Isaiah

Isaiah

"I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name."

"I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."

I think this good for my first image post.  With this blog I would at the very least like to attempt to encourage my brother and sister Christians and glorify the Lord with my biblical paintings.  If these paintings can do that sort of good but once even, then it was all worth it.  Besides, there's a rich history of literature and biblical verses being appended to artworks.  A proper juxtaposition can make both more powerful in effect.  

So about the painting:  It has many layers though it is only 8 by 10 inches.  I usually end up working small, but I get the amount of detail I like.  I wanted that dreamy, fantastic quality people like me get when they read about antiquity, hence I have the fuzzy clouds, relatively soft contour in the distance, and pastel colors.  As you can see, I am not a pure realist.  

I have inherited the rapport Romantic artists have with the great Prophets of old, lonely souls wandering the wilderness seeking after God.  So I have painted Isaiah.  The intention is always to illustrate the feeling as well as the words.  Isaiah attempts to evangelize some wicked person who would rather remain in the desert of death than come to the lush wilderness of salvation where the Prophet stands.  I have had the wicked person cut down a tree and carve an idol.  The saw is visible to further tie in with the subject, as tradition holds that Isaiah was martyred by being sawn in half.  You may easily detect the rest of the ways the painting matches the verses without me having to explain.  Few things are so thoroughly romantic as graveyards, and I was tempted to sign my name on one of the stones but felt that might be tempting fate...

You may notice a slight flaw under the vertical cloud.  While underpainting the panel I had an incident that required me to scrape it down and my knife gouged out a few lines in that area revealing the pink underlayer (I usually do not paint directly).  Well, I'm one of those artists who makes the best of mistakes, so I used it as a placement guide for the clouds.  I think it adds flow to the composition.

Anyway, I hope you are edified and encouraged.  God bless!