Bible pictures on the net!

Searching for Bible pictures on the internet can be very frustrating!
When you search Google for 'Bible pictures', it's possible to get to page 80, and still not find what you're looking for! In fact, by the time you get to page 80, you won't find anything biblical at all!

Google is apparently working on 'new search technology' that will only show 'very relevant' web pages that match the search term used. in other words, when you search for 'Bible pictures', you will get a list of sites that actually have Bible pictures! Isn't that what's supposed to happen? Anyway, for those of you who can't wait for Googles new technology to arrive, and for those of you who still haven't found 'The Bible picture website', read on!

Older collections
There are a few sites out there that do contain Bible pictures. These can range from nineteenth century engravings by Gustave Dore, to Flash-cards produced in the sixties! Good as these pictures are, it's very difficult to hold the attention of todays 'Cartoon Network' loving children, (whose attention span has been reduced to two seconds), with black & white engravings by Gustave Dore!
The Bible picture website produces 'new artwork' with todays kids in mind.

Continuity
Many sites boast 'large collections' of Bible pictures which are usually scans taken from old Bible story books, children's Bibles or very old paintings.
Again these are very good, but there's a problem with continuity, as most of the stories are made up from pictures done by several artists, which means that the main character, whether it be Moses or Jesus, can change several times during one story! The Bible picture website uses one artist per story!

Private collections
Many children's workers know an amateur or semi professional artist who produces Bible pictures for them. Some of these collections are starting to appear on the web. The only problem here is that because the artist, more often than not, has produced the pictures as a favor, or at very low cost. they tend not to have the time to do the proper research required for each story. When I was a professional illustrator producing Bible pictures in my spare time, I had the same problem.

I've added a list of all the Bible picture resource sites that I can find on the web. It's at the bottom of the right hand column. If I find any more, I'll add them too!

Related posts:
Need Bible pictures?
How to use our Bible pictures
Can you help?

Feeding the 5,000

For those of you who think that the 'picture counter' on the right has been stuck on 641, It's not!
It's just that I've been illustrating the 'feeding of the 5,000' in John ch 6, and it's taken longer than usual.

If you need pictures of the 'Feeding of the 5,000 story', click here.

To start with, I wanted to get the scenery reasonably accurate, so I started by looking at maps and photos of the area as well as studying old paintings and wood engravings that were actually done in the Holy land.
The supposed area where this event took place is known today as the 'Golan Heights'

In picture one, you are looking from the high ground, westward across the sea of Galilee. On the opposite shore, some 5 miles away, you can see Capernaum, where the Lord Jesus travelled to the following day.
In pictures three, and four, you are looking northwest, and the River Jordan can be seen in the distance, close to where it flows into the Sea of Galilee near Bethsaida.
If you look at a contoured map of the area, you will see that the slopes rise gently from the Sea of Galilee at this point. This was a large area of grassland, (v10) making it ideal for grazing.

I have drawn both sheep and lambs amongst the crowds, as this was at the time of 'Passover', so there would have been lambs in abundance. In picture four, I show a small child sat with a lamb at her side, like a pet. This is a reminder of how jewish families at 'Passover' were to take the lamb into their home, on the 10th of Nisan, 4 days before it was sacrificed. I'm sure that any children in the family would have grown attached to the lamb during this time, making the eventual slaughter of the animal that much more painful! A stark reminder to them of both the consequences of sin, and how their ancestors were saved only by the shedding of the blood of an innocent lamb!

When I was drawing the crowds of people, I started to think about the logistics of how the food would have been distributed. There could well have been over 10,000 people present as the 5,000 mentioned didn't include the women and children.
Whenever there are plates of biscuits to be given out at our church following a family service, you can guarantee that all the volunteers for the job are the children! I would imagine that children were the same then. So in picture four, I show, alongside the disciples, eager children distributing the baskets of bread and fish.

For more about the Sea of Galilee, click here.

Pictures of the Nativity

If you are looking for pictures of the 'Nativity', click on one of the links below:

New pictures of the Nativity: Part one.
New pictures of the Nativity: Part two.
Christmas Jigsaw Powerpoint.
Wisemen powerpoint.
Nativity powerpoint.
Nativity in 3D powerpoint.

As I write this post it's early December, so I thought I'd add a post with a Christmas theme! below are a few interesting facts and thoughts about the 'Christmas story' that might be helpful to all you Bible illustrators, or maybe those preparing a Christmas sermon.

Why Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?
Gold was a royal gift given to kings, or in this case the 'King of Kings'.
Frankincense was used by priests, reminding us that the Lord Jesus was to become our 'Great High Priest'. Like Melchisedic, He was to be both a Priest and king.
Myrrh was an embalming spice used in the burial of the dead, reminding us that Jesus came for a purpose, to die as a 'sacrificial lamb' for the sins of the world.

Mary
Most modern scholars agree that Mary was only around 14 years old when she gave birth to the Lord Jesus. This would have made her around 47 years old at the time of the crucifixion. Both the 'Jesus of Nazareth' series, and the new film, 'The Nativity Story' , correctly show Mary as a young teen.

Swaddling clothes
This was an eastern custom whereby a baby was bound with long strips of cloth, in the same manner as an Egyptian mummy! The arms and legs of a baby bound in this way were quite rigid!
Strips of cloth were also wrapped across the babies chin and forehead, so that only his face could be seen.

We three kings?
Actually, the wise men were not kings, and there were probably more than three of them!
Some experts believe they were of Persian origin.The wise men were members of the 'Magi' which was an ancient religious order that worshiped the elements, (fire, water, air etc). It is possible that the wise men attributed deity to the star which they were following. If this is true, this would not be the first time that God used a lifeless object of worship to point men back to Himself! I'm thinking of the image of Dagon that fell prostrate before the Ark of the Lord. (1st Samuel ch5).

Bethlehem star
I once read an article in the 'Readers Digest' by the famous Astronomer Patrick Moore, concerning 'The Star of Bethlehem'. He studied each Bible verse that mentioned the star, and compared them with the very latest information we have about the stars, to see if the behavior of this star could be explained.
The interesting thing was that even though there are only a few verses that mention the star, these few verses showed that this star behaved like no other!
He concluded the article with the words, " The Star of Bethlehem remains a mystery!"

Related posts:
New pictures of the Nativity
Nazareth or Egypt?
Drawing Angels

Need Bible pictures?

Don't forget to check out the 'Bible picture site'
We now have a new domain name 'www.biblepicturewebsite.com'. This will be the web address of our 'new U.S. site' based in Philadelphia. This site will be in U.S. dollars and should provide an even better service to all our customers in the U.S. At the moment this address will connect to the main 'Visual Impact Resources' site, until the new site is complete.

We have already completed over 100 stories from the Old and New Testaments! They include over 640 pictures so far.
Each picture is hand drawn with brush and ink and digitally rendered.
All our picture sets are available as immediate downloads, for when you need those Bible pictures quickly!
Alternatively, you can order each picture set in A3 poster form. For those of you who are outside the U.K. A3 is 420mm x 297mm or 11 1/2x16 1/2 inches. The posters can be mounted onto a flipchart pad or laminated and used as flashcards.

We also have a range of 'Amazing 3D Bible pictures' available as Powerpoints or posters, for use with 3D glasses! Why not buy all the kids in your Sunday school/kids club a 3D viewer from 'here'. Then download a 'Bible story in Amazing 3D' from our 3D PowerPoints!
Our childrens 3D Bible storybooks make great Christmas presents too. There are 4 titles, and each book comes with a free 3D viewer!


Related posts:
How to use our Bible pictures
Bible pictures on the net!
Can you help?

Being Roofless!

I Found a couple of interesting things out recently to do with synagogues that might be helpful to other Bible artists also.

1). Synagogues in the days of Jesus were often built without roofs!
Coming from Manchester, which is famous for it's rainfall, the concept of a roofless building is a strange one! I don't think I've ever yet seen a Bible illustration that depicts an open-air synagogue, so watch this space!

Speaking of roofs, (or lack of them), Paul Beck left some helpful comments about them on my 'No more Domes'. post. Check it out! (Thanks Paul).

2). Synagogues were built on high ground
Whenever possible, synagogues were built at the highest point of a town or city. So, If you happen to be showing an external view of one, remember to illustrate the buildings around at a lower level.

It was also the practice of those involved in 'Idol worship' to build their temples on high ground, the idea being that they were closer to the false deities that they worshiped, (Sun Gods, Moon gods, etc). These are referred to in the Old Testament as 'The high places'.

Related posts:
What did Herod's Temple look like?
Houses in Bible times
No more Domes!

Bible Research

Continued from the 'Gathering Bible references' post./

Once you have gathered together references for figures, buildings and landscape etc, It's time to start some serious research!

The basic tools for this are, the Bible, (obviously), Bible Atlas, a good commentary, Concordance, Bible dictionary and a parallel New Testament. But even then, there are sometimes questions left unanswered. So, It's also helpful to have a book on 'Bible customs' to hand. The one I use is 'Manners and Customs of the Bible' by James M. Freeman.
If you have to illustrate a custom such as 'Casting lots', books like this can help you to understand how it was actually done.

Much of my research is now done on the internet.
Websites like BiblePlaces.com are a mine of information! If you are serious about Bible illustration, I would highly recommend this site to you. Todd Bolen's blog will also keep you up to date with all the latest news in Bible archeology. I could spend hours on this site!

When illustrating 'The healing at the pool of Bethesda' in John ch 5, (sample above). I was informed by Professor Bolen, who's based at the university in Jerusalem, that most of the pools in Jerusalem at that time were open air.
Many children's Bible artists, and some of the 'Old Masters' (see Carl Bloch), show this as an enclosed pool. Information like this cannot always be gleaned from the study aids mentioned above.

When you're happy with your references and research, It's time to start drawing!
At the end of the day, a lot of what we draw will be guesswork. But, if we use all the research tools available to us, at least we will be making an educated guess!

Related posts:
Illustrating a Bible Story
More Biblical costume reference!
Which Bible clothing colors should I use?
Easy mistakes to make!
Bible study aids
Gathering Bible References

Noah's Ark?

We all know what Noah's Ark looked like, don't we?
It was a big wooden boat with a big house on top! .......Wasn't it?

We've all gotten so used to seeing images of Noah's Ark in children's Bibles, (with all the animals waving through the leaded glass windows to Noah, who is busy watering all the hanging baskets of flowers), that we seldom question if those images actually resembled the ark at all!

The nearest Ark I've seen, (to the Biblical description),appeared in John Cross's book, 'The Stranger on the road to Emmaus'. It was basically, a long black box floating on the water! I know it's not as pretty as the traditional version, but our job's not about illustrating fairy tales!

Remember that the Ark was probably black in color as it was coated in pitch! When you look at the actual dimensions, (I built a small scale model in wood), It's surprisingly long and slim! In-fact, in black, it almost looks futuristic! Remember also that the Ark was HUGE! To see some models of Noah's Ark, click here.

So if we know what the ark looked like, why do we keep going back to the fairy tale version? Well, tradition is hard to break! I think that's the problem. Tradition! (It's the fault of Bible artists, yet again!)
So, full marks to all the artists like Nestor Redondo and others, who spent the time to research the subject, and had the guts to draw what they saw!

Easy mistakes to make!

#1 The writing on the wall
When illustrating 'Belshazzars Feast' in the book of Daniel, remember to position the hand to the left of the finished writing on the wall.
Not the right, as shown in most children's Bibles. Remember, Hebrew is written from right to left!

#2 Crossing the Jordan
When illustrating the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua ch3-4. Remember that if you were stood on the banks of the Jordan facing Jericho, the flow of the water would be from right to left. This means that when the water banked up allowing the children of Israel to cross, it would bank up on the right side of them. Not the left as shown in some Bibles.

The Bible says that the Jordan actually receded a few miles upstream, To the city of Adam,(v16) where the waters heaped up. Therefore no wall of water would have been in view as the israelites crossed the Jordan. It is more dramatic though when you can see the wall of water! Although, the waters receding back many miles in both directions, (when the priests feet touched the water), must have been a fairly awesome sight too!

Interestingly, this is almost the same spot where the 'Baptism of Jesus' took place many years later. How much more would the waters of the Jordan have wanted to recede back at that event!

#3 The Star of David
Many Bible artists use the 'Star of David' as a Jewish symbol in their Bible pictures. For instance on decorative panels in synagogues etc. This symbol wasn't used till much later. Images of the 'Menorah' have been around for a lot longer, so perhaps a menorah would be a more suitable image. Any other suggestions?

#4 The High Priests Breastplate.
If you've gone to the trouble of researching the colors of all twelve of the precious stones on the breastplate of the High Priest, (which you should). Remember that, as Hebrew is written from right to left, It's probable that the first stone mentioned would appear top right, and the last stone mentioned would appear bottom left.
Many years ago, I illustrated a life size 'High priest' in oils on canvas, for an evangelist friend of ours. One mistake I made, which I later changed, was to illustrate the two chains that attach the top corners of the Breastplate to the two shoulder settings, as link chains. They should have been 'wreathen' or 'braided' chains, which are more like ropes, and much stronger.

#5 Cover the Ark.
Remember to illustrate the Ark of the Covenant under cover when in transit. (See the 'Covering the Ark' post).
Also remember that the Cherubs over the Ark had four wings, not two. (See the 'Drawing Angels' post).

Related posts:
Covering the Ark
Drawing Angels
Drawing Cherubs

How old were the disciples?

I recently heard someone say that all the disciples, except Peter, were under 20 years old.

The reason given was the story of the 'coin in the fishes mouth' (Matthew ch17 v24-27) The coin in the story was enough to pay the taxes for Jesus and Peter only, even though the other disciples were present. Men under 20 were not required to pay the roman taxes, which led to the suggestion that the other disciples were all under 20!

I'm not sure if this merits a 'Back to the drawing board' award, like the 'No more domes' post.
I need to do more research. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

My favorite Bible artists #2

Nestor Redondo 1928-1995
I was brought up during the 'silver Age' of DC Comics. When inked line-work was minimal, and the draftsmanship excellent! The artist Curt Swan springs to mind. Those guys could really draw! No digital 'special effects' in those days to cover up bad anatomy! Sorry, I'm getting off the subject!
You can imagine then, how pleased I was, while browsing through items on Ebay, to find 'THE MOST SPECTACULAR STORIES EVER TOLD FROM THE BIBLE', a DC publication!
Joint artwork was by Nestor Redondo and Joe Kubert. It was printed in 1975 and covers the stories from Creation to Sodom & Gomorrah. On the inside back cover it says 'Don't miss the next issue!'
Did they produce anymore issues? I've only ever seen the one. Joe Kubert answers this question for the Bible illustration blog here.

Nestor Redondo was born in the Philippines and was better known for his work on 'Tarzan', 'Swamp Thing' and 'Conan' But Bible illustration was a subject close to his heart. His pictures of Noah's Ark are some of the most accurate i've come across, sticking closely to the actual biblical dimensions.
On the whole, DC Comics 'Stories from the Bible' has been very well researched, and not a 'dome topped building' in sight! I'm impressed! Gerry Alanguilan, from the 'Komikero Komics' website, informs me that Redondo worked on "more extensive adaptations of Bible stories, published in the Philippines in the late 60's, serialized in Superyor Komiks. Redondo adapted and illustrated hundreds of pages of Bible stories beginning with Genesis and well into Exodus." In Alanguilan's opinion they were superior to the DC comics version. Apparently Open doors have distributed these comics in countries where religion is discouraged or suppressed. Does anyone have any samples?

Click below for an excellent article on 'Realistic illustration' by Nestor Redondo.
'Realistic illustration'

Favorite Bible Artist #1 Frank Hampson
Favorite Bible Artist #3 Clive Uptton
Favorite Bible Artist #4 Cicely Mary Barker

What did Jesus look like?

Every Bible artist would love to know the answer to this question. The simple answer is, 'We don't know!'
I read an historical document in the 70's which was supposed to be a letter from a 'Roman officer' who was present in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion. The letter was written in answer to a letter he had received from a roman governor who had asked 'What was Jesus like?' The letter contained a physical description and more, but the authenticity of the document remains in doubt.

In the 50's, The Lord Jesus was often depicted as blond. (see my post 'My favorite Bible artists #1').
The reason for this may have been the influence of movies made at the time.
The portrayal of Jesus by Robert Powell in the Franco Zeffirelli Epic 'Jesus of Nazareth' has greatly influenced the way in which I, (and others) have drawn the Lord Jesus. We live close to the second largest Jewish community in the U.K. So I can vouch for the fact that although there are blond and even redheads among Jewish people, The vast majority have dark hair.

I have heard it suggested recently that the Lord Jesus was 'Black!' I can't see this myself. If this was the case, I believe that scripture would be very clear on it.The only things that we do know from scripture for certain is that He was Jewish, He had a beard and a robe that was woven throughout! (seamless).
For a long time I have illustrated the Lord Jesus with the traditional 'blue & white ' clothing. I am now trying to move towards more authentic colors of the time.
(Amendment added later). Blue and white were authentic colors of the time. What I meant was more earthy colors, like the ones used in 'Jesus of Nazareth'. I wanted to get away from the sanitized image of Jesus that we are used to seeing in many films and children's Bibles.

Some believe that we should not show pictures of Jesus at all. There are Bible pictures available where Jesus is shown as a black silhouette! I've been present at children's meetings where these have been used, and I have to say that most children were puzzled! Bible pictures should be an aid to hold a child's attention during the telling of a Bible story, and shouldn't become an obstacle!

Although we may not know what the Lord Jesus looked like, we do know that He was just like His father! (Hebrews ch1 v3).
In other words, If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus!

Related posts:
How old were the disciples?

Gathering Bible references

A fellow artist once told me that "An artist is only as good as his references". After five years of illustrating the Bible, I now know that to be true!
Gathering references can be a time consuming but important task. Made all the more difficult for me as we are providing a series of 5-6 pictures on average, for each Bible story, which means that I need references of the same people/buildings from different angles!

Before you begin to illustrate a Bible story, there are many types of reference that you will need. Firstly, I would like to deal with 'figure reference'.
Figure reference is arguably the most important, as each story focuses on the characters in it.

The best form of figure reference is photographic, but finding photos of people in Bible clothing is not easy. If you can lay your hands on some good Bible clothing, invite all your bearded friends around, (the male ones anyway!), and get snapping!

It's also important for an artist to elaborate on his photographic references, otherwise a combination of a poor choice of models and Bible clothing can result in a beautiful painting of the twelve disciples that look more like twelve software engineers at a toga party!

If you have the luxury of time (and money) to do the above, that's great. But, if you're working to a deadline like me, then go for 'plan B' which is, get your references from anywhere and everywhere! Old books, old Bibles, old photos, old masters, even old comics! Cataloging your references in a filing cabinet will save you lots of time.
(I must do that one day!)

'Bible buildings and landscape reference'. (See my 'No more domes' post).
You may or may not have noticed that Bible illustrators, on the whole, avoid illustrating buildings. Why is this? I think there's a number of reasons for this, but the main one is that there's very little good reference available.
One artist who does include detailed back-grounds however was William Hole RSA RE.
Hole actually travelled to the Holy land in the early 1900's and painted his pictures on the spot!
His book 'The Life of Jesus of Nazareth' includes some really nice buildings.
When you compare Holes pictures however to photographs taken around the same period, you will notice some very similar architectural features, which means that if those features were around in Holes day, they were probably not around 2,000 years earlier. Despite this, these pictures still include some of the best 'Bible buildings' I've seen!
to be continued:

Related posts:
Bible Research
Illustrating a Bible Story
More Biblical costume reference!
Which Bible clothing colors should I use?
Easy mistakes to make!
Bible study aids

My favorite Bible artists #1

Frank Hampson 1918-1985
Frank Hampson was better known for his work on 'Dan Dare' a strip that ran in the 'Eagle', a British comic for boys in the 50's and 60's. 'The Road of Courage' was a lesser known strip in the same comic that was a retelling of the New Testament story.
Many thanks to Dragons Dream who had the foresight to reprint this strip in book form in 1981. A word of warning. I would not recommend this book for its theology!

The artwork, as you can see from the sample of 'Herod' was outstanding. His draftsmanship and attention to detail is unsurpassed even today.
I believe he worked from photographic references that were dramatically lit by the photographer. Hampson also traveled to the Holy land to gather picture references for this book.

I'm not sure if Hampson used a brush or nib to ink in his line-work. If anyone knows, please add a post!
My only criticism is the way Hampson depicted the Lord Jesus. He looks like Dan Dare with a blond wig on! But other than that, it's some of the best artwork I've seen! Hampsons excellent choice of models, also shows his flair for casting!
More about Frank Hampson here: Frank Hampson.

Favorite Bible Artist #2 Nestor Redondo
Favorite Bible Artist #3 Clive Uptton
Favorite Bible Artist #4 Cicely Mary Barker

The Day of Atonement

Every now and then, while illustrating a Bible story you notice something special. Something that you probably wouldn't notice if you were just reading the story.

When illustrating the 'Day of Atonement' I noticed something different about the 'Ark of the Covenant' when comparing it to the other items of furniture in the Tabernacle. The gold rings through which the poles were passed in order to carry each item of furniture from one location to another were fixed at the 'top' corners of every item except the Ark. The rings on the Ark of the Covenant were fixed on the four 'bottom' corners!

I thought about this for a while, then I realised that when the Levites went to pick up the Ark, they had to 'bow down!'
Also, this made the Ark the only item of furniture that was carried above shoulder height and therefore was the only item to be seen by the whole of Israel as they were marching!

Most pictures (on the internet) of the 'Ark of the Covenant' show the poles in the wrong position. This is a common mistake, made also by the makers of the Harrison Ford film 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.
A common mistake made by Bible artists when illustrating the 'Day of Atonement' is showing the high priest entering within the veil wearing his ephod! When the high priest entered the 'Holy of Holies' he only wore his white linen garments. This is a hard detail to find, but it is there.
Image © ebibleteacher.com

Related posts:
The contents of the Ark
Covering the Ark

How to use our pictures.

There are many ways to use the Bible picture sets available from 'The Bible picture website'.
If you need Bible story pictures quickly, and have access to a digital projector, you can download the pictures directly from the site. Displaying the pictures as a powerpoint show via a digital projector is the best method for larger groups.

If you don't have access to a digital projector, you can order any of our Bible picture sets in A3 poster form. The posters can then be displayed on a flipchart easel. This method is more suitable for smaller groups.

The A3 posters can also be laminated and used outdoors for beach missions etc.
If you have a good A3 printer, you can always download the pictures from the website and print them out yourself!

We also provide '3D Bible picture sets' available as downloads or posters. I've used these in our church childrens club. We gave each child a 3D viewer and taped the 3D posters to a flipchart pad. They really hold the childrens attention!

The picture above of the crucifixion scene was printed onto a canvas (about 8' high by 12' long) and used by a church in the south of England as a backdrop for their Easter day service! If you have used our pictures in other novel ways, share it with us by leaving a post!
To download the picture above, free of charge, Click here.
There is also a free sermon outline to go with this picture here. Notice that the Cross is reflected in the breastplate of the Roman Centurion!

Related posts:
Need Bible pictures?
Bible pictures on the net!
Can you help?

No more domes!

All Bible artists love their dome topped buildings! I know I do.
In-fact, a village just doesn't look biblical without a few domes scattered around..
Very rarely will you see a christmas card of Bethlehem without domes!

I was told many years ago however, that buildings around this period, didn't have domes! At least not in Israel.
This was confirmed to me recently in an email from Todd Bolen, professor of biblical studies in Jerusalem, and author of the excellent website www.bibleplaces.com

So, domes were architectural features that were added after the 'New Testament' period!
It's back to the drawing board for me, and no more domes!

Related posts:
Being Roofless!
What did Herod's Temple look like?
Houses in Bible times

Illustrating a Bible story

Before you start to illustrate a passage from the Bible, You need to read the passage first!
Not just once, but many times. Why?. Because there are things that you will need to know that won't be obvious after just one reading.
e.g. What time of day is it? What was the weather like? Does the story take place inside or outside? If it's inside, what type of building is it? If the story is outside, what is the location? How many people are present? How old are they?
Is there a custom mentioned that you will need to research? Is there an item mentioned that you will need reference for?
These are questions that you don't generally ask when you read a Bible story, but you need to, when you're illustrating one!

It's amazing how many Bible illustrators don't ask these basic questions.
(I admit it, I've made a few mistakes in my time!)
I have children's Bibles that show Jesus walking on the water, on a bright sunny day! (It was night!), and the sea in the picture was like a sheet of glass! (There was a storm going on!) Not that it would be any easier walking on water when it was calm!
I have Bibles that show the parting of the Red sea in the daytime! (This event was also at night!)
How old was Daniel when he was in the Lions Den? Most childrens Bibles will show him to be anything between a teenager to around 30 years old. He was actually 80-90 years old!
When illustrating the life of a Bible character, you need to take note that 10 or 20 years can pass in-between chapters! Remember to check the dates in the margin.
These are all basic mistakes that could have been easily avoided by a closer reading of the text.

After making notes of all the relevant points above, it's time to start looking for references! I will deal with gathering references in a later post!

Related posts:
More Biblical costume reference!
Which Bible clothing colors should I use?
Gathering Bible References
Bible Research
Easy mistakes to make!
Bible study aids
Being Roofless!
No more Domes!
What did Herod's Temple look like?
Houses in Bible times