Today I want to speak about my Biblical journey with pen an ink illustration. I suppose, if someone had told me more than 25 years ago that I would eventually publish a colouring book with these designs in 2020, I would have smiled broadly and I dismissed their prophetic utterance. I will quote from the Firstfruits colouring book.
I decided to illustrate some Bible verses and then copy them onto card to sell as little packs to raise some money for our trip. The first works were done with very fine lines and I believe they were over-intricate – because I wanted to say too much perhaps – but over time (a period of about 5 years, 1994–1999) I refined and redesigned the sketches to include bolder lines; final alterations were made in 2020.
I can say my naïve African (stationery) style was eventually replaced with a more “surf”-style appearance, which was what I had in mind; I wanted to print t-shirts, but it did not prove to be a viable avenue at the time and I did not have sufficient funds to explore it further. However, as stationery packs the naïve and surf-style designs were welcomed with open arms and I think I must have sold over three hundred or more packs of these designs as greeting cards. During that time, late 1990s and early 2000s, my computer skills (and technology perhaps) were not that good and I had to rely on the old-fashioned paper and glue stick, photocopying and Tippex or White-out layout techniques to create my designs and packaging material. For the purpose of brevity, I will summarise the development of my stationery period in six steps visually, which spans almost two and a half decades, as you can see in the progression of Psalm 18:35 below.
The large hand in most of these sketches represents the hand of God. Having made so many naïve works in soft pastels where the hand is a prominent part, I suppose, making the hand a prominent part again, was to be expected. I did not want to use the cross or a dove as key motifs because the verses I chose span both the Old and the New Testaments. I recently showed a few of these sketches to a colleague who is not a Christian – he adheres to another religion – and he told me that these sketches could be used for other religions too. I am not an imagery expert and I do not know how other devotees will regard these illustrations of mine, but I used the Bible as my source of inspiration as I mentioned earlier on and, in the Bible, we have a number of verses which speak about the mighty hand of God. I will mention just three verses and I will use the New International Version.
Job 12:9-10 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Psalm 89:13 Your arm is endowed with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
In 2020, the graphic designer of the publisher I use in South Africa helped me to create the cover of the Firstfruits colouring book. When one receives the cover of a new publication, it is always exciting. Not all our arty projects need to take 25 years, but if they do, there is Divine reason too. If you are interested in this publication, please click on the link provided. Be blessed and may we all see God's loving Hand in action in our lives today. (The YouTube-link provides more information regarding the book's "rationale".)
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