Lucifer’s pen
This is by far the “darkest” illustration I’ve ever done. It is the cover illo for an e-book that is ficticiously written by Satan. A similar technique employed by C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters.
The subject of the book is a set of instructions on how to destroy a church. It is written by a friend of mine by the name of Shammah Pavao. The link is http://www.christian-history.org/ebook-donation.html .
This e-book is a very insightful look at what brings down a church.( Oh, and by the way it is a church as defined by what is portrayed in the New Testament. Not by what is seen many places in 21st century America; where money, self-help books, and right wing politics speak for God.) The book explains very clearly the war being waged against the disciples of Jesus Christ, and why many earnest christian churches loose the fight against the darkness that is so prevailent in this age. It is backed up by the events of nearly 2000 years of church history and a must read for church history buffs and those who ask ” Whats wrong with the church today?” I hope you check it out.
Courtship revisited
Here’s the full composition of “Courtship” that I promised. As you can see the whole thing is very eitherial. I really wanted to capture the feeling of sailing across the stars. I didn’t put the reflection of the moon in the water. Because: A. The reflection in reality would probably fall outside the frame of reference and B. It adds a element of asymetry to the overall composition and therefore more interest. I’ve had alot of positive feedback on this piece to date. Possibly the most of any painting I’ve ever done.
I’ll be at theVillage Coffee Shop in Selmer,TN this Saturday, January the 30th. Come on down for some awesome coffee and see the work and artist upclose and personal. Hope to see you there.
Sketchbook
This is the sketch of Lucifer from “The Archangel”. Obviously, I was heavily influenced by the Balrog in the movie Lord of the Rings. But somethings just work well. Like those downward turned horns.
This is an preliminary drawing for “Perelandra”. The female figure seemed too static to me. So, I developed some movement for her and made her seem to float. I wanted Eden and Eve to be otherworldly. I also added the effect of light emmenating from Eve.
Sketchbook
As you can see by the date on this sketch, (2000). It took about nine years to produce the “Giant Killer” painting. Many times the idea comes to me and I sketch it out, but its a while before it goes any farther. So, you can see it took alot longer for me to paint my “Giant” than it did for David to kill his.
Now, in the drawing below for Mary in “The Annunciation”, the resulting painting was almost immediate.
Many times I like the spontinaity of the sketch compaired with more rendered feel of the final painting.
Courtship
This illustration is from 2002. My wife and I were courting at the time. I’m pretty sure thats an archaic term these days. However, that’s what we were doing. We went for a canoe ride on a very calm and still lake near where we now live. The water was like a mirror. I could see the stars in it. I came home from that experience and created this. It is acrylic paint on watercolor board. I think its 15″x20″. This a cropped version. I’ll post a full view as soon as I get a photo that I’m happy with.
Perelandra
The name of this piece comes from the C.S. Lewis novel by the same name. This an 24″x30″ canvas done with oil washes. A new technique for me. Originally, this was going to be sort of a faerie land with Eve having big butterfly wings, but that wasn’t working. So, it got cancelled in the preliminary sketch. It was at that point that I remembered the scripture that says a woman’s covering is her hair and that it is also her glory. I had it in mind to make the branch holding the fruit look like a hand. Which I kept in the composition. When I began to add in the serpent, I got the idea to “morph” him into a vine and then into the tree. So that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, actually took on the personna of Satan. If you look closely at the upper middle left you may notice a pair of eyes peering down at the Mother of the Living.
The Annunciation
The announcement is the word we generally use. However, I like to use archaic terms from time to time. This one is from the 15th century (I believe) In this illustration the Archangel Gabriel breaches the barrier between the seen and the unseen and the realms overlap. Those immortal words echo forth from eternity “You shall bear a son!”. Her fate is sealed and the peasant girl’s life is forever transformed by the will of God.
Full color prints are available at the same prices as “Archangel”. (See below)
Archangel
My blogging skills have been left untutored for awhile, so…… This is this first in ages. Months actually. My goal in this new year is to provide new images on a regular basis. So hang on to your eyeballs and your imagination. We’re going to take a trip into the hidden realm that exists all around us. Its there if you have the eyes to see.
This piece I call “Archangel” because it depicts the final battle between the archangel Michael and Lucifer. I wanted it to be dynamic and a little scary. No guys in bed sheets with bird wings or red long johns for that matter. Many of the biblical accounts of human encounters with angels leave the reader in awe of a being that is warrior like in nature and totally alien to the everyday human experiance. They ( the angelic beings) normally refer to God as Yahweh of Armies (Lord of Hosts. There is a description in the Bible of a war in the heavenlies (Revelation 12, 7-9). This image is my vision of that encounter.
Now you understand why I warned you in my “Hidden Realm” link. This a no holds barred visual expose of the otherside of the veil. The one that separates the heavenly from the earthly. By the way I’m just getting warmed up.
Full-color prints of this painting are available for purchase. You can contact me at this site. I’ll email you with the price plus shipping. A matted print is $40 plus shipping an unmatted print is $25.
