple) "by the will of God," meaning he was chosen by Jesus (see Acts 9 for the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus). This established his authority to speak into their lives. He told them he was thankful for them, and the faith and hope that lived within them. He encouraged them to live a life worthy of the Lord (that showed the character of Christ). He reminded them to give thanks to the Father that they were delivered (rescued from the darkness Col. 1:13), qualified by the Father to share in the kingdom of light (Col 1:12), and redeemed by the Son, forgiven of sins (Col 1:14).

I drew Paul with a serious expression, rather than putting a thoughtful "searching for the right word" expression on his mug. Maybe it is his pre-conversion life, seeking out and having Christians put to death that makes me think of him that way. Maybe it's that in so much of his writing he talks about the law, and that he was so very good at a legalistic lifestyle before Jesus stepped in to his life and changed his direction. These things dominate my thoughts when I picture Paul. I just don't picture him the same way I do the apostles who were fishermen, a tax collector, or a doctor. It's hard for me to imagine/draw him not being serious. And yet surely at some point he must have smiled and laughed. He did know joy and peace in the midst of his trials and suffering.

I realize this drawing doesn't have a lot of action in it. I usually try to draw an exciting or compelling verb. Here Paul is sitting and writing. But Paul's writings have affected the lives of so very many people in the best way possible. So perhaps his writing has had more action in it than most things I've drawn so far.

This is just the beginning of this study, I hope to post more from it in the next 10 weeks. Let me know what you think about this drawing or my commentary here. Any mistakes are mine, and should not reflect poorly on Pastor Shaun or Harley (who taught in Sunday School this week). This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lb paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. The color layer in PS has only 35% opacity. I feel this lets the pencil work show through, yet gives the appearance of a light wash of color. I hope you enjoyed this post, and that it encouraged you or challenged you. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Little Traveler

Hello everyone! Today I have a sketch for you that is not for any project in particular, which is unusual as I rarely have time for drawings that don't have a specific purpose.

This little boy might make it into a story some day, and then he might not. I drew him while catching up with my writer's group that meets once a month, but who hasn't met in a few months.

There are lots of questions about this character but here are some things we know: He has a mother who loves him and who dressed him well in a fine suit. He is not alone. His traveling companion is the closest of friends, a stuffed bear. He is not wandering, he has a destination. He is sad. Whether from something which has happened on his journey, or the cause of his journey we do not know.

These are some of the things I thought about as I worked on this sketch.

This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lbs. paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. The color layer in PS has only 35% opacity. I feel this lets the pencil work show through, yet gives the appearance of a light wash of color. I hope you enjoyed this post. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series April 2, 2017

Howdy friends and neighbors! This week's drawing was inspired by a sermon by Pastor Shaun about seeing. Shaun's sermon was about what Jesus saw, specifically in Zaccheus (who was as we all know a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!).

This got me to thinking about how we as Christians see those around us. Do I see those in need around me? Do I share the hope that is Christ within me? Those were the questions I asked myself as I drew this.

I started with a scene I am familiar with, a bus commute. I spent 8 years riding buses and trains back and forth from Clark County to downtown Portland. Once the pencil drawing was completed and I had started on the colorization I realized I had dated myself. Not one of these commuters is looking at a smart phone. When I rode back and forth people read books, newspapers, some of the women knitted, I sketched. There were no smart phones. Make no mistake though, people were just as able and willing to turn the outside world off.

I thought about rendering the type in 14 different fonts, to make it more appealing to the Instagram crowd. But that's just not me. I kept the colors to a minimum, to help convey a glum feeling for the lost people on the bus. I purposely chose ugly colors for the bus seats, because I think it is fun to use those nauseating colors that were used everywhere in my youth. At my friend Matt's suggestion I colorized "Everyman's" hair so that it stands out from the blinders he wears. The pencil drawing is much "sketchier", or looser than my usual drawings posted here. This is not for effect but because I didn't have time to redraw any of it, so I just used my original sketch.

This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lbs. paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. I hope you are encouraged by this post. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan