April 26th, 2011: The Passion Painting is Finished!

Finally! It is finished! I feel like Michelangelo must have after finishing the Sistine Chapel! (well, maybe not exactly like that.... I bet I would have squealed a lot more than he did.) I started this over 6 months ago( I won't tell you exactly when I started it... too embarrassing), and for various reasons, this has been a very hard painting to finish. I have had some health issues the past 10 months or so, and this painting has been on the back of my mind for most of it- tormenting me, giving me an outlet, and providing yet another reason to push on and keep going. Well, I have been much better the past 2 months or so, and I have been able to FINALLY get this painting into the last stages. I finished and signed it on Good Friday night. Good Friday is very special to me (may even be my favorite day), and I at least was very moved that I could finally finish it that day, after carrying this painting around in my head for so long during so much. God IS good! So good. I hope you like my painting!

I've had one non-Catholic (maybe non-Christian) say that this painting disturbs them- I took that as a compliment. I felt like saying, "yeah it's disturbing, now what are you gonna do about it? I want to see you being baptized next Easter." Anyway, I have a rather long quote for the day, but it's absolutely lovely! It's a poem by St. John of the Cross. I have listened to John Michael Talbot sing this since I was very little, and it was in my thoughts this past Lent:

A lone young shepherd lived in pain

withdrawn from pleasure and contentment,

his thoughts fixed on a shepherd-girl,

his heart an open wound with love.

He weeps, but not from the wound of love,

there is no pain in such affliction,

even though the heart is pierced;

he weeps in knowing he’s been forgotten.

That one thought: his shining one

has forgotten him, is such great pain

that he bows to brutal handling in a foreign land,

his heart an open wound with love.

The shepherd says: I pity the one

who draws herself back from my love,

and does not seek the joy of my presence,

though my heart is an open wound with love for her.

After a long time he climbed a tree,

and spread his shining arms,

and hung by them, and died,

his heart an open wound with love.

-St. John of the Cross

March 22nd, 2011: Passion Painting

Today I spent hours working on this painting for a priest friend of mine. It features the Passion, with the Divine Mercy rays coming from Christ's side, St. Augustine, and Mary holding St. Margaret of Cortona. It is for a group similar to Rachel's Vineyard, and is focused on helping single and post abortion mothers. The theme of course is chastity, seeing as St. Augustine and St. Margaret are saints who struggled in that area especially. This painting has taken me FOREVER. MONTHS. That's mainly because I had such a hard time painting Christ the way I wanted, especially with painting Christ's face. It is STILL not what I want, of course, but at least it exists FINALLY. You have NO idea how I have fought with this painting! Another thing you should know is that it is only about 1/2 to 3/3 finished, because I plan to add color next. That will be so fun after struggling so much with the faces. I painted it black and white at first so I wouldn't have to fight with color at the same time I was fighting with the figures. I plan to add color mostly in transparent washes, but I will paint over the black and white completely a little bit. So here it is!

Below are some detail images:

I'm not sure If I will post anything else tonight... this wore me out! Heh, I came down stairs and the family tells me I have paint on my face. My sister says it is war paint-- I feel like I've been fighting! And oh my goodness it's super time!? When did that happen? Oh well, I spose that means I'm another day closer to my little trip and seeing my friends. :)

February 28th: Sketchings on a Newspaper and a Bit of Anime

So, drawing one: I am left at church on Sunday for about 35 minutes. It is raining and so I go back inside and decide to sketch the statues of St. Michael and the Child Jesus, and the stained glass window of the crucifixion. I didn't have any paper or pencils, so I borrowed a pen and an old newspaper.  It was a bit challenging to draw standing up.

The second drawing has a picture I drew of a girl at the computers at the library where I work, and a small portion of James Patterson's Maximum Ride graphic novel. I got impatient with the girl at the computer rather quickly; she kept squirming and giggling with the girl next door to her. I am  not quick enough to draw squirming children yet. So, I thought I'd give a go at some anime. I usually have no patience for it. I like to be sketchy, and it's hard to make anime look decent without drawing cleaner lines than I want to make time to do. At least, I haven't figured out how to do it any other way yet.

I want an art quote for the day.... hmm...... How about "Bad artists always admire each other's work." - Oscar Wilde. Ha! I mean, oops! I mean, what? (what part of that applies to me? Hmm... makes wonder if he's wrong, or if he's right and is talking to me.) So, if I try hard to admire the BEST artwork there EVER was, would I automatically wake up a better artist tomorrow morning? It's worth a try.