The Bible illustration blog

Painting Holidays in the Holy Land

2012-01-27T09:06:00.008Z

Jewish Bible artist Darius Gilmont is considering organizing painting holidays in the Holy Land and is asking for feedback from readers of the Bible illustration blog as to what they think of the draft itinerary below. The photo above shows the tombs of Rabbinic sages in the Galilee, very near to the Kibbutz where there would be very good accommodation and an art studio.
If anyone is in any doubt to how wonderful the experience of painting in the Holy Land is - they need to read the inspiring diaries of Bible artists Elsie Anna wood and Margaret W. Tarrant.

Please take a look at the 'First Draft Itinerary' below and leave your comments for Darius in the usual comment box.

First Draft Itinerary for a Painting Holiday in the Holy Land.
This tour is Galilee-based, but there could equally be a Negev desert-based tour, or a Jerusalem-based tour. The idea is for a non-tutored painting holiday, with a strong tourism element due to the nature of the location.

Arr. Monday evening, Ben-Gurion Airport, Tel-Aviv. Transfer to Kibbutz Parod, Galilee. This kibbutz has excellent accommodation, swimming pool set in beautiful grounds, a good art studio space, and great views of the surrounding area including the Galilean Hills, the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon (on the border with Syria).

Day 1: Breakfast. Welcome, followed by Kibbutz Tour incl. Art Studio. Trip to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, to the Mount of the Beatitudes where the Sermon on the Mount was given, to Tabgha to see the splendid mosaic about the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and to the nearby Church of Peter's Primacy. Lunch and afternoon painting at Tabgha. Dinner at Kibbutz, evening in Studio.

Day 2: Morning in Studio, painting views of the Galilee and Golan, or finishing yesterday’s work. Lunch at Kibbutz, followed by a visit to the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth, Mary's Well and the Church of the Angel Gabriel. Evening in Studio.

Day 3: Early drive to Jerusalem, visiting the Old City and selected Holy sites. Afternoon painting the panoramic view of the Old City from the Promenade Park (Tayelet) to the south of Abu Tor. From this point see much of what makes Jerusalem such a unique city to the three major religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Evening free in Jerusalem. Late return to Kibbutz.

Day 4: Morning painting in and around the Kibbutz or in the studio. Afternoon trip to the Bahai Temple and gardens, Haifa. Evening at the Kibbutz with lecture/discussion/workshop with eminent art or religious academic or cleric (in short –a cultural event)!

Day 5: Trip to the Monastery of St George at Wadi Qelt in the Judaean desert. Walking, and painting, in the desert. Evening in the studio.

Day 6: Morning trip to Tiberias. Lunch at Tiberias. Afternoon painting in studio. Evening closing event and celebratory dinner (and dancing?) on the Kibbutz.

Day 7: Morning transfer to Ben-Gurion Airport and departure for UK.

NOTE: All trips to scenic locations will include ample time for painting. Non-painting partners and children will also have plenty to do, including organized tours and activities.

Above is one Darius' paintings. To see more of his Bible Art visit dariusgilmont.com
© Darius Gilmont 2012

JŌB Movie project

2012-01-06T17:37:00.008Z

Bible artist Chris Koelle has just sent me some information about a movie project of his on Kickstarter. Chris has illustrated a book titled JŌB which is basically a poem written by John Piper based on the biblical story of Job. The book has now been turned into a movie animated by Danny McNight and narrated by John Piper. (Click the word 'Movie' above to view).
To read an interview with Chris Koelle about another book project of his - a graphic novel titled 'The Book of Revelation' click here

Let me also tell you a little bit about kickstarter as it might be of interest to readers of this blog.
The following text is 'an introduction' from the kickstarter website

"Kickstarter is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.

All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.

Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse. We hope you agree... Welcome to Kickstarter!"

A spokesperson for Kickstarter, Cooper Troxell, told me that although Kickstarter only handles projects based in the US at present, they are hoping to go international soon. Watch this space!
There are a number of other christian projects on kickstarter so check it out.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T01:23:00.005Z

Happy New Year to all our readers! As I type out this blog we're surrounded by exploding fireworks as people welcome the new year in. This annual tradition of setting off rockets at new year really took off here in the UK in the year 2,000. Since then it's been growing in popularity. The rockets around here go on, (or off), for well over an hour!

As we think back over the last year there's been many changes taking place especially in the Middle East. The dust still hasn't settled yet and there's a lot of uncertainty about how things are going to develop in the region in 2012. Some are worried that the Arab 'Spring' will lead to a 'Fall' for Israel! Although we don't know what the immediate future holds - we do know who holds the future! So keep praying!

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-26T13:04:00.007Z

Merry Christmas to all our readers!

I received a christmas card from Bible artist Annie Vallotton a couple of days ago - one of her own designs, (see right).
Annie's life long friend Jeanne Bulté passed away this year (on March 31) so this christmas will be a difficult one for Annie. Please remember her in your prayers. Paula Taquet-Woolfolk emailed me to let me know that the 'Annie Vallotton Christian Lending Library' has moved to the lower level of the American Church in Paris to a larger room which means that they have been able to add more photos and a Bio of Annie for visitors to read. If you're visiting Paris, make sure you pop in and say hello!

For those of us who have families christmas is an extra busy time of year and we can forget that there are many people who spend it on their own - especially the elderly.
Why not invite someone around to share Christmas or New Year with you and your family - I guarantee it'll make your celebrations extra special! God bless and have a great christmas!

Image © Annie Vallotton 2011. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Happy Hanukkah!

2011-12-21T17:10:00.002Z

Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish readers!

I've only recently noticed that Gustave Dorés Bible etchings have been colored and reprinted in two volumes! Israeli artist Isaac Inbal devoted 9 years of his life to complete the task. I presume that this has been done digitally?

Both the Old & New Testaments are available separately from here:

NTM Pictures finished!

2011-11-23T09:09:00.006Z

The 'New Tribes Mission' pictures are finally complete! There are 210 pictures in the new set which is exactly double the number of pictures in the old set which were painted 26 years ago by Filipino artist Carlos 'Caloy' Gabuco.

I've had to make a number of changes to my pictures, (over 60 in all), in order to make them more biblically/historically accurate. Thankfully there have been many expert eyes on the project, not only guiding me on matters relating to biblical topics but helping me to understand how to present certain topics clearly to pre-literate people groups - I have very much appreciated their input!

Preparing pictures to assist missionaries in their presentation of the Bible message has been a great privilege and responsibility. I can't think of a more worthwhile use of an artist's/illustrator's time though and I would encourage other artists to pursue this vocation.
In many cases these pictures give the very first glimpse of the outside world to be seen by remote people groups - so you do feel a certain amount of responsibility there too! I've already had feedback about how fascinated one group were to learn how early civilizations could build buildings using mud! Moulding and baking bricks in the sun, as is shown in the 'Tower of Babel' set, was a completely new concept to them!

It's hard to imagine that there are still 2,500 people groups that are unreached with the Gospel! The next step is to get all the picture sets printed, laminated and distributed to the 3,000 NTM missionaries working in the field. If you would like to help towards the cost of printing, click here. Many thanks if you have donated already!
Please remember the work of NTM in your prayers.

Shana Tova!

2011-09-28T09:32:00.004+01:00

It's the Jewish New Year once again so "Shana Tova" to our Jewish readers and especially those Jewish Bible artists who regularly visit this blog. Rosh Hashanah, (the Feast of Trumpets), begins today as we enter into the Hebrew year 5772.

Once again the situation in Israel is critical, and again the situation has not been helped by the biased reporting of the media. If you're fed up of the distorted reports coming out of the BBC then check out Honest Reporting. I was pleased to read an article by Dr Denis MacEoin addressed to the Edinburgh University Student Association putting them right concerning their boycott of Israel. Check it out here. We need more 'informed' people commenting in the news arena.

L'Shana Tova Tikosevu! (May you be inscribed for a good year!). Pray for Israel!

The Lion Bible in its Time

2011-08-29T14:46:00.006+01:00

I seem to start every post nowadays with the words "My apologies for the long delay since my last post..." The reason for this is that I have been working flat out to finish the chronological teaching pictures for New Tribes Mission. The number of pictures on the original list has now increased to 212! 207 are complete, apart from some alterations, leaving five pictures to do, but they include some very involved ones like 'The Dedication of Solomon's Temple', 'Jacobs Ladder' and 'The Fall of Jericho!'
As it's a bank holiday Monday here in the U.K. I thought I'd add a quick blog. I was sent a copy of 'The Lion Bible in its Time' a few weeks back to review on the blog - so here goes.

When I review a book like this for readers of the blog I'm looking purely at the illustrative content and not the literary. The first thing that struck me about this book was the standard of illustration, which is much higher than you normally find in a book of this type, (which is basically an introduction to the Bible for children). They reminded me of the illustrations in the Reader's Digest 'Jesus and his Times' (1987). The illustrator, Steve Noon has produced breathtakingly detailed panoramas of Biblical scenery, my favorites were The Tabernacle, Jerusalem in the reign of King Solomon, Babylon (See above cover), Roman Jerusalem and The Port of Caesarea, (below). The pictures also include helpful cutaway sections showing the interiors of buildings/tents etc.

The pictures on the whole are well researched - many of them are based on ancient Assyrian and Egyptian carvings for accuracy. Steve Noon has done an excellent job lighting the pictures too - you can almost feel the warm glow of the sun! On a spread titled 'The great Flood' a large boat is seen being covered with bitumen. I don't think that this is supposed to be Noahs Ark as it's only about 15 feet high at the side. I suspect that this is rather depicting the boat building techniques of the time. Books of this type tend to concentrate on historical detail rather than the miraculous. It's a fine line that the publishers have to walk in order to get these books into our secular school libraries here in the U.K. - they come under rigorous censorship!

Steve Noon is not put off when facing an epic battle scene either as his picture of the Assyrian army defeating Israel in 720 BCE clearly shows. There really is a lot to look at in these pictures, and if you look closely, you'll find some humorous scenes that children will enjoy too. I'm guessing that the pictures were done in watercolor which must have taken a fair time to do. The reproduction is good, as is the print quality. All-in-all this is an excellent book and one that I would recommend to readers for their reference library.
Top marks to Steve Noon and Lion!

Pictures © Lion hudson 2011

Drawing the Ark of the Covenant.

2011-05-28T13:54:00.016+01:00

From the beginnings of early Christian iconography artists have strived to depict the Ark of the Covenant. Countless attempts have been made to capture its likeness but can we really know what the Ark of the Covenant looked like?

Design of the Ark
One idea that's been expressed by at least two artists that I came across, 1.2. is that both the design of, and embellishments on, the ark would have been egyptian in style. The reason given for this is that as all the craftsmen had lived (and been trained) in Egypt prior to the Exodus, their only influences up to that point were all from Egyptian culture. Others point to ancient Egyptian artifacts that were similar in design to the ark such as Tutankhamun's Anubis Chest to strengthen their case. I would agree that this reasoning could be applied to the design of the golden calf - but not to the Ark of the Covenant. My reason is that in Exodus 25:40 God commanded Moses "See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain". Not only did God design the ark but Exodus 31:2-5 tells us that He equipped Bezalel, filling him with God's Spirit, wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft
in order to complete the job. I would suggest that Gods influence on design (as THE Great Designer of all) would take priority over Egypt's! Also, let's not forget that the Israelites were prohibited from being assimilated into the pagan nations around them - they were to be different in every way!
One other point on the embellishments - both Dr Leen Ritmeyer and Nahum HaLevi pointed out to me that "no decorations are mentioned" in scripture adorning the ark itself which is interesting as this would also be contrary to Egyptian art which almost always adorns every surface! Leen added "The Ark was not meant to be seen, so decorating it was not essential and with the cherubim it looked impressive enough." Having said that, it could also be argued that the pattern shown to Moses on the mount may have included some ornamentation the details of which were only revealed to Moses - we simply don't know! I did decide in the end to show some decoration, although not Egyptian. (See above picture).

Pole Position!
The positioning of the poles that were used to carry the ark is a hotly debated subject! Before I began the illustrations I fully intended having the poles running parallel to the long side of the ark as is more commonly seen. (see also Raiders of the Lost Ark) I became uncertain about this as I thought about the orientation of the ark within the Holy of Holies. Let's look at what the Bible says about this. We know from 1 Kings 8:8 that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy place protruding under the veil so from this we can conclude that the poles were running East to West. We also know from Lev 16:14 which way the high priest was facing as he officiated.
And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side," which means that the high priest must have been facing West. Incidentally, as the high priest faced west with his back to the veil, all he would see, including his peripheral vision, was gold!
This still doesn't give us any clues as to the orientation of the ark in relation to the poles. We need to go back now to the description of the ark given in Exodus 25:18-19. Here, Moses is told "make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof." It seems clear from this that the cherubim were to be positioned at each 'end' of the mercy seat. Now, unless the Hebrew word for 'end' refers to anything other than the short ends of an oblong, (which looking from above is the basic shape of the ark), it seems very likely that each cherub was positioned at the narrow ends of the ark. It sounds like I'm over stating the obvious here, but there are some scholars who believe that the cherubim were positioned in the centre of the mercy seat as opposed to at each end. The second point I want to make is that if the cherubs were at each end of the ark, it seems likely that the high priest would stand, (to sprinkle the blood in between the cherubim), at one of the long sides of the ark. If he stood at one of the narrow ends, he would be looking at the back of one of the cherubim. I concluded from this reasoning that as the poles in the holy of holies ran east to west, and as the high priest faced west, and as the high priest officiated at one of the longer sides of the ark, then the poles must run parallel to the narrow sides of the ark! I have been wrong in the past though so let me know your thoughts-!!

The Argument against
One of the objections to the view above, raised by those who believe that the poles ran parallel to the long sides of the ark, is presented by the question "If the poles run parallel with the narrow sides of the ark, how was it possible to get the Ark into the Holy of Holies? At it's widest point the ark would not fit in between the 5 pillars!" (I've raised this same point myself in the past). The answer that I was given to this question was " The Tabernacle was built around the ark - the ark was not carried into the Tabernacle". I haven't found a Bible verse that states otherwise and I've asked a number of experts/Rabbis too. If it could be shown from scripture that the ark was carried into the Tabernacle, then that would throw a fairly big spanner into the works! The picture (above left) shows the Tabernacle being constructed around the Ark. You can see the shadow of the first covering being drawn over the Holy of Holies. In actual fact the Ark would most likely have still been under cover at this point, protected from prying eyes!
One final point about the position of the poles - they were low down! Not as we see in the 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' film. Exodus 25:12 says "Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet," Also the poles had to be low to be seen under the veil. (1 Kings 8:8). I've pointed out in the past that as the Ark of the Covenant seems to be the only item of Tabernacle furniture that has the rings at ground level, it was the only item that demanded the Levites 'Bow down' to pick it up!
As the high priest officiated, he was bordered by the ark on the west, the two poles on either side of him running north to south, and the veil behind him on the East. After I had illustrated this set, I came across a picture painted by Temple Institute artist Zely Smekhov depicting this scene in the same way, except his poles are higher. (See right).

The Cherubim
Once again I've avoided drawing the cherubim in detail. It's still not clear to me how they should look. We know that the wings overshadowed the mercy seat and that the wing tips touched. I've used this to obscure the view of the cherubim. The much larger cherubim in Solomon's Temple will not be as easy to obscure! One artists interpretation of the cherubim in Solomon's Temple can be seen below. I've noticed that when artists are guided by archaeologists, the cherubim usually resemble Lamassu which were Canaanite protective deities. They had the body of a bull or lion, the wings of an eagle and a human head. Although I've seen cherubim depicted this way in pictures of Solomon's Temple, for some reason they are not usually depicted this way on the Ark of the Covenant. Some archaeologists like Israel Finkelstein have suggested that "as the Israelites arose as a subculture in Canaanite society, it was only natural for the Israelites to continue using (and adopt the) Canaanite protective deities". This argument is not unlike the one above which favoured Egyptian influences over God's - except here it's Canaanite influences. (This argument sounds like its coming from a biblical minimalists perspective!) I would argue that the design of the cherubim, like the rest of the ark, was most definitely of God. Anyway, as I understand it, God's inspiration for the cherubs design was given while the Israelites were still in the Sinai Peninsula even before they entered Canaan?
We have looked in the past at the possibility that a visual description of the cherubim could have been passed down through oral tradition maybe from as far back as the Garden of Eden! In this case it's possible that the Lamassu depicted in ancient Assyrian and Mesopotamian Art might actually resemble cherubim! This wouldn't then be a case of the various cultures influencing Israelite artisans - it would be God's design influencing the artists of all other cultures!
The main problem that I see with the 'Lamassu theory' is that the description given in the Bible doesn't really resemble lamassu. For example the body of a cherub is like unto a man, not a lion. (Ezekiel 4:4-14). The cherubim also have hands, four wings and four faces. It's obvious that the Old Testament artisans clearly knew what cherubim looked like as they had both embroidered and carved their likenesses in both the Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple respectively.
I wonder if the descriptions of cherubim given in scripture are meant to be strange and illusive to discourage us from depicting them! Maybe if we were able to carve or paint an accurate image of a cherub it would itself become an object of worship.

Two final points regarding the Ark: Artists interpretations vary when it comes to deciding how many Levites carried the ark. Pictures show groups of four, eight and even twelve Levites carrying the ark. Dr Elihu A. Schatz has done some research on this subject. He estimated that the ark was approximately 183 pounds (83 kilograms) in weight and concluded that "Each of the four men carrying the Ark would bear a weight of about 21 kilograms (46 pounds), which can easily be tolerated on the shoulders for extensive periods of time. If necessary, the carriers could use shoulder padding to ease the pressure of the poles on the shoulders." One final point - the main container part of the ark was constructed of wood overlaid with gold unlike the lid, (the mercy seat), which was solid gold. I only mention this as some artists have given this container a mirror finish which gilded wood doesn't have. There are some excellent photos on the net of ancient Egyptian artifacts that give us a very good idea of how gilded wood should look.
In closing, If any of you artists prefer to draw from life - for $3,350.00 you can order your own full size replica Ark of the Covenant here!

As always I look forward to your comments!
Pictures © Foundationmatters.org 2011, © Zely Smekhov/Temple institute 2011.

Related posts:
Covering the Ark
Contents of the Ark
Drawing Cherubs!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T12:04:00.003+01:00

I'd like to wish all readers of the Bible illustration blog a very Happy Easter!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.
Matthew 28:6

Also, Happy Passover to all our Jewish readers! Easter and Passover don't always fall at exactly the same time of year due to the fixed Lunar date of the feast of Unleavened Bread and the variable solar date of Easter. When they do coincide, It is fitting that as the Nation of Israel is celebrating being set free from bondage of the Egyptians, which came by the shedding of the blood of an innocent lamb, the Church is celebrating both the death and resurrection of Jesus, which set those who believe free from the bondage of sin by the shed blood of the sinless Lamb of God on the Cross as prophesied in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 and elsewhere. This is also a time of year when both Jew and Christian traditionally look forward to the coming of the Messiah.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11

Classic Bible Stories, Volume 2

2011-02-14T22:42:00.006Z

Update- April 2011: I've just received an email from Amazon informing me that this book is no longer available! I'm not sure if this means that the publishers have decided not to print it, or just that it will not be available from Amazon. I will leave the post up for now until I know more. (The link to Amazon below no longer works).

I was very pleased to see on the Amazon website that 'Classic Bible Stories, volume 2' is soon to be released. Amazon has the artists listed as Frank Hampson and Norman Williams, but a quick search on Google images revealed that the cover image is one of Frank Bellamy's illustrations, not one of Frank Hampson's. Initially I was disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing some new Frank Hampson Bible art - but then I remembered how a number of people on this blog have raved about how good Bellamy's 'David the Shepherd King' was, so I've pre-ordered a copy.

I know that I've complained about the print quality of Classic Bible Stories volume 1, (and I'm not sure if volume 2 will be any better), but this is one that I haven't seen before so it'll be worth having anyway! I'm not familiar with Norman Williams art but I'll leave an update on this post when I get to see it. Presumably Williams is the illustrator of 'Paul, The Great Adventurer' although the information given on Amazon is sometimes misleading-!!
Top marks to Titan books for reprinting all this great Bible art from the Eagle comic! Can we expect a volume 3?

I was just checking the comments that came in on the 'Classic Bible Stories volume 1' post, and I came across one that I had left which said "I'm hoping that a publisher might consider re-printing the other Eagle biblical strip 'David :The Shepherd King' by Frank Bellamy, in a similar format to this book".
Again, well done Titan!

Ancient Hebrew Design!

2011-02-12T13:30:00.005Z

I'm always on the lookout for photos of ancient carvings on stone that give us an idea of the designs that were used in Bible times. I was very pleased to see an article in this months issue of 'Israel today' that shows a 2,000-year-old stone that has been found in the remains of a first century synagogue in Migdal. Migdal lies on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee and is thought to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. The ancient stone is carved on five sides with reliefs which include oil lamps, rosettes, columns, arches over corn sheaves, ivy wreaths, a seven-branched menorah between two goblets and other geometric designs. For more pictures that show the other sides of the stone, search 'Migdal excavations' on Google images.

The article doesn't mention what the stone may have been used for - any ideas anyone? It was found at the centre of the study rooms in the synagogue. As the stone is carved on five sides it seems unlikely that it was a base for something else.

The article goes on to say "It is likely that Jesus visited the synagogue in Migdal and may have taught there. If so, as He stood before the congregation reading from the scroll of the Torah, this very stone would have been at His feet!" After reading this, and as I had to draw Jesus teaching in a synagogue this week, I couldn't resist adding the stone! (See right). I plan on using the other designs shown on the stone in other biblical interiors.

The stone will be placed in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem. The article says "The presence of the stone in the Prime Minister's office serves as a reminder that in Temple times, as today, the menorah was the emblem of Israel and Jewish nationhood". This reminded me of something that I mentioned in a past blog - some Bible artists have used the Star of David design on the interior walls of first century synagogues. A seven-branched menorah would be a more accurate design to use as the earliest examples of a design that resembles the Star of David are only found in 3-4th century synagogues.
Green text © 'Israeli today' 2011

January Update!

2011-01-27T23:13:00.017Z

My sincere apologies for the long break since the last post. (This has been due in part to illness). We're still in January so I suppose I can still get away with wishing everyone "Happy New Year!" I am slowly beginning to reply to all your emails and comments, so thanks in advance for your patience. Work is continuing on the 'New Tribes Mission' pictures - the latest set to be completed depicts the Tabernacle furniture. I found this a difficult set to illustrate - especially the Ark of the Covenant, as there are a number of theories as to how it may have looked! (I'm hoping to blog about the AoC soon). My thanks again to John Cross of Goodseed for the excellent Tabernacle Furniture Set - this was incredibly helpful!

There are a number of items that I've been wanting to mention, so I'm going to pack them all into this post!

International Children's Bible Art Competition
The International Children's Bible Art Competition is still being planned. I have been having discussions with Look and Learn who are happy to host the competition. If all goes well, 10,000 schools in the UK will receive an A4 flyer with the competition details. We already have an international panel of Bible artists in place, including Annie Vallotton, to judge the competition and I'm in the process of finding sponsors.

One of the currently running art competitions organized by Look & Learn is the..
EiiR Children's Art Competition.
In celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 85th birthday, Look and Learn is holding an international children’s competition to paint her portrait. All entries will be included on a digital photo frame to be presented to The Queen, as well as appearing in Look and Learn’s online children’s art gallery.The competition is open to all children (maximum age 18) and entries will be judged in three age categories. The 24 winners will receive cash prizes totalling over £1,000 (approx. US$1,500), commemorative mugs, printed certificates, and individual press releases announcing their success.
More details here. Schools worldwide are invited to take part but hurry as the competition closes on March 14th!

Holocaust Memorial Day
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. Please spare a minute to visit the HMD website and light the virtual candle on the home page to show your support. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered so much both during and after the holocaust, and for the nation of Israel who continues to face opposition on many sides.

From the Attic of Civilization: Rembrandt and His Biblical Art
I received an email last week from Dr Leonard Girsh who is the author of a new book focusing on the Biblical Art of Rembrandt. One reviewer comments "Dr. Girsh has a wonderful grasp of the complex nuances of Rembrandt's works, tying together Biblical references to other important figures in history. He shines light on hidden concepts that eludes even the most analytical of readers. A strong theme of "the origin of thought" branching into many subjects: languages, human thinking and behavior. Truly a masterpiece!"
From the Attic of Civilization is available from Amazon

Guest Bible Artist Interview #8

2010-12-29T12:28:00.009Z

Sergio Cariello
If, like me, you grew up reading DC and Marvel comics, you're going to really like this next Bible artist interview. This artist has worked on Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Green Lantern, Flash, Fantastic Four, Iron man, Catwoman, Wolverine, X-men, Daredevil... the list goes on! It was no surprise then when the publisher David C. Cook needed an artist to illustrate the 'Action Bible' that they chose Sergio Cariello for the job!

Sergio was born in Brazil in 1964. He broke into the cartoon field at a very early age having his own weekly newspaper strip at the age of 11! After moving to America Sergio became not only an accomplished cartoonist - he was a penciler, inker, colorist and he spent 7 years as an instructor at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoons and Graphic Arts. To read a more detailed biography click here.

The interview:
Sergio, like me you were growing up during the 'Silver Age' of American comics. I can still remember some of those great artists names, Curt Swan, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby and John Buscema among others. Was there a particular artist who inspired you as a youngster?
One thing to consider is that we Brazilians did not get, unlike today, simultaneous American publications . We were a bit behind on our translated Comics which consisted of a few issues into one and collections from comic strips of various eras as well. I remember quite a few influences, including the ones you mentioned, and others - I don't know if they fall into the "silver age" category plus some European artists. Among them are: Joe Kubert ,Jim Aparo, Gil Kane, John Romita Sr, John Buscema, Jack Kirby, Nick Cardy, Nestor Redondo, Mort Drucker, and some strip and european artists: Milton Caniff, Al Williamson, John Burns, John Celardo, Sy Barry, All Capp, Albert Uderzo, Jesus Blasco, Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth, Cotsky, and the list goes on and on.

When were you first introduced to the Bible, and can you remember which one you owned?
We had a few bibles in the house, all in Portuguese. My parents took me and my brother to church when we were very young. I remember my favorite was the Picture Bible books, illustrated by Andre Le Blanc. It was the black and white portuguese version. Little did I know that those booklets were the Brazilian version of the Original American version of the Picture Bible I would end up illustrating!

You live in the US now - where are you from originally and what brought you to the US?
I was born in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. When I wad 5 I told my parents that I would become a cartoonist when I grew up. That desire increased over the years and I begun to dream of coming to america to fulfill that goal. Especially when, in 1984, I saw an ad of an ugly bird talking to a cave man about the Joe Kubert School in New Jersey. I knew I had to attend that school so I started saving money and began learning English. My family helped me pay for the plane ticket from Brazil to America and George Theis, director of Word of Life Bible Institute in upstate NY , who knew me from attending the Word of Life Bible Institute from my home town back in 81, gave me a tuition scholarship to attend their bible institute in Schroon lake, New York.

Tell us a little bit about what was involved in producing the illustrations for the Action Bible?
I gathered books on the subject, either photographic books or paintings and or drawings , as well as DVDs and some objects and a few color prints from the Internet . Anything that could help me as reference, just like I do with every job I get to do. I'm really into getting props and objects and tons of books to bombard my brain with info before starting to draw.

We've discussed inking techniques on the blog before - it seems like graphics tablets such as the Wacom Cintiq are now competing with the traditional brush/pen and ink methods. How to you ink in your line work?
The cintiq is just another tool from my "tool box" which I use to produce my comic pages. So...No competition between them here in my studio but collaboration! I still enjoy starting my work with pencils, pen nibs, India ink, brush and paper. I enjoy the feel, the noise of nib scratching the surface of the Bristol board, and the smell of pencil lead, ink and paper. I like to get my hands dirty and to hold an actual final, real /physical product, as opposed to virtual. But at the end I scan the art and use the cintiq tablet to edit any final touches before "sending" it off through the air waves.

That's a good point - the nearest thing you have to an original when working digitally is a computer print out! How do you add the color - was it done digitally?
Yes. I submitted my own colors to get the job but I subcontracted 6 guys to help me color the pages.

There's a tremendous about of work that's gone into the Action Bible - How long did it take you to complete?
It took 3 years to complete.

I'm always amazed at how much historical research goes into cartoon strip versions of the Bible. How did you go about your own research?
With the help of historical Books, props and images I acquired from Bookstores and the Internet, I discovered how the philistines dressed and how the helmets of their soldiers were supposed to look like. I also was able to draw the pagan gods accurately. I'm sure the experts will probably find a few things inaccurate in the book but I sure tried to make everything right. I also had help from the editors of David C Cook to point out some things I had missed.

Did you find that there was a particular Bible story that was difficult to illustrate and why?
The Battle and multitude scenes were a bit more challenging than the regular pages since they had a lot more people to draw.

One of the topics we've discussed on the blog has been 'what did Jesus look like?'. What influenced your depiction of Jesus?

I watched some movies portrayals of him and observed what other artists had done and came up with my own. I did not want to depict a weak Jesus, nor angelic, or delicate - but a tough, manly carpenter Jesus, with expressive eyes and fit body for those long walks.

Are you working on any other Bible related project at the moment that we can look forward to seeing?
I'm working on "The Christ" series, written by Ben Avery for Kingstone Media. It's a book that shows the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ based on the 4 gospels.

Are any other members of your family talented comic artists?
My mom, Celia Cariello, paints abstract art and won a few awards in Brazil and my brother Octavio Cariello who lives in Brazil has drawn for American comics. He also teaches art in a Brazilian art school.

Do you use your talents in your church - Perhaps in Sunday school?
Not yet in it's full extent. I just now did this Action Bible so I don't even know what's available from it, but I do play the guitar, sing, compose songs and lead worship in my church and I've used some of my drawings to teach the word. One time I drew a life-size Goliath to use in my preaching to a congregation in Jersey for the whole church (adults and children).

Many thanks again to Sergio for taking the time to speak to us. Looking forward to your comments.
All illustrations © David C Cook 2010-11

Belated Christmas Greetings!

2010-12-28T14:58:00.004Z

Belated Christmas greetings to all our readers! Sorry this is late but due to family illnesses etc blogging has fallen down to the bottom of my priority list! A belated Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish readers also!
I will be uploading a new Bible artist interview hopefully in the next few days so look out for that.

The painting here is by James J. Tissot and is titled 'Joseph Seeks a Lodging At Bethlehem'. I am hoping to blog about the Bible Art of JJ Tissot soon. Thanks also for your Christmas cards.

New Bible Image Library

2010-12-04T16:31:00.003Z

I received an email recently from Dr Leen Ritmeyer announcing the launch of his new image library which also contains many of Leen's own drawings. Here's some more information from the email:

"The Image Library of Ritmeyer Archaeological Design contains authoritative reconstruction drawings and models which you will not find on any other website. The photos of ancient sites in the lands of the Bible have also been taken through the informed lens of an archaeological architect. A treasure-trove for teachers, pastors, lecturers and picture editors, it is the result of years of experience digging and researching in Israel and traveling in the surrounding countries."
There are already hundreds of images in the library, but we plan to add many more in the near future.

This looks like it's going to be a very helpful resource site for Bible artists - take a look and let me know what you think.
Image © Leen Ritmeyer 2010

Tabernacle Furniture Set

2010-11-30T09:34:00.005Z

I'm in the process of illustrating the Tabernacle furniture including the Ark of the Covenant which I will be blogging about in more detail shortly. This set has been a very challenging set to illustrate! Many thanks to everyone who has given advice and pointed me towards the relevant scriptures which, at the end of the day, have to be our guide as we attempt to accurately depict these things.

Special thanks goes to author John Cross whose books include 'The Stranger' 'All That The Prophets Have Spoken' and By This Name. John has done much study of the Tabernacle, (and tabernacle furniture), and he has very kindly sent me a complementary Tabernacle Furniture Set (pictured above), which has been a tremendous help! I especially wanted to give this set a plug on the blog as it is absolutely stunning! Each finely detailed item is made of metal which is either gold or bronze plated. The bronze Altar and Laver which both stood in the Tabernacle court actually look weathered too! The Ark of the Covenant contains a miniature pot of manna, Aaron's rod and the Stone Tablets of the Law which actually feel like stone! Because each item looks so authentic it really brings history to life! This item would be invaluable to anyone who conducts teaching seminars on the Tabernacle - It's also a great item to have on display either at home or in your workplace as it's a great conversation starter!

If you're after a special gift for your minister/pastor - this is it!

Guest Bible Artist Interview #7

2010-11-14T14:15:00.016Z

Tim Shirey
We have looked in the past at some of the work of missionary artists such as Elsie Anna Wood and Harold Copping. The job of a missionary artist, very simply put, is to produce illustrations as an aid for those whose task it is to present God - and the message of the Bible to an unbelieving world. It's been my privilege recently to interview one of todays missionary artists Tim Shirey. Tim is a regular contributor on the Bible illustration blog and works for Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) at their European Regional Office in kilchzimmer Switzerland. The interview is slightly longer than our previous interviews but I'm sure that you will find in fascinating. Our hope is that this interview will inspire young people to become the missionary artists of tomorrow!

Tim, how long have you worked for CEF? Since 1985 and I was in the CEF European Regional office since 1986.

I often get asked the question "Are there many opportunities for artists in the mission field?" How would you answer this, and how did you become a missionary artist?
In 1979 (while in high school) the Lord laid it upon my heart for missions and more specifically the region of Russia and Central Asia. I wanted to use my art in some way – just not sure how. The Lord answered that prayer by sending me to Switzerland where, at the time, most of our literature was going into the Soviet Union. I share this because often the Lord answers our prayers and brings it about in the most unexpected ways!
In high school I spent several summers teaching children in backyard Bible clubs (CEF) using visualized Bible lessons and missionary stories. All the songs and memory verses were also visualized to help teach the truths and supplement the text. I saw the impact visuals had in effectively teaching God's Word. The pictures help hold the children's attention and besides visualizing the Bible story itself there were additional pictures to help teach spiritual truths. In some parts of the world visuals play an even greater role in communicating the Truths of God's Word to children and adults. I grew up in a printing family and now I'm thrilled to have a small part in sending out millions of "missionaries in print".
Over the years I've met missionaries where their skill and training in art played a central role in their ministry but I also met those who have used their art training to complement another area of ministry. For example, I met an art student who went on to be a youth pastor and used his art when developing teaching materials. This opens the door wide open for ways to use your art on the mission field.

CEF is working in more than 178 countries and we see many opportunities for illustrators not only in literature but also with the wide open field of multimedia and the Internet where we are reaching children not possible through literature alone. I could fill several pages listing projects we are unable to take on because we simply don't have the artists. Having artists that are familiar with a particular culture is very helpful because sometimes we customize the illustrations to meet the cultural differences of a particular country or region – for a child in Finland or Central Asia to hold a Gospel booklet and know that this is for me. The majority of illustration work is done at the CEF International office, with the regional offices supplementing with material that meets specific cultural needs in their region.For example, CEF Int'l produces a booklet called "Do You Wonder Why?" which is distributed in areas of the world immediately after a natural disaster or traumatic event. I customized some of the illustrations for Poland [see image] so it would better relate to the plane crash earlier this year involving the President, his wife and other officials. 40,000 copies of the evangelistic booklet were distributed in two days at memorial services around the country with an overwhelming response. Another 40,000 were immediately printed and distributed. This is an example of having artwork that relates to the culture and specific needs – something we are able to do at the regional level.

Do you only work on Bible stories or are you asked to illustrate other subjects too?
A single CEF Bible lesson will usually consist of 6-8 full colour illustrations. Visuals (in Europe) are reproduced at 24x34cm with the lesson text printed separately into the different languages.
A Bible lesson will include illustrations of present day settings that help teach a Biblical truth from the lesson. These are woven throughout the Bible lesson. We also produce series that teach doctrines of the Bible to children such as a 5-part series entitled "Great Truths in the Book of Romans".
Illustrations are sometimes needed to help teach truths like justification or sanctification.Illustrations in the Bible build a bridge between the familiar and the unfamiliar. As a visual illustrator, I look at the culture the children are in, find something familiar from their small world and create a bridge to help them understand the unfamiliar truth being taught. I'm always working within the boundaries of a pre-existing Bible lesson text so the visual doesn't stand on it's own but is reinforcing what the teacher is saying. We are presently working on teacher resource packs. Illustrations are needed for visualized review games, take-home worksheets, memory verse tokens, etc..
We produce missionary and Christian stories from past and present. There is also a wide range of illustrations needed for the Bible correspondence courses for children (free). In Russia alone, 11,300 children are enrolled in these courses. One seven yr. old boy responded on one of his lessons, While going through the lessons, I trusted Christ as my Saviour. ... I need to ask for your forgiveness ... I'm not a seven yr. old boy, but a 70 yr. old man!  – Put the food out for the lambs and the sheep will come and feed also.
The list of illustration needs is endless – not just Bible lessons.

I know that you're into photography. How does photography help you as an artist?
I went to Bible college to study art and photography. I eventually had to drop photography and just focus on Bible and art. I love photography and it's become a vital part of my illustration work flow. I also use it extensively in other areas of ministry. I do have to shift my thinking when jumping between the two because photography is the art of exclusion while painting is the art of inclusion. With photography I begin with clutter and choose what to exclude from the image. Photography has helped me find the "little stories" unfolding around me and isolating them within the frame. With illustration, I start with a blank page and decide what to include.
I start with a series of thumbnail sketches before deciding on the final one. I then make a list of what photo references I need. I would find willing models (family, friends or co-workers) to pose for me.   I regularly use myself as a model and change my appearance at the drawing stage.  My wife made a plain robe with velcro attachments on the back to fit various body shapes and to easily slip over clothing. It's much easier to find friends to model when they don't have to change out of their clothes. I can adjust the size of the robe with clips (wooden clothespins) down the back. This simple pull-over garment is a nice addition to my bathrobe I used for many years.
(I handed this tract (right) to a man in Moscow and he showed me a toothless grin after reading the title, How to get to Heaven from Moscow.  He said, I don't know how to get to heaven but I do know you won't start in Moscow!)
I work on a tight deadline and taking the extra care with lighting and posing of people at the photo reference stage saves me extra work later on. This is important if I have 1-2 days to complete an illustration. For lighting, I never use a direct flash, otherwise I end up with flat, emotionless lighting. I use off-camera flashes or I will just use my trusty shower curtain liner (translucent white) with a natural light source to soften direct sunlight or draped from a doorway or window to create a large softbox. I'm always taking reference photos of trees, rocks, architecture, etc.. I especially like to photograph textures to use later (stones, tree bark, walls, wood grain, ...)  It's important that I enter a metadata description for each photo so that a computer search using any of those descriptive words will bring up that photo instantly. You can enter this metadata using most photo programs like Google Picasa (free).
I import the photos into Adobe Photoshop and use them as a starting point or reference to work from making adjustments at the drawing stage. I use a Wacom Cintiq monitor that allows me to draw directly on the screen. I do as much as I can in Photoshop before moving to Corel Painter to paint and then bring it back into Photoshop.  I would much prefer to stay in Photoshop but I don't have the most recent Photoshop CS5 that includes natural media brushes. :-(
If you plan to use photography in your illustration workflow, I encourage you to do several tests with the same subject photographed at different focal lengths and observe the distortion characteristics at each focal length. A wide angle lens will distort and exaggerate distance and size between objects while zooming in too much will distort by compressing depth and making distant objects larger than life.

Has working with computers changed the way you work over the years and in what way?
While using computers saved me some time, this wasn't the biggest reason for me to switch.
My daily working environment is a series of interruptions. That's not good or bad – just part of the ministry. Even now I'm getting ready to go teach a puppet seminar. Never a boring day around here! With the computer I don't need to set up and clean up my paints and brushes throughout the day. I used to work in watercolors, gouache, but mostly used a combination of gouache and color pencils before switching to the computer. I adapted some of my painting techniques to the computer – I loved to use a toothbrush to spatter paint textures so I created a Photoshop toothbrush spatter brush to create the same effect in the computer (with less mess!).
The illustrations may be reused for the internet, video, Powerpoint® lessons, etc.. Having a layered digital file from the start can be useful. I can also use layers to create various images from one illustration. What I like most about working with the computer is the ability to attempt something new without ruining a days work. I love the cmd+Z (undo) button!
I definitely plan to use my traditional tools again for upcoming projects. I look forward to working with oils as I stare longingly at my assortment of brushes and paints on the desk.

How were you first introduced to the Bible?
I am so thankful for loving Christian parents who taught us the Bible at home and shared the Gospel from an early age. I trusted the Lord Jesus as my Saviour at the age of seven.

How do you go about illustrating a Bible story for CEF and how much research do you need to do?
The lesson text is written first and divided up for the illustrations. I'm the last stage before going to the printer. While I'm working on the illustrations, the lesson text is being sent around to the national offices to begin translation. Time constraints and other ministry needs limit how in-depth I can go with my historical research. Doctrinal research always comes first.  As a result, I need to prioritize my research time and adapt the composition accordingly.  Because the illustrations are for a teacher/group situation and not close viewing in a book it allows me the flexibility to simplify details in the background and surrounding props. I've built up a useful research library over the years with the latest addition to my library being the photo CD reviewed on this blog – Historic Views of the Holy Land/Traditional Life and Customs. Thanks!
One area of research I do is to ask our teachers around Europe how children respond to certain illustrations. For example, I wrestled with how much blood would be appropriate to show children when illustrating the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. It was interesting to hear about the reaction of children from a rough neighborhood outside London. It wasn't the amount of blood shown that caused a reaction. One young girl walked right up during the lesson and touched the bruises on Jesus' cheek. Some of these children are beaten at home and know about bruises and how it goes below the surface. I realized that just adding some blue bruising in the illustration had a far greater impact on these children than excess blood. It's finding the right balance. With all the Bible pictures, it's important for children to know that this was a real event in time and place.

CEF pictures are being used all around the globe in many different cultures. When producing pictures for other cultures are there certain issues that need to be taken into account, and can you give us an example?
For Bible lessons that include Jesus, I try to avoid showing the face of Jesus when possible. This came up as an issue in some cultures and with children of Muslim families. I still include direct frontal views of Jesus but I've limited how often I include them. As an artist, there are times I actually prefer to show the view from over His shoulder and focus on showing the reaction/response of the person looking into the face of Jesus. It's far more important that the child leaves with a clear understanding of the character, attributes and person of the Lord Jesus.

Have you illustrated the entire Bible yet?
Not yet... You're already doing a great job of that. I'll leave that challenge with you! :-)

Ha ha! ;0) Can you think of a particular Bible story that was difficult to illustrate and why?
I find the doctrinal series challenging. The series Five Great Questions addresses question like, who is God?, why am I here?, why did Jesus have to die?, etc. The text for the first picture was "in the beginning God". How do I illustrate that for a child who has never seen a Bible and has absolutely no concept of who God is. Thankfully, the illustration accompanies a text.
I needed to illustrated the following verse from a doctrinal series we did on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:26 "... The Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
How does one illustrate for children the Holy Spirit helping the Believer and interceding with groans?! I showed a child (see left) who might be going through a difficult situation (fear, loneliness, sickness, anguish, etc.) and coming to the Lord in prayer. I tried to express this through the tension in the fingers and hiding of the face. I added the directional light breaking through the darkness to help show how the child is not alone and the Holy Spirit is sharing in our feelings with us and helping the Christian.

What other Bible artists have inspired you?
Before the Internet, I was only exposed to the work of a few Bible artists. As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s and later as an Bible artist starting out, I will always remember the Bible illustrations of John Steel and his work for Scripture Press. I saved most of his pictures from our Sunday School materials.

I've not come across John Steel before - I must Google him. What are you working on at the moment Tim?
A single lesson (10 illustrations) on the Call of Jeremiah. The central theme of the lesson is God has a plan for your life. Every CEF lesson (Bible lessons, doctrinal lessons, missionary stories, etc.) clearly presents the Gospel and includes teaching for the saved child.

What advice would you give to a young person wanting to become a missionary artist?
Continue to study the Bible in addition to your art training. Share your desire with the leaders in your church and ask them to be praying for you. They can also suggest solid mission organizations to contact.
Becoming a missionary often involves raising financial and prayer support through churches and individuals. Nurturing relationships is a big part of it. I mention this specifically because artists sometimes have a reputation of not being strong in communication and relationship building.
The Bible verses I've kept before me over these years in ministry as an encouragement and daily prayer reminder – Exodus 35:30-35.
We read how the Lord called (chose), equipped and empowered Bezalel and Aheliab, as craftsmen to do a special work.
Pray daily for wisdom, understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. Striving for excellence to the Glory of God.

Tim, you and your family live in a very beautiful part of Switzerland - where are you from originally?
I'm originally from York, PA (USA). I absolutely love the view in Switzerland but there's nothing quite like the Appalachians and rolling hills of Pennsylvania's "Amish country".   Where is home? I tell people, home is where my wife is. We have three wonderful daughters – two are presently attending university in the US.

Thanks so much Tim for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to share with us about life as a missionary artist with C.E.F.
As always - we look forward to your comments!

All illustrations above are © CEF Europe 2010

Four dates for your diary!

2010-10-24T17:43:00.011+01:00

I've received a number of emails recently regarding various Bible Art/Archaelogy events that readers of this blog might be interested to attend. Three of these events are in the U.S. and one in the U.K. I'll list them in descending date order:

October 2010
First of all, our good friend and Bible artist Nahum HaLevi is holding a one man show displaying 25 of his paintings at The Singer Gallery of the Mizel Arts and Cultural Center in Denver Colorado. The exhibition is titled 'Splendor and Awe : The Visionary Midrash of Nahum HaLevi' and will run from October 28, 2010 -January 2, 2011. Another of Nahum's paintings 'The Family Abramovich: The offered, the parched and the disinherited' is on display as part of a mega one year long exhibition at The American Visionary Art Museum. The exhibition is titled 'What makes us Smile?' and is co-curated by Matt Groening (creator of the Simpsons). This exhibition also starts October 2010, and runs until September 2011.
Picture above © Nahum HaLevi 2010

November 2010
Alicia Bregon from the Biblical Archaeology Society emailed me with details of the 13th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest, to be held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia on November 19–21, 2010.
"Twenty leading scholars will convene from around the world to share their research with the public in a dynamic seminar series designed specifically for the interested lay person. Concurrent sessions over the three-day period will address the latest developments in the fields of early Christianity, Gnostic scholarship, the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Israel and Biblical archaeology. For thirteen years, the Biblical Archaeology Society is proud to be the only organization to bring current Biblical research to the general public straight from the scholars who are at the forefront of their fields.

Open to the public, this 3-day Bible and Archaeology Fest program will feature 20 of the most distinguished scholars from around the world covering topics from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the latest archaeological discoveries".
For full details of the conference and the scheduled lectures, contact Alicia Bregon.

December 2010
Finally, Dr Rina Arya emailed me with details of a conference to be held on 10-11 December 2010 titled 'Contemplations of the Spiritual in Contemporary Art'. The conference will take place in Liverpool Cathedral, St James Mount, Liverpool, LI 7AZ, U.K.
"The history of Western art comes out of a Judaeo-Christian legacy and for centuries the relationship between religion and art was close. It is only in fairly recent times, since the beginning of modernism and the advent of contemporary art, that the two have been considered apart. In this conference we are going to build on this theme by placing religion (which is taken in its more inclusive sense to refer to the spiritual) in dialogue with contemporary art. We look forward to the fruitful interdisciplinary debates that will ensue".
Keynote speakers are: James Elkins (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), John Harvey (University of Aberystwyth), Graham Howes (University of Cambridge) and David Jasper (University of Glasgow).

For more information about the conference please contact the conference organisers.

If anyone is able to attend any of the events above, maybe you could leave a comment on this post to let us know how it went. Many thanks!

Pictures from the Exodus journey

2010-10-16T11:00:00.008+01:00

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot - also referred to as the 'Feast of Tabernacles' or 'Festival of Booths' ended recently which is fitting because during this time I was completing work on our latest picture set which depicts how God provided for the children of Israel during their 40 years in the wilderness. During the Feast of Tabernacles today, Jewish people all around the world build temporary booths/shelters, which they live in for seven days, as a reminder of the temporary dwellings erected by their forefathers during the Exodus wanderings. It's a time of thanksgiving for Gods faithfulness and provision!

Picture 1 shows the children of Israel sojourning through the wilderness. All the rocks/mountains have been drawn from photographic references taken in the Sinai peninsula. I noticed that the rocks have a pinkish tinge when compared to the rock colour which I normally use so I've tried to match all the rock colours to the reference photos. Every mountain in these pictures exists although I can't give you an exact location! ;0)

Picture 2 shows the people complaining to Moses that they have no food. Picture 3 is set in the evening and shows a great bevy of quail landing in the Israelite camp. Picture 4 is set in the morning and shows the people gathering manna in pots. I've tried to show the different ways that manna could be eaten - there's a pot of manna on-the-boil, some of it has been baked into buns and some children are eating it fresh off the ground! There have been a number of attempts to explain away manna as a naturally occurring substance - not something miraculous. However, even though there isn't a particularly detailed description contained in scripture, there's enough to rule out a natural occurrence! Remember that this substance appeared every morning, was enough to feed around 2 million people, and only lasted for a day except when collected the day before the Sabbath!

Picture 5 shows the people complaining to Moses again! When we read this account we are often amazed at how much complaining the Israelites did, even after they had seen God deliver them in so many miraculous ways. but the fact is that we are all stubborn and rebellious against God - it's in our nature. What is truly amazing is Gods goodness and patience with us! By nature we are far away from God. This means that the transformation from rebels into worshipers is always going to be a painful one! Our desire for a closer walk with God will lead us into a wilderness journey simply because we need to be changed! In fact, so radical are the changes that need to be made in us - only God can make them! God wants the very best for us, and He knows that the very best for us is God!
We also need to learn to wait on God daily, just as the Israelites did, for anything that's going to be of true value in this life.

Picture 6 shows Moses striking the rock and water bursting forth as the elders watch in amazement! Picture 7 (above) shows the israelites filling water pots and drinking from the newly flowing stream. Remember that this stream/river was enough to quench the thirst of a great multitude so it's unlikely that the water trickled from the rock as we sometimes see in Bible pictures. The lady stood on the right of the picture above is the English illustrator and Bible artist Cicely Mary Barker (when she was young). This is my little tribute to her!

There are 7 pictures in this set which I will link to as soon as they're uploaded to the Bible picture website.
Look forward to your comments.

Bible Artist News!

2010-09-26T13:27:00.024+01:00

I've received a few updates recently from Bible artists around the globe that I would like to share with you. There are also a number of new children's Bibles about to be released which I'm sure you'll find interesting.

'The ICB Big Red Holy Bible, Contemporary 3D Art Edition', (not sure who came up with the snappy title), is due to be published next month and is illustrated by A friend of mine Graeme Hewitson. Graeme tells me that the cover of this bible has a "really cool 3d effect" which should be interesting. The Bible contains Graeme's very cool 3D artwork which the publisher Tommy Nelson is hoping will appeal to 'today's video-game generation'. This is a bold move away from traditional Bible art, and if its successful, will no doubt have other publishers following their lead. This will be good news for all the CG artists out there. There's a facebook movie promoting the ICB Big Red Holy Bible...etc etc here. Graeme has promised me a signed copy which I look forward very much to seeing. (Thanks Graeme)

Keith Neely has finally completed the ICB Illustrated Bible series and the first copies should be back from the printer early October. More details about the new 'ICB Illustrated Bible' can be found at Keith's new website www.freeillustratedbible.com which is packed with information including a very interesting 'How we created the Illustrated Bible' page.
Keith is looking for a publisher/distributor in the U.K. to distribute copies here, so if you're interested contact Keith.

As I've previously mentioned in the 'Shanah Tova' post, the latest volume of the Modern Hebrew Children's Bible will be on its way to the printer next month also. This will be the fourth out of five volumes and includes the books of Job, Psalms and Proverbs. The Modern Hebrew Children's Bible has been illustrated by our friend Diana Shimon in Israel.

Balage Balogh has launched a new website Archaeologyillustrated.com which is devoted entirely to his Bible Art. Balagh sent me his latest picture (above) which I'm sure you'll all enjoy. (Click on the picture for a bigger version). Balage describes the scene as "...an illustration of Herod the Great's temple from inside the Royal Stoa during a major Hag, maybe Pesach." Don't forget to check out Archaeologyillustrated.com, you won't be disappointed.

I was also contacted last week by Ed Olson who has been working on a new book project with his wife Linda which is based on Creation. To learn more about this project and to see a dummy of the book click here! Ed and Linda are looking for a publisher - so, if you're interested contact Ed.

In closing, I'm hoping to be interviewing CEF's Bible artist Tim Shirey over the weekend for the Bible illustration blog so I'm looking forward to that. Tim is one of our regular contributors to the B.I.B and is based in Switzerland. Jewish Bible artist Nahum HaLevi will shortly be adding his latest painting titled 'Ezekiel' to his website. As usual, this will be accompanied by a lengthy and informative description which I've had the privilege of reading already, (Thanks Nahum).
As always, I look forward to your comments!

Graphically illustrated children's Bibles

2010-09-11T12:01:00.001+01:00

I had an email this week from a 'Jenny' in Indiana who is trying to get hold of a children's Bible which she owned as a child in the 70's. She describes the Bible in question as having "..the most graphic illustrations imaginable. By this, I mean that our mother eventually cut out the picture of John the Baptist’s head being served on a platter!" Jenny goes on to describe a picture of "Solomon holding a baby up by the heel with a sword ready to cut it in half." also a "...dreadful illustration of the murdered babies in the slaughter of the innocents."
They don't illustrate Bibles like that anymore! No, really, they don't!

Jenny, who wants to get a copy of this Bible for her brother who's now a pastor, closes her email by saying "Now that I have kids (ages 4 and 6), I am pretty sure I’m glad that most of the Bible story books we have now are much more tame!" If you think you might know which children's Bible Jenny is describing, or how she might get hold of a copy, please leave a comment or send me an email which I can pass on to her.

The early 80's was probably the last time that we see really graphic images in children's Bibles. The image above of David holding Goliath's severed head is from The Great Bible Discovery series published in 1983. It's hard to imagine a publisher re-printing images like this today, but will the sugar-coated Bible illustrations of today be as memorable? I also wonder if the trend to move away from a realistic Bible illustration style is because the publishers today associate this style with the more explicitly illustrated Bibles of the past?
Look forward to hearing your comments.
Image © OM Publishing 2010

Shanah Tova - Happy New Year!

2010-09-08T00:02:00.005+01:00

'Shana Tova' to all our Jewish readers! Yes, Rosh HaShanah (The Feast of Trumpets) is here again so I thought that I would take this opportunity to give a plug to HaGefen Publishing's new calendar which runs from September 2010 to September 2011 (covering the Jewish year 5771). The calendar features devotional Bible verses and vibrant illustrations by our good friend Diana Shimon.

The illustrations are taken from the Modern Hebrew Children's Bible which Diana continues to work on. Volume four, which includes Job, Psalms and Proverbs, is due to be with the printer in October. The fifth and final volume, which will include the final books of the Hebrew canon - Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel and the two books of Chronicles, is due to be completed in the next two to three years. For more information on the Modern Hebrew Children's Bible or to order a calendar, contact HaGefen publishing in Israel.

L'Shana Tova Tikosevu! (May you be inscribed for a good year!).

Pictures of the Passover

2010-08-08T11:55:00.013+01:00

I have finished the pictures for the Passover story at last! There are 18 pictures in this set which has taken months to complete due to all the detailed Egyptian settings and the sheer amount of people (and insects) involved in the story. The pictures retell the story beginning from when Moses and Aaron first came before Pharaoh, and ending when the Egyptian army is destroyed in the Red Sea.

One of the first questions I needed an answer to was "Do we know how old the Exodus-pharaoh was?" Dr Douglas Petrovich from 'Associates for Biblical Research' has written a very interesting article titled 'AMENHOTEP II AND THE HISTORICITY OF THE EXODUS PHARAOH' which you can read here. Amenhotep II does seem to be the most likely candidate for the exodus-pharaoh. Regarding the age of Amenhotep II at the time of the exodus Dr Petrovich told me....
"I am very confident of the age of Amenhotep II at the time of the exodus, given the synchronism between biblical and ancient Egyptian history, both of which provide us quite accurate and detailed information. I follow Wente and Van Siclen in assigning a reign of 37 1/3 years to this pharaoh, and concluding that he lived 55 years.

They are confident of his age at death, because the ancient source known as the Sphinx Stele declares that he was 18 years of age when he ascended the throne. There is no reason to doubt this. Redford, Der Manuelian and other Egyptologists argue convincingly that his coregency with his father lasted 2 1/3 years, which I have documented in my article.

Since the dating of Amenhotep II's reign begins at the inception of his coregency, thus when he was 18 years old, and his reign was numbered without interruption through the coregency and into his sole reign, we know that he would have been approximately 26 years old during his Regnal Year 9, the year of the exodus, with a variance of only 1 year possible. Of this we can be very confident."

Regarding the age of Amenhotep's firstborn son Dr Petrovich says....
"As for the age of his firstborn son at this time, Thutmose, unfortunately I have virtually no confidence. I wish we could know more. The chance always exists that a new discovery WILL answer this for us, but only time will tell.

What we can be sure about is how old he was not. Given that his father was 26 (or so) when he died, this son could not have been more than 9 years old or so. Most likely, his father would have wed between 18 and 22 years of age, so Thutmose most likely was 3 to 7 years of age--at the oldest--at the time of his death; perhaps "5" would be our most logical supposition. Obviously, he may have been less than a year old, so this cannot be ruled out. What we can rule out is the chance that he was an adolescent or young adult."

We have a fairly good idea of what Amenhotep II looked like. There are a number of stone sculptures, monuments and tomb paintings which record both his physical features and his accomplishments as a hunter, archer and charioteer. He is often shown wearing a nemes headcloth which features a prominent uraeus, (upright spitting cobra), on the front. The body of the cobra undulates up and over the top of the headcloth. In picture 1 we see Moses and Aaron before pharaoh. Aaron's rod has become a serpent and is swallowing the snakes conjured up by the Egyptian magicians. This spectacle is being watched with interest by Amenhotep's hunting dogs! These dogs, which are thought to have been either greyhounds or Ibizan hounds, appeared with Amenhotep II on wall paintings and were not only regarded as hunting dogs - they were highly regarded pets of the ancient Egyptians and were often mummified and buried with their owners.
On the subject of hunting there is also evidence from tomb paintings that tame cheetah's were used by the huntsmen also.

Picture 2 (above) depicts the first plague as the Nile, which itself was considered a deity by the Egyptians, is turned to blood. The dogs appear again in this picture as does Thutmose who I portray as being 5-6 years old as per Dr Petrovich's comments above. Picture 3 shows the plague of frogs. Egyptian handmaidens are rooted to the spot screaming as frogs leap around their feet. The frogs show no regard for the Egyptian deities as they clamber over the image of the Egyptian god Anubis! picture 4 depicts the plague of gnats. Thutmose is shown standing on his fathers throne using his father's giraffe tail fly swatter to battle the insects. This is the only time he will ascend to his father's throne which is the reason why a number never appears after his name. Thutmose III was the father of Amenhotep II. He was Egypt's most-powerful, imperialistic pharaoh. He would have been pharaoh when Moses left Egypt to go to Midian.

Picture 5 illustrates the plague of flies. On special occasions the egyptian women wore cones made of animal fat on top of their heads. These cones of fat were scented with spices and herbs and as the fat melted the hair became perfumed and greasy! The cones were often worn pierced through with a flower. The flies in this picture are particularly interested in these scented domes to the horror of the wearers! Picture 6 depicts the plague which killed the Egyptians livestock, and picture 7 shows the plague of boils. Picture 8 depicts the plague of hail stones and lightning and I show both the crops of flax and barley being destroyed. Picture 9 shows the plague of locusts and picture 10 shows the approaching plague of darkness. I've tried to show this darkness approaching in full day light to illustrate its all consuming nature. I don't believe that this darkness could be compared to night time - the Bible describes it as a darkness that could be felt! It also sounds like this darkness couldn't be dispelled by interior lamps either. It's interesting that this darkness comes just before the death of the Passover lamb because the next time we see an inky blackness to compare with this is just before the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on the cross. Young Thutmose is holding a toy horse which is based on an actual ancient Egyptian toy from this period.

Picture 11 shows the family preparing the Passover lamb which can be seen lying on the table in the background. The father of the house is applying the blood to the door lintel and posts as the mother prepares to roast the lamb. The daughter is standing outside holding a bunch of hyssop for her dad. modern Bible scholars still express uncertainty about the actual identity of the hyssop plant mentioned here, but as it was used on this occasion almost like a paintbrush, and in the levitical purification rituals for sprinkling, it does suggest that the plant was able to hold moisture. For this reason some have suggested that the plant Origanum syriacum, (Syrian hyssop) seems the most likely candidate. This is the one I decided to use in the picture.
The little girl is not happy as the lamb whom she had cared for during the last four days has been slain. (Ex 12:3-7) The mother too is holding back the tears and is being comforted by her little son. This is a reminder of the awful consequences of sin and the necessity of a blood sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Hebrews 9:22

Picture 12 shows the death of the firstborn. It's not long past midnight and the lifeless body of Thutmose lies in the lap of his mother. Moses and Aaron have been told to take the Israelites and leave Egypt. Various bottles of lotions and potions are scattered around the floor that were used in a vain attempt to revive the young boy. Picture 13 shows the children of Israel nearing the end of their 25 mile journey from Rameses to Succoth. This journey began in the night and would have taken around 5 hours. The sun is just starting to rise over the sea of Israelites who by conservative estimates were around 2 million in number! Moses is leading them and he is surrounded by excited children. One boy to the right of Moses is carrying a kneading trough which holds a lump of unleavened dough partly covered by a damp cloth. The girl to the left of Moses is the same girl from picture 11. She's not sad anymore though. she's wearing a beautiful golden Egyptian necklace which is part of the bounty of Gold, silver and clothing given to the children of Israel by the Egyptians. She is walking along pretending to be an Egyptian princess with a bulrush head in her hand. The death and shed blood of her little lamb which she mourned so deeply for has both secured her freedom from captivity and provided her with a new garment to wear also! These are all significant illustrations of the Gospel.

Picture 14 (above left) shows the Egyptian chariots pouring forth from Egypt in hot pursuit of the Israelites! Incidentally, the wheels of Egyptian chariots had six spokes, not four as is sometimes suggested. Picture 15 depicts the parting of the Red Sea which we've talked about in more detail here. Picture 16 shows the nation of Israel passing through the sea on dry land. The scene is flooded with light from the pillar of fire and cloud. As the people pass through the deepest part of the sea some of them have lit torches. In the far distance you can just make out the crowds coming up onto the opposite shore bathed in moonlight. Picture 17 shows the Egyptian chariots charging into the divided waters. Pharaoh's chariot however is perched on a rock overlooking the scene as Amenhotep II later returned to Egypt, without his army, to reign for a few more years. The chariots are being driven into a dense black cloud and chariot wheels are starting to break off. The pillar of dark cloud which is holding back the Egyptians is struggling to conceal the brilliance of the Shekinah fire on the opposite side which is providing light to the Israelites. Towards the top of the pillar shafts of blinding light are piercing through the cloud like volcanic lightning! Just behind the pillar of cloud you can see that the opposite shore is lit by the Shekinah fire.

The final picture shows the water crashing down onto the Egyptian chariots! As soon as this set is uploaded to the Bible picture website
I will add a link so that you can view all the pictures.
© G D Kennedy 2010

Moses in the Bulrushes

2010-05-30T14:18:00.006+01:00

Recently finished the picture set retelling the story of 'Moses in the Bulrushes'. Picture one shows the Israelites hard at work under their Egyptian task masters. I wanted to include in this picture some of the ancient Egyptian building methods such as the splitting of rocks using wooden wedges and water, and the methods used to transport the huge stone blocks. Picture two shows the midwifes before Pharaoh. Picture 3 (right) shows Jochebed placing baby Moses into the bulrushes. I talk more about egyptian bulrushes here. Jochebed is holding back the tears as she places Moses into the providential care of God. Miriam places a comforting hand on her mothers shoulder. Aaron was 3 years old at this time, (Exodus 7:7), and other sources place miriam at around seven years old. There seems to be some confusion amongst Bible illustrators concerning the age difference between Moses and Aaron, particularly later on in the story when they stand before Pharaoh (which I'm illustrating at the moment). Some children's Bibles show Aaron to be much younger than Moses, and in one I own he's about 40 years older! So, just to clarify this, around the time of the ten plagues Moses was 80, and Aaron was 83 years old. I show Aaron with a slightly more receding hairline!

In picture 4 baby Moses is found by the egyptian princess. I've mentioned before that baby Moses was crying at this point which few artists show. Are there any other points that artists should be aware of concerning baby Moses? Yes, he was a fine looking baby! (Exodus 2:2) If you look closely at picture 4 you can also see Miriam hiding in the bulrushes! In picture 5 Miriam is speaking to the princess, and in picture 6 Jochebed and Miriam come to take baby Moses into their care. Jochebed is walking away, with her back to the princess trying to hide her delight, and Miriam is looking up at her mum, daring not to speak, but with a "we got away with it!" look on her face. In picture 7, Jochebed presents a young toddler Moses to the princess. Moses has brought a little gift for the princess - not a flower, but a bulrush head as a reminder of when she first found him. (that's not in the Bible by the way, it's artist's license!) Picture 8 shows Moses, now a young man, enjoying the privileges of living in the grand Egyptian palace.

There are 8 pictures in this set which brings our total picture count to 840. Look forward to your comments as always.

Related posts
Baby in a Basket

Balage Balogh: Merging Art and Archaeology

2010-05-08T17:02:00.022+01:00

One of the many tasks of the Bible artist is to recreate the ancient civilizations of Bible times. In our attempts to accurately portray scenes which are set in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Israel, Assyria or Rome etc, we utilize all the latest archaeological evidence available to us. We have often discussed the question "How important is it to add lots of historical detail into our Bible pictures?" The consensus was, that so long as it doesn't slow us down too much, (as we sometimes have many pictures to illustrate in one story), adding well researched historical details does help to make a scene that bit more convincing. I'm not saying that we need to go to the same lengths as Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema as he sought to "bring antiquity back to life," but I think that we should try, to the best of our abilities, to present each story in its correct setting.

Having said that, for a small number of Bible artists it's immensely important that all historical details are absolutely accurate! These are the Bible artists whose job it is to illustrate Study Bibles, and of course those very helpful illustrated Bible Encyclopedias and dictionaries that we use. These artists have the great privilege of working alongside Bible scholars, Archaeologists and Archaeological Architects like Dr Leen Ritmeyer, all experts in their respective fields. One such artist, Balage Balogh, contacted me a few weeks ago, and gave me permission to share some of his wonderful artwork on the B.I.B.

Balage, was born in Budapest, Hungary and attended art school there. As an immigrant he settled in New York before traveling extensively in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Orient. Balage has worked for many years with archaeologists, scholars and museums creating archaeological reconstructions, and shares our passion for Bible Art! He was excited to find "a community of Bible artists who hang out together on the B.I.B", and is looking forward to joining with us as we discuss the various issues surrounding Bible illustration. You can see more of Balage's Bible art at his website, but before you rush off there, check out the samples below. Enjoy!

King David's balcony 10thcBCJosiahNebuchadnezar's palaceNehemiahSolomon's Temple
All pictures on this post are © Balage Balogh 2010

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T00:44:00.009+01:00

Happy Easter to all our readers!
The picture (right) is taken from our picture set which depicts 'The Resurrection'. Although the setting of this picture is fairly dark, you can still make out the chalk and water whitewash that was used on tomb exteriors in Israel.
I talk more about this in the
'Raising Lazarus' post.

Below is a short poem titled 'Easter Day' written by missionary to India, Amy Carmichael. Hope you like it.

Easter Day

The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Lord Christ of Easter Day, Christ the victorious,
On this most radiant of all radiant days,
Thee do we worship, Redeemer, all-glorious,
Offer Thee hearts' adoration and praise.

Sealed was the stone, and the rock did enfold Him,
There in the silence of moonlight and stars,
Till the hour struck; then the tomb could not hold Him,
Snapped like a straw death's omnipotent bars.

Evil may triumph to-day, but To-morrow,
Seeth the end of satanical strife.
Fear not and falter not; sin pain and sorrow
Fall when He cometh, the Christ, Prince of Life.

Sound the word over the land and the waters,
Let it sound over the air once again;
Christ hath arisen. His sons and His daughters,
Lift up your heads, for He cometh to reign.

Taken from the book 'Edges of His Ways'. Amy Carmichael was the founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship.

Classic Bible Stories

2010-03-06T15:24:00.015Z

When I first wrote about the Bible art of Frank Hampson I received emails from a number of people all asking if I knew where they could obtain a copy of 'Jesus: The Road of Courage' from. My answer was always the same, "Sorry, copies are very hard to find." That was the case up until now!
A few weeks ago, John Freeman, who works for Titan books, left a blog comment on the Frank Hampson post informing readers that, at the end of this month (March), Titan books will be releasing 'Classic Bible Stories' which combines both 'Jesus: The Road of Courage' and 'Mark: The youngest Disciple'. John says that "Both strips have been scanned from good quality issues of Eagle.......the collection will also include Hampson's beautiful Nativity illustration from the 1957 Eagle Annual".

(Before you rush to order a copy, you might want to read the Update/Review below). I haven't seen any of the artwork from 'Mark: The youngest Disciple' as yet, or Hampson's Nativity art, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this new book.
For me, the visual interpretation of Jesus, (see cover) is my only complaint. Some of Hampson's character designs look very 'British' and his interpretation of Jesus would perhaps fit better in a 'Robin Hood' graphic novel than in one based on the New Testament. Having said that, most of his other character designs are superb!
if it's dynamic, lavishly illustrated Bible artwork you're looking for, it doesn't get better than this! Does anyone know if Hampson illustrated any of the Old Testament stories for Eagle comic?

Update/Review:12 March 2010
Just received my copy of 'Classic Bible stories' and I have to say I'm disappointed. I need to quickly clear up a couple of misleading comments in the post above. Firstly, I was led to believe, by John Freemans's post comment, that there was additional Frank Hampson artwork, based on the Nativity, that had been included in this book. There isn't! The 'Road of courage' already includes the Nativity story, which I should have realized!
Secondly, you will notice on the book cover above, which appears on Amazon, the name 'Frank Hampson'. Well, that name doesn't appear on the cover of the actual book, and there's a good reason why it doesn't. The story of 'Mark: The youngest disciple' isn't illustrated by Hampson! It's illustrated by Giorgio Bellavitis. While Bellavitis' work is pleasant, it's not in the same league as Hampson's. So, if you're a Hampson fan, and you already own a copy of 'The Road of Courage' and you were hoping to find some new Hampson Bible Art in this book, (as I was), you will be disappointed.

That wasn't what disappointed me most about the book though. The worst thing about this book is the print quality. My copy of 'The Road of Courage' published by 'Dragon's Dream' was printed 29 years ago in the Netherlands and it's superb! All Hampson's fine line work and his subtle color work is all there to be admired. In this new version however, the fine black line work has filled in to a solid black and the subtle colors are harsh or bleached out! I'm not sure if it's the scanning or the printing, or both, that's at fault, but whoever O.K.'d the printing proofs was not a Hampson fan! I would certainly not have passed them!
The question remains, "If you don't already own a copy of 'The Road of Courage', should you buy this one?" I hate to say no but, If you really want to appreciate Hampson's Bible art, then you need to see an earlier version! If this book was produced for fans of Hampson's art, or the Eagle comic, no expense should have been spared when reproducing the original art.

Traditional Life and Customs in the Holy Land

2010-02-27T14:29:00.012Z

You may remember me commenting some time ago how Bible artists, who travelled to the Holy Land in the late 1800's - early 1900's to gather references for their Bible pictures, were "too heavily influenced by what they saw" and photographed. (See Margaret Tarrant and William Hole). Well, having now seen the newly released collection of photo's titled 'Traditional Life and Customs' available from lifeintheholyland.com, I can now understand the reasons why these artists illustrated exactly what they witnessed! For instance, when you look at how primitive the farming methods recorded in these photos are, it's hard to imagine how they could have changed from Bible times. This collection of picture cd's will be an excellent resource for Bible artists. Many thanks to Professor Todd Bolen for making them available.

The following description is taken from Todd Bolen's website:
Founded in 1881 by Horatio Spafford (author of the famous hymn, It is Well With My Soul), the American Colony in Jerusalem operated a thriving photographic enterprise for almost four decades. Their images document the land and its people, with a special emphasis on biblical and archaeological sites, inspirational scenes, and historic events. One of the photographers, G. Eric Matson, inherited the archive, adding to it his own later work through the “Matson Photo Service.” He eventually donated all the negatives to the U.S. Library of Congress, which has made them available to the public.

This CD includes more than 600 selected photographs of life practices of native people in Palestine in the early 20th century, including scenes of the agricultural cycle, locust plagues, shepherds, fishermen, religious observances, and home life. All of the images are included in pre-made PowerPoint® files for quick and easy use, as well as in high-resolution jpg format, suitable for projecting or printing. Quotations from 19th-century travelers give additional context to the photographs.
Sample picture. (click on picture for larger image).
Amongst other subjects, the collection includes:
Agricultural Life: Plowing, Sowing, Water, Vineyards, Locust Plague, Grain Harvest and Olive Harvest (185 photos total)
Home Life: Food Preparation, Women at Work, and Weddings (100 photos total)
Religious Life: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Samaritan (110 photos total)
Work Life: Clothes Making, Fishing, Pottery Making, Shepherds, Trades, and Travel (150 photos total)

For more information on this excellent collection click here. One final word of advice, artists should still use discretion when using early photos for reference as Arab style clothing will be predominantly seen in photos from this period, and there may be some buildings seen in the photos which show architectural features which were not found in Bible times.

Images © lifeintheholyland.com 2010

The Tower of Babel

2010-02-22T00:04:00.006Z

There are many weird and wonderful interpretations of the Tower of Babel that can be found in both picture books and paintings, so how do we go about finding out what the Tower of Babel actually looked like? The best way to find out is to look at the earliest examples of large-scale buildings found in roughly the same area. These are of course the Ziggurat's of Mesopotamia. Most biblical scholars and archaeologists agree that the Tower of Babel was most likely an early, if not the earliest, form of Ziggurat. Ziggurats were a type of tower which were commonly found in the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian cities of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia means "the land between two rivers" and was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present day Iraq.

The picture above is my drawing of a ziggurat before I added all the people busy in construction. Many Bible artists show the Tower of Babel towering up into the clouds, but the Bible does give the impression that the tower, due to Gods intervention, was left unfinished, as was the city. It's been suggested that the reason why there are no remains of such a sizable structure to be found today is because God frustrated their work in the very early stages.
As I was planning on showing the tower unfinished (at 3 levels), I also needed a way of showing how high the tower was intended to be when finished, (7 levels). The only way that I could think of doing this was to show the people gathered around a plan of the intended tower drawn onto a stretched animal skin, which we see in picture one. (left)

Ziggurats
Ziggurats were huge stepped structures that were 2 to 7 tiers high, and usually found in the centre of a city. On the highest platform a temple was built to worship the various deities of the time. Because ziggurats were considered to be the dwelling place of a particular deity, only priests were permitted on them. The Mesopotamians believed that these ziggurat temples connected heaven and earth. The highest ziggurats went up to 300 feet high, which is equivalent to a 30 story office block today! They were built from mud bricks as there were few trees and little rock to quarry in the area. Unlike todays buildings, ziggurats were solid. The ancient architects did not have the know-how to build tall hollow structures, and so they filled them with earth. They were in effect man-made mountains! This is best seen in picture 3 which is an ariel view of the partly built ziggurat. The fact that ziggurats were solid would do away with the need for scaffolding which you do sometimes see in pictures of the tower of Babel.
Each flat terrace was paved with kiln-baked bricks. Some Bible artists have shown these flat terraces planted up with plants and trees. This is interesting because these ziggurats were like giant planters complete with drainage holes! You can see how the ancient architects later developed the idea of planting up these raised platforms in the hanging gardens of Babylon.The holes which look a little like windows in the walls of the ziggurat were there to allow water trapped inside to evaporate. The British archaeologist Leonard Woolley (1880-1969), who was well known for his excavations of the ziggurat at Ur, called these holes 'Weeper holes'.

Ziggurat Bricks
Ziggurats were built with two layers of brick. The inner layer was built of sun-dried bricks, and the outer layer was built of kiln-baked bricks which were less porous. The wooden brick molds seen in picture 2 are loosely based on the Egyptian ones that I've seen in Manchester museum. The bricks that were baked, to make them water resistant, were baked in dome shaped kilns made from, (yes you've guessed it), mud! These kilns had holes in the sides which dry twigs could be fed through to keep the fire going. When the bricks had cooled, they were removed from the dome and ready for use.
Bricks were also glazed in many different colors, I've chosen terra cotta and blue, but other colors were also available such as white and indigo. The temples constructed on the top tier were built entirely out of blue or indigo glazed bricks. The mortar used to hold the bricks together was bitumen (Gen 11:3). This was found in natural pits in Mesopotamia. In the photo on the right you can see a close up of the bricks and bitumen mortar used on the ziggurat at Ur. Bitumen or pitch was also used for other purposes during Bible times such as coating the outside of vessels. (See the Noah's Ark post).

There are 5 pictures in the 'Tower of Babel' set which can be viewed here. This brings our Bible picture count to 832!

New Bible Picture website Launched!

2010-02-14T16:02:00.008Z

Our brand new website is finally live! Click here to visit the new 'Bible Picture website'. You can now view every picture in each picture set, in large format!
We are asking all of our previous 'Visual Impact Resources' customers, (and all new customers), to register on the new 'Foundation Matters' website. Registration only takes a minute to complete, and we can then keep you up-to-date with news of each new picture set as it becomes available.

All of our new picture sets which have been completed over the last two years are now ready to view. We've had one or two teething problems where the thumbnail pictures have jumped out of sequence but don't worry, when you receive each powerpoint all the pictures will be in the correct order!

Those of you who are familiar with the old 'Visual Impact Resources' website will be wondering where all the older picture sets have gone. (We had over 100 Bible stories already illustrated but in a less detailed, or cartoon, style). All these picture sets are still available and will be slowly added back onto the new site under the heading 'Previous Series'. So, if you can't find the story you're looking for, drop a quick email to Jem Hudson.
We wanted to concentrate first of all in getting all the recent pictures, (done over the last two years), onto the web for the first time!

The picture above is from our recently finished picture set which tells the story of 'Abraham and Isaac'.
There are six pictures in this set which brings our total Bible picture count to 827. Don't forget to check out the new website here!

Biblical Art on the WWW

2010-01-30T16:37:00.010Z

I received an email this morning from Rolf Stærk in Norway. Rolf runs the website 'Biblical Art on the WWW'.
After 10 years and around 8,000 hours work on the website, which displays small thumbnail images of biblical art, he has been informed by one of the copyright holders that his website infringes copyright law.

Rolf was not aware of this and is unsure of where he legally stands on the matter. He could use some advice from a copyright lawyer but he's not in a position to pay for one, so if there are any christian copyright lawyers out there who might be willing to give Rolf some advice I'm sure that he would greatly appreciate it.
This is a well used site with 1,500 visitors a day, so it would be a great shame if Rolf was unable to continue. You can contact Rolf here.

Image above from www.artbible.info

How do you draw a 65 year old man?

2010-01-30T00:01:00.011Z

The question above is a little misleading - the question should read "How would you draw a 65 year old man from the early Old Testament period?" (but that was a little too long for a post title!) I was pondering this question as I was illustrating the story of Enoch with his newborn baby Methuselah. The problem is, Enoch, (who was 65 years old), lived for another 300 years after the birth of Methuselah and before God took him. So, how old would Enoch have looked at age 65 bearing in mind that he was going to live another 300 years? I'm just wondering if the aging process at this time was much slower. The Bible tells us that the average life span was much greater up until, and just after, the flood. So, let's say for example that a man lived to be 500 years old. When he died, would his physical appearance have been like that of a typical 100 year old man today? Would this then mean that when he was 250 years old he would have the physical appearance of a 50 year old? And when he was 125 would he have looked like a 25 year old? In other words, could the whole aging process have been much slower? This might explain why so many first children were born to those over 100! For example, Enoch's father Jared was 162 when his first child Enoch was born. Methuselah was 187 when his first child Lamech was born, and Lamech was 182 when his first child Noah was born, etc.

A similar thought arose again last week as I was illustrating the story of 'Abraham and Sarah'. (picture 2 right). We've all heard how, when in Egypt, Abram asked Sarai to pretend to be his sister. Abram's fear was that, because Sarai was so "fair to look upon", If the men in Egypt knew that they were man and wife, they would kill Abram just to be with Sarai. Most Bible artists who have illustrated this scene depict Sarai to be in her twenties, when actually she was 65! Did she look younger though? More surprisingly, when the same thing happened again some time later with King Abimelech, Sarah was in her 90's! Now, I know that many ladies age well, for instance the actress Julie Newmar who played Catwoman in the original Batman TV series still looks amazing at 76, but how many men would kill off the husband of a 90 year old lady just to be with her? This is what was happening with Sarah! Was this because the aging process was slower then? I don't know, it's just a theory! The down side to slow aging would be that parents would have those difficult teenage daughters to cope with for about 30 years! :0p

I doubt that many theologians have lost any sleep over this question but it does have a relevance for Bible artists and illustrators who are seeking to accurately portray biblical events. I decided to depict Enoch looking as a youngish 65 year old man might look today. The reason being that if the pictures are used with children, and the person telling the story mentions Enoch's age, it might be confusing to the child if he looks a lot younger than 65. Drawing Sarah was more of a challenge! Most artists who show Sarah at 90 depict an old lady, but Sarah was still very "fair to look upon!"
Looking forward to your comments on this interesting subject.
There are two pictures in the 'Enoch' set and seven in the 'Abraham and Sarah' set which brings our total Bible picture count to 821.
At the end of this month we will be launching a brand new website! The new website will display every picture done over the last 14 months. as well as all our previous pictures from the old website. As soon as the website goes live I'll pass on the link via this blog. You will also be able to view all the pictures in large format too!

Holocaust Memorial Day

2010-01-27T20:08:00.004Z

Today is 'Holocaust Memorial Day'.

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated internationally on 27th January each year. This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the day in 1945 on which the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp – Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Thanks to everyone who followed the link to the HMD website and lit the virtual candle in memory of those who suffered.

Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009-12-25T23:40:00.005Z

Happy Christmas to all the readers of the Bible illustration blog. I hope that this is a time of Peace and blessing for you.

My apologies that this is a very short post, but it's been a very long day!!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Update: 1 January 2010
Happy New Year!

Guest Bible Artist Interview #6

2009-12-12T19:18:00.009Z

Kelly Kozumi Shinozawa
There's no denying the worldwide appeal of Japan's 'Manga' art form, and, in an attempt to appeal to the younger reader, Bible publishers have been quick to respond to the demand by producing Bible based manga! If you check out the manga forums, out of all the various attempts at biblical manga produced, the fans give the 'thumbs up' to the 'Manga Messiah' series of books. The reason for this might be due to the fact that NEXT, (the publisher), have employed genuine Japanese manga-ka's, (manga artists) to produce all the artwork. NEXT is a non profit corporation that was set up in 2006 for the purpose of producing biblically based manga. Three out of the five books planned in the 'Manga Messiah' series are already available, the fourth, 'Manga Melech' , is in production. The first two books, illustrated by Kozumi Shinozawa cover the New Testament, and the remaining three books, 'Manga Mutiny', ' Manga Melech' and 'Manga Messengers' cover the Old Testament. So far these books have been incredibly popular and NEXT have already produced and distributed over 1.5 million copies worldwide, available in 16 languages!

Due to its popularity, Manga is likely to be playing a big part in Bible story telling for some time to come so the Bible illustration blog wouldn't be complete without an interview with a 'Bible Manga-ka'. Many thanks to Nate Butler of Christian Comics International for putting me in touch with Kozumi Shinozawa, illustrator of the first two books in the 'Manga Messiah' series. The interview follows:

Kozumi, Have you always wanted to be a Manga-ka?
Yes. My mother said I started to draw very well when I was in kindergarten. I loved to draw and I especially loved to imitate Anime characters like Takahashi Rumiko's, who is a very famous Manga-ka in Japan. After I graduated elementary school, I was influenced by Hayao Miyazaki's animations.
At that time, my dream was to become a professional Manga-ka. However I thought it was impossible because I knew that it is very difficult to become a Manga-ka.

When did you first become a professional Manga-ka?
When I was 19 years old, still a college student, I became a Shojo Manga-ka which is a Manga artist for girls.

You mentioned Takahashi Rumiko and Hayao Miyazaki. Have they influenced your style?
I have been a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki and Rumiko Takahashi since I was an elementary school student. I was affected and influenced by their pen touch and story but now, my style has become more personal and my own.

How did you first become interested in the Bible?
Actually, I started to read the bible when I was a child. ( about 10 years old) This is very unusual in Japan because our culture is Buddhist. Commonly, children and adults don't know the bible.
However my father was really interested in Western culture because he used to go to the USA for his business. One day, he suddenly gave me a bible and he said,"all American people know the bible story, perhaps all western people. You should read it and increase your general bible knowledge." His idea was just for my education. Actually I couldn't read the bible because it's a very thick book and looks difficult for children. Finally my father gave me a kind of picture bible, so I could understand almost all the stories in the bible.

Were you excited when you were approached to produce a Manga version of the Bible?
I want to tell you about my father again. When I became professional cartoonist, I was 19 years old, and my father said "Why don't you draw comics for the bible?" I said "I don't want to do it because I just became a shojomanga-ka (a Manga for girls) and shojomanga-kas usually draw pretty girls and handsome boys. I don't want to draw old men with beards".
So many years passed, and I became a Christian when I was 33 years old in NY. When I came back to Japan, I was 35 years old. At that time, my father was terminally ill. I still hadn't started drawing Manga again, when suddenly a Christian publishing company contacted me and told me about a Manga bible project. When I heard that news, I remembered what my father had said 16 years before. I was very surprised and I immediately understood that it was God's work.

God has clearly used your father to guide you to where you are now. We have often discussed the question on the blog "What did Jesus look like?" Was it difficult to arrive at a finished design that everyone was happy with?
Yes... I struggled and suffered thinking about how to describe Jesus. I saw many pictures of Jesus but it didn't give me an answer. I was reading the bible and studying Jewish culture.... I didn't want to draw Jesus like a Caucasian man, however I also didn't want to draw Jesus with a long beard in a typical Jewish rabbi style. Many people gave me advice but it made me confused. There was a lot of debating about his appearance. Finally I decided on a Japanese style because my boss said "Draw a real Japanese manga style all children can understand. I agreed with my boss.

Were there any Bible characters or stories that you found difficult to illustrate, and why?
The crucifixion was the most difficult scene for me. When I drew it, I was moved. It was difficult to draw pages 242 to 268 and I could not stop crying. I felt like that I saw a real crucifixion. I said many times "I am sorry Jesus. Your suffering for all of my sin. I am sorry". I could understand how Jesus suffered on the cross because, at that time I had just lost my father from cancer, and he lost a lot of blood from his mouth and he was suffering badly until he died. For several hours I cried thinking about Jesus on the cross and prayed. All of my experiences gave me the energy for drawing the crucifixion. I believe that it was God's timing for drawing Manga Messiah.

Thanks for sharing that Kozumi. As you were designing all the Bible characters and scenery, how did you go about your research?
Of course I researched bible history and culture very diligently. Actually, I went to Israel to study it. I went to all the places in Israel that are mentioned in the Bible. I took a lot of pictures. You can see my photograph on p.276 of the lake of Galilee in the Garden where Peter received His call. Moreover I used many photos for Manga Messiah and I even processed photos in Manga style.
Finally I chose my characters' hair style and color from Japanese Manga style because my priority was that children should like it. Manga is for children. I wanted to draw so more children would like it. Clothing and buildings I tried to draw realistically.

I believe that most Japanese Manga is produced in black and white. Was there a reason why you added color on this occasion, and did you add the color to the pictures yourself?
Yes, my assistant and I added all the color. It was hard work. Usually Japanese manga is black and white, but I heard foreign children like colored manga. My boss decided to add color; however it was not easy for me. Actually I started drawing it April 2004 and finished it in August 2005. Every day I couldn't sleep very well. We spend a lot of time painting and coloring and it took about 1 year to finish Manga Messiah.

I'm glad that you added the color! Do you have any other Bible related projects in the pipeline?
Last summer I went to Finland for manga mission. The Finnish Bible Society and I joined the comic market, called Fincom, and we sold a lot of Manga Messiah to non Christian people. At that time I did a presentation and drew many pictures in front of people. They liked it. It was a good experience for me.
Recently, I talked to the director of Japan campus crusade for Christ. He asked me to draw "four spiritual laws" in manga style. This is a difficult work because the four spiritual laws doesn't have stories. However I tried to study the four spiritual laws. Finally I made an original story that is easy for people to understand.

I look forward to seeing that. When you started work on the 'Manga Messiah' project were you expecting it to be as successful as it has been?
No. I didn't expect it to be so successful.

What advice would you give to a young person reading this interview who wants to become a Manga-ka or Bible Artist?
If someone wants to draw Manga for Christ, I want to say why don't you come to my office? I really want to talk about what we will do for our God and what kind of Manga God wants to produce with young foreign people. I want to work with God and many people.

Thank you so much Kozumi for taking the time to speak to us, and I'm sure that many artists will be lining up to come and visit you!
If you would like to contact Kozumi, (or Kelly), you can visit her blog here.
There is also a wonderful filmed interview with Kozumi (which is sub-titled for English readers) made by Harvest Internet TV in Japan. The interview shows Kozumi at work in her studio and includes her moving testimony. To view the movie Click here.
Look forward to your comments!

All pictures © NEXT 2009. Used with kind permission.

Happy Hanukkah!

2009-12-11T09:34:00.003Z

Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish readers!

My apologies that things have been quiet on the blog. This has been due to me having extra responsibilities recently looking after elderly relatives. This has meant that I've had no spare time to blog! However, I now have about seven posts ready to type up when I get a minute, (hopefully this weekend), so watch this space! My apologies also for being slow in answering your emails and comments on the blog. I will get around to this! Thanks for your patience.

Biblical Illustrator Magazine

2009-10-20T00:37:00.014+01:00

Have you had a look along the shelfs of your local newsagents shop recently?
It's amazing just how many different topics are covered by magazines nowadays. There seems to be a magazine for literally every taste!
I was very excited last week when I came across 'Biblical illustrator' magazine!
My first thoughts were "Wow! They've brought out a magazine for Bible illustrators!" However, on closer inspection, I realized that 'Biblical illustrator magazine' is not actually intended for Bible illustrators, It's for anyone interested in Bible study. (Which is just as well as there are not that many Bible illustrators around!) Having said that, It is most likely a great magazine for Bible illustrators.
'Biblical Illustrator' Magazine, (which has been in existence since 1974), is available quarterly and contains "vivid portraits of Bible lands, people and customs. Maps, and breathtaking color photos!" The magazine is published by Lifeway, and also includes "well-researched articles related to Lifeway Sunday School lessons".

See some sample articles in pdf format here, and here.
This looks like a really interesting magazine! Also available is 'Biblical illustrator plus' which is a CD-ROM "that provides content identical to the magazine, plus quick access to more than 200 pages of study material and much more".
I'm ordering my copy now!

Bibleartist.com update!

2009-10-11T22:43:00.003+01:00

I've just updated Bibleartist.com with some new photos under the post title 'Carpenters and Shepherds'.
After much thought, I have decided to change the focus of Bibleartist.com from being a blog that contains picture references of everything Bible related, to a blog that contains purely Bible costume and figure reference. My reason for this is that there are already a number of good websites that contain a large collection of picture references relating to Bible times buildings, animals, plants, tools etc, (see right hand column), but not many that contain good costume or figure references.
The new photos were taken by a relative of Bible artist Graeme Hewitson while visiting the 'Nazareth Village Project'. Many thanks again Graeme!

Graeme Hewitson has recently set up Eikon Bible Art in conjunction with Ritchie Christian Media, so we wish him all the best with this new venture!

Eastern Coin Headdresses

2009-09-27T12:54:00.008+01:00

There was an interesting comment left by 'OneGod' on 'The Lost Coin' post that I thought I would share with you.

Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?
Luke 5:8

“This little bit of silver must have been one of the coins which Jewish, and indeed other Eastern women, sew on to their head-dresses.
Decent women were not seen, even much at home, without these snoods, which is why the loosened hair of the woman, or women, at the Master’s feet is noted.
There were no bank accounts or post-office savings banks for women in those days; their economic earnings were very small.
Till lately, Chinese women put any little bit of money which came their way into buying a silver bangle, or a thin sheet of gold-leaf worn in a bag within their bosoms.
In Judea, a bride came to her husband with at least ten silver coins sewn round her head-band, and often more: and her husband knew just how many there were, for he could see them.
They belonged to him, as she did, although the Law did not allow his creditors to seize these personal coins on his wife’s head.
In fact, a crafty might give his wife many such coins, yet owe much to a creditor, which was very annoying to the latter.
Nevertheless, woe betide the woman who lost her coins: her husband immediately suspected her of a wrong use of them; and the laws of divorce in the Master’s day were so heavily loaded against the wife that a man might divorce his wife if but one of those marital coins was missing from her headgear.
That was why that woman in the Master’s sharply drawn tale of sweeping so desperately; taking broom and candle in an agony of dismay.
She was sweeping, not only for a bit of metal, but for home and shelter and respectability; for her right to a safe and honorable place in society, perhaps even for her right to her children.” – Lady Hoise, in Peloubet’s Select Notes on the International Bible Lessons 1956.

The pictures above are taken from the 'Great Bible Discovery' series. © OM Publishing. Speaking of the 'Great Bible Discovery' series, I had an email a couple of days ago from Stefan Koelewijn in the Netherlands who has now reduced his collection of books to €5 each! Click here For more details.

Pictures of Noah's Ark

2009-09-26T10:04:00.018+01:00

The picture set of Noah's Ark is finished. There are 17 pictures in this set which is why it's taken so long to complete! I am indebted to all the model makers, (who I link to in the 'Bible Models' link list), who have spent many hours building replica models of Noah's Ark. I have used both interior and exterior photos of these excellent models for reference.

I have tried to include scenes from the Biblical account of Noah that you don't normally see illustrated in children's Bibles such as the arrival of the animals in picture 4, (above). It was suggested in one article that I read that, during the 100 or so years that it took Noah to build the Ark, that Noah purchased all the animals from passing merchants. But, Gen 6:20 does suggest that the arrival of the animals was a divinely orchestrated event. I wanted to try to capture the fear and awe of those who witnessed the arrival of this 'Supernatural Tsunami' of animals as they silently approached the ark. My inspiration for this picture came from the wonderful painting below titled 'Noah's Ark' © Haruo Takino.

Picture 5 shows the animals entering the ark. included in this picture is a flock of sheep. This is to point out that only the unclean animals went into the ark in pairs. The clean animals, (and birds), such as sheep, oxen, quail etc which were used for sacrifice, breeding and food, entered the ark in sevens. Rapid multiplication of these breeds was of the highest importance! Some commentators suggest that there were six for breeding and one for the sacrifice to God, which took place in Gen 8:20. Some translations say that every type of clean animal went into the ark in pairs of seven, (14 of each). Maybe our readers who are fluent in Hebrew can shed some light on this one?
Also in this picture we see that the ark is covered in pitch. For some reason, we rarely see depictions of Noah's ark covered with pitch. We mentioned in the 'Baby in a Basket' post that the basket which held baby Moses is also rarely shown to be covered in pitch. I think that the reasons for this might be the same; It just doesn't look nice! This is probably the reason why model makers never cover their models of Noah's ark with pitch. In picture 6, which is an interior view showing the door of the ark being shut by God, we can see all the animal hoof and paw prints in the pitch that overlaps into the doorway of the ark.
In picture 3, (right), we see the arks interior as Noah's sons and daughter-in-laws load the supplies. The early narrow bottomed jars that would not stand in a swaying boat are hanging by ropes along with the oil lamps and the ingenious ceramic water feeders believed to have originated from this period.

In picture two, Noah is preaching. It may be a surprise to some readers to find out that both the preaching by Noah, (that we have often heard about in Sunday school), and the subsequent rejection of his message by the jeering crowd, is not recorded in the Old Testament! We only know that Noah was a 'preacher of righteousness' from 2 Peter 2:5. If we were being faithful to the Old Testament account, we would not include a picture of Noah preaching to a jeering mob! I came across a website where this was the subject of discussion. This discussion does have a bearing on how we should illustrate this story. Do we show Noah preaching at all? Did Noah only preach before or during the arks construction?

One person suggested that Noah stopped preaching at the point where God told him to build the ark. The reason given was "If you read Genesis chapter 6 carefully, you'll see that 3 times God says he is going to destroy man, plus the rest of creation (verses 7, 13 & 17). In other words, He had already passed judgement so it was now too late for any one else to repent. Then in v18, He tells Noah about the covenant He is going to establish but it's only for him and his immediate family". It is hard to imagine though, that there were not those who questioned Noah during the building of the ark as to why he was building it, and even harder to imagine that Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness, was not compelled to give them an answer, (or in effect preach!) Whatever our thoughts are on Election or Predestination, the preaching does not stop. Also, experts on the ark tell us that the ark was not full to capacity, so there was still room.

During this discussion someone else commented ...according to Hebrews 11:7, Noah built the ark for his family, not for the whole world. Yes, he condemned the world, and he did preach (2Pet 2:5). But his preaching was not to get into the ark. IF THEY HAD REPENTED, THEN GOD WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO DESTROY THEM. Remember Nineveh was spared when repented?"
The problem with this argument is that Peter mentions the ark, (in 2 Peter 2:5), when speaking about the certainty of God's judgement. Unlike Ninevah, God's judgement was certain, and the ark was the only way of escape! This is why we believe that Noah's Ark is a type of Christ. Just as in Noah's day, the only way to escape God's certain judgement (the flood) was to enter through the only door into the ark, the only way that we can escape from the certain coming judgement of God on our sin and rebellion against Him is to turn away from our sins (repent), and enter into Christ, which we do by faith in Him as the 'Perfect Lamb' sacrificed for the sins of the world. (John 3:16). Jesus said "I am the door. by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9).

This set brings our total Bible picture count to 812! (All of our more recent Bible picture sets will be available soon at the Bible Picture website).
As always, your comments are welcome!

L'Shana Tova!

2009-09-19T16:07:00.005+01:00

Rosh Hashanah, (the Feast of Trumpets), began last night, so I would like to wish all our Jewish readers "L'Shana Tova" (Happy New Year), and a "Hag Sameah" (Happy Holiday) as we enter into the Hebrew year 5770.

During the next three weeks there are a number of important Holy days on the Jewish calendar including Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). To read more about these feasts check out Leviticus 23:23-44.

Book and DVD Review

2009-08-16T14:38:00.017+01:00

It's been a while since we reviewed any books on the B.I.B. and I recently came across this little gem of a book titled 'Illustrated Dictionary of Bible Manners and Customs' available from Amazon and published in 1982 by Poplar books. (Don't be put off by the plain cover!)

There are many illustrated Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias available on the market today, (many of which are quite expensive), and yet most of them are not as visually informative to the Bible artist as this little book is! Each spread contains one page of text and one facing page of black and white line illustrations, many of which are drawn from ancient artifacts. This is a 128 page book with 59 pages of illustrations. The subjects covered are too many to list but they include Towers Fortresses and Houses, Meals, Pottery, Tools, Musical instruments, Weapons, Agriculture, Hunting and Fishing, Clothing, Means of Transport, Coins, Trees , plants, Animals, Altars and Temples, River crafts and ships, Bread making, the list goes on! Black and white drawings can be much better for reference than photos, especially when it comes to items like coins where detail is important. A great little book and well worth the money!
You may remember that we were discussing how to draw the fence which surrounded the Tabernacle here. Well this little book has it absolutely right! There is no mention of who the illustrator is, which is often the case with books like this, although the book jacket designer does get a mention!

If you have found a particular illustrated Bible Dictionary or encyclopedia very helpful, don't forget to share it with us!

I also recently came across an interesting DVD available here from 'Lamb and Lion Ministries' which looks like it could be very helpful too for those involved in Bible illustration. The description on the website says:
This album contains four very fascinating teachings about life in Bible times, all filmed on location in Israel at the Bible Times Learning Center.
The first program, entitled "Nomadic Living," illustrates how nomadic people like Abraham lived in Bible times. It will give you insights into the stories of Abraham & Sarah and Ruth & Boaz.
The second program focuses on the last supper that Jesus had with His disciples. It contrasts what the actual supper was like as opposed to its portrayal in the famous painting by Leonardo DaVinci.
The third program is about First Century crucifixion techniques. It will give you some valuable insights concerning the torture that Jesus experienced at the hands of the Romans.
The final program concerns burial customs. In addition to footage shot at the Bible Times Learning Center, it includes a visit to the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem.
Format: DVD. 75 minutes.

If anyone has this DVD maybe you can give us a short review in the comments section!

Other helpful books:
The Quest
The Nazareth Jesus Knew
The Splendor of the Temple
The World Jesus knew

Drawing Adam and Eve

2009-07-26T15:37:00.011+01:00

My apologies for not posting for a while. some of you know that my wife Alison, who has had a chronic illness for over 20 years, has been experiencing a severe relapse over the last 3 months. Also our grandson is recovering from the Swine flu, so it's been a tough time. (We would appreciate your prayers).

I am just coming to the end of illustrating Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve disobey. There are ten pictures in this set. (Number 4 is pictured above). I'm still looking into how best to depict the Cherubim guarding the Tree of life for the last picture. We have looked in the past, (although very briefly), at how we should depict cherubs in the 'Drawing Cherubs' post, but I would like to do a more detailed post on this soon. I recently came across the only picture that I've ever seen that depicts the two cherubs on the Ark of the Covenant with four wings and four faces as described in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10. This picture appeared in 'Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible.' This 7,600 page work was first published in Latin in 1707!
Is it unrealistic to want to know what the cherubim actually looked like? Could we ever know for sure? The only way that we can know for sure is when the 'Ark of the Covenant' is recovered, as two 'Divinely inspired' ones are on the Mercy Seat!

I've made sure that Adam and Eve are obscured by lots of plants in this set as this has been a criticism of some of my earlier versions of the Adam and Eve account. I like the cartoon by 'Answers in Genesis' cartoonist Dan Lietha which I'm sure every Bible artist will relate to when depicting Adam and Eve. The caption says:
"Drawing lots of plants is the key for presenting 'pre-fall world' art to a 'post-fall world' audience!" Check out the cartoon here.
'The Bible Eden' illustrated by Scott Hampton is an 'Adult' version of the Adam and Eve account which leaves nothing to the imagination! The fact that this 'graphic' novel was originally produced for Penthouse magazine proves the point that Dan Lietha makes which is that we no longer view nakedness through truly innocent eyes!
If anyone has any further comments to make on the 'Did Adam and Eve have a belly button?' post, now would be a good time to comment! I obscured the belly buttons just in case! ;0)

This set of pictures along with our recently done Children's Bible pictures brings our total Bible picture count to 795. Looking forward to your comments.

Bible Art Exhibition in Australia

2009-07-05T13:03:00.019+01:00

A regular contributor to the Bible illustration blog Nahum HaLevi has an exhibition of his Bible Art which opens today at the Jewish Museum of Australia in Melbourne.

The exhibition is titled 'Scintillating Songlines from Sinai' and will be on from July 5th - August 2nd.
If you can get down to the exhibition today, you will have the chance to meet the artist himself who has traveled all the way to Australia for the opening. Hope the exhibition goes well Nahum!

We do have readers of the blog in Melbourne, so this will be a great opportunity for them to view Nahum's Art in person.
(My apologies for not posting this earlier, but things have been hectic here!)

I've just noticed another exhibition that will also be worth a visit, also being held at the Jewish Museum of Australia. 'Superheros & Schlemiels: Jews and Comic Art'. We got around to discussing the Jewish roots of Superman on the 'Was Samson Muscular?' post.
The exhibition features reproduction and original works by Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Art Spiegelman and Joe Kubert. It was Joe Kubert who put together DC comic's 'Stories from the Bible' with the help of Carmine Infantino and the late Nestor Redondo.

If you do manage to visit the exhibition, don't forget to mention to the curator, (Sandra Khazam), that you saw it advertised on the Bible illustration blog!

Crossing the Red Sea

2009-06-22T00:51:00.008+01:00

The pictures for our children's Bible are finally finished! So, I am now moving onto the Bible pictures for NTM. This is an exciting project and one that I've been looking forward to starting.

The last picture needed to finish our children's Bible was the 'Parting of the Red Sea', (shown left). While doing some research for this picture I came across a scholarly article which stated that there was a full moon during this event which would have provided enough light for the children of Israel to see while crossing over the seabed. However, the biblical text clearly points out that it was the pillar of fire, not the moon, that lit the path for the Israelites. I made the mistake in the past of stating on the blog that only the pillar of fire was present at this event because the pillar of cloud guided the Israelites during the day and the pillar of fire guided them at night. However, on a closer inspection of the text it appears that both the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud were there at this event. The pillar of fire provided the light, as we've already said, and the pillar of cloud was there to confuse the pursuing Egyptians.

Anyone who grew up in the UK during the late sixties-early seventies will remember the awful fogs!
During the daytime, when the fog was really bad, you could literally not see anything! Other people, buildings, cars, street signs etc, only became visible when they were just a couple of feet away! As you can imagine, it was much quicker and safer to walk than it was to drive a car in these conditions. At night the fog was orange because of the street lights. I never experienced fog in complete darkness, but I imagine it was very disorientating! This must have been the experience of the pursuing Egyptian army. In these conditions it was very likely that the Egyptian chariots drove straight into the walls of water on each side thus toppling the chariots and causing an eventual pileup!

Although I have shown the full moon, the more dominating light source is coming from behind the viewer, from the pillar of fire. The shadow of Moses is being cast onto the dividing waters. I originally did a yellow glow coming from the pillar of fire but, the more I thought about this, the more I thought that the pure fire of the Shekinah Glory would give off a pure white light. What are your thoughts on this?
As always, your comments are welcome.

Update: 4th July 2009
Just had an interesting comment from 'Patrick' in Japan who points out that Exodus 14:21-22 says that: "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and YHWH drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea into dry ground, and the water was split. And the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters were for them a wall on their right hand and on their left."
Patrick concludes that "if God drove the sea by an eastern wind surely the sea should have started to part from the opposite direction (contrary to Cecil B. DeMille's idea of it), since the Israelites are going from the west eastward?
This is a very good point. Fortunately, as I'm working digitally now, this is an easy thing to change. Many thanks for pointing this out Patrick. When I come to illustrating the full story for the 'Bible picture website' I will make the necessary changes.

Satellite Bible Pictures?

2009-06-09T12:02:00.008+01:00

While I was doing some research in connection with the last picture for our children's Bible, which is the 'Crossing of the Red Sea', I came across an interesting online article titled 'The Bible according to Google Earth' on the 'Creative Review' blog.

Have no ever wondered what all the well known biblical events would have looked like if photographed from space? Er....no, probably not! But, if for some strange reason you had, wonder no longer, because a creative company called the 'Glue Society' based in Sydney, Australia has produced a set of pictures showing what these biblical events might have looked like if photographed at the time by satellite.

A pointless exercise? The Glue Society's James Dive's comments as to why they produced the pictures are revealing. I'll let you decide.
Picture © The Glue Society 2007

Your Favorite Children's Bible!

2009-06-07T13:59:00.013+01:00

I received a very nice email a few weeks ago from Grant and Tara in New Zealand. Tara asked if I was familiar with the work of Herbert Rudeen who illustrated the 10 volume set of the Bible story by Arthur S. Maxwell. I have tried to get hold of this set in the past but most of them are on sale in the U.S. and so the postage, on 10 volumes, makes them expensive! From what I've seen though the illustrations are very nice. I will comment more if I can get hold of a set.

Tara also asked the question "what would be your top children's Bible for authentic pictures?"
This is a very good question, and one which I thought I would throw open to readers of the blog. It's not so easy to pick one children's Bible as 'The Most Authentic' so I would probably select a top five! I'm not sure if the Bible pictures by Elsie Anna Wood have appeared in a children's Bible as yet, although I have it on good authority that one is in the pipeline. That would certainly appear in my top five, as would the 'Copping Bible' illustrated by Harold Copping. I would also include 'The Testimony', which is the 3 volume children's Bible in Hebrew illustrated by Diana Shimon. Diana spent over fifteen years researching this one! I would also include the 24 volume 'Great Bible Discovery Series' in my top five although technically you wouldn't really class it as a children's Bible, being 24 volumes in size. That leaves me with one more choice for my top five, but I would like more time to think about this, also I want to look at some of your suggestions too!

Grant and Tara's choice was the 'The Children's Bible Story Book' (pictured bottom left) illustrated by José Pérez Montero. José Pérez Montero is also one of my favorite Bible illustrators too, and I have intended adding him to my Favorite Bible artist list for some time only, up until very recently, there has been very little information about him on the net, and even now there's still not enough for a decent article. Montero also has a nice cartoon style too, but I wouldn't say that his Bible pictures were the most researched or historically accurate.

I'm pretty sure that there are many other children's Bibles out there that I've never seen, and so I would like to ask the readers of the blog the same question:
Which children's bible do you consider contains the most historically accurate pictures? Or, if you prefer, Which is your favorite children's Bible?"
Looking forward to reading your comments!

David Spares Saul, again!

2009-06-05T01:30:00.016+01:00

A few years ago I drew a picture of King Saul asleep in a cave, while David, who was hiding in the same cave with his men, cut off the corner of Saul's cloak while he slept. I'm not the only Bible artist who has depicted this scene in this way. I've seen a number of pictures like this over the years by different artists. (See samples 1, 2.)
So what did we all do wrong? Well, we all got our Bible stories mixed up! In 1 Samuel 24, Saul didn't go into the cave to sleep, he went in to use the toilet! This is probably why we don't see that many pictures depicting this scene, although Annie Vallotton managed to illustrate this scene both accurately and discreetly.

Mistakes like this stem from the fact that there are a number of Bible stories which are very similar, but not the same. This is another reason why we need to read each story very carefully before illustrating it! The picture above is from a very similar story when King Saul was again hunting down David. It's found in 1 Samuel 26. In this story David and Abishai go down into Saul's camp at night and they take Saul's spear and water jug from his side while he sleeps. Abishai wants to kill Saul with his spear while they have the chance, but David will not allow him to because Saul had been appointed by God.

The best way that David could show Saul that he meant him no harm was by taking Saul's belongings from his side while he slept. This clearly displayed to Saul that David could easily have killed him if he had wanted to. Just as David had done previously in 1 Samuel 24 when he cut off the corner of Saul's cloak. I've drawn Saul's bodyguard Abner soundly snoring in the foreground.
As always, all comments welcome!

Bible pictures of Esther

2009-05-31T12:47:00.006+01:00

On the right is a recently finished picture of Esther for our up-coming children's Bible. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was so impressed to read how Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema would visit the British Museum to sketch Egyptian artifacts to include in his Bible pictures, that I decided to visit the British Museum website myself! All the ornate golden cups, the ceramic pot and the golden jug in the picture are based on actual ancient Persian artifacts which are on display at the British museum.

I was amazed, when researching the Persian army, to find how ornate their uniforms were. They wore highly patterned tunics and trousers which you can see on the soldier in the background. I would hate to illustrate a Persian battle scene! There has been some criticism of the depiction of these Persian soldiers in the movie '300' but apart from the silver masks, they were not far out. I would have to say though that the depiction of King Xerxes was way off! We have ancient carvings of King Xerxes in the ruins of Persepolis that give us some idea of what Xerxes looked like.

In the picture, Esther is pointing an accusing finger at Haman, identifying him as the evil schemer plotting to destroy her people. The story of Esther, (the events of which took place around 483-471 B.C.) is still remembered and celebrated today in the Jewish holiday of Purim. It's a fun time when all the children dress up as characters from the story.

I attended a presentation last Sunday evening, held at Mills Hill Baptist church, on all of the Jewish feasts. This has been a fascinating study held over four weeks. The presentation was given by a Jewish friend of mine, and he mentioned last Sunday, in passing, that although God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, in the Hebrew scrolls of Esther all the names of God can be found written vertically or diagonally, in the same way that we find words hidden in a word-search!

There's a timely reminder in the story of Esther for our world leaders today, and it is this; There are consequences when meddling in the affairs of Israel!
My attention was drawn this week to Zechariah chapter 12 and particularly verse 10.

Children's International Bible Art Competition

2009-05-21T23:25:00.009+01:00

I've been in discussion with Randolph Capp from the United Bible Societies about the possibility of jointly running an 'International Bible Art Competition' for children. The idea is to encourage the Bible artists of the future!

The competition would be open to children of all ages and from all countries, and would be judged by an international panel of Bible artists. We have not as yet discussed this in detail so I don't know what the prizes might include, or how many age groups the competition could be divided into. The brief would probably be:
"Draw a Bible picture based on any story in the Bible, and include a brief description".

I would also like any Bible Artists who would be willing to be on the international panel of judges to contact me. This is in the very early stages and so it may or may not materialize. If you have any ideas or suggestions about how the competition might work, or what the prizes could be, let me know, and I will forward your emails on to Randolph.
Many thanks.

Picture © Natalie Thrall 2009

Attention all illustrators!

2009-05-17T13:39:00.004+01:00

I had an email a couple of days ago from Bible Artist Keith Neely. Keith informs me that he has three filing cabinets filled with magazine pictures that he's been collecting for over 30 years that he is willing to give away to anyone interested! Keith explained that because all of his work is now Bible related, and due to the fact that he is approaching semi-retirement, he no longer has use for them.
Keith, quite rightly, doesn't want this collection to go to waste as it is a gold mine for any illustrator.

Just in case you are thinking that three filing cabinets full of magazine pictures doesn't sound very interesting, let me explain to you exactly what this collection is.
In his email, Keith used the term 'Scrap files' which I presume is the American name for a collection like this. In the UK we have the much grander term of 'Artists reference files'. I was going to liken artists reference files to 'Google Images' but it would be more accurate to liken them to your own personal library of 'Stock photography'.
Before the internet came into existence, many artists built up a collection of pictures to use for reference. They might be photos of mountains from National Geographic, or Pyramids from a travel brochure. These collections contained pictures of literally everything, which is why they took so long to collect and why they are never complete!

Not every artist saw the importance of such a collection, but I was fortunate to sit next to an artist back in 1976 who did. Mike Barrett had an artists reference system that was second to none! Mike had started his collection back in 1958 and It was contained in two filing cabinets in the office at D. C. Thomsons.
I remember once asking Mike if he had any references of an Italian Policeman as I had to draw one. After a couple of minutes, and with Google like efficiency, Mike produced a neat folder from his filing cabinet titled 'Foreign Police uniforms', and sure enough it contained photos of Italian policemen. That's how good these old reference systems were! It was Mike Barrett who said to me "An artist is only as good as his references!"

I don't believe that the internet has made these collections redundant either as they contain magazine quality pictures, (not low res Jpeg's), and these pictures are never likely to surface on the internet either. Collections like this are becoming very rare because the artists who own them are either already retired, (like Mike), or about to.

Keith lives in Indiana in the U.S. Anyone interested in his collection should email me at g.kennedy3@ntlworld.com and I will pass on your email to Keith.

My favorite Bible artists #9

2009-05-09T23:48:00.008+01:00

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1836-1912
I recently came across some amazing Bible paintings by Dutch born Victorian artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Although Alma-Tedema is best known for recreating historical scenes from ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt, he also painted a small number of pictures depicting scenes from the Bible like the one above titled 'The Finding of Moses'. Alma-Tadema is famous for his almost photographic portrayal of ancient artifacts and architecture. The accuracy and detail contained in his pictures is breathtaking! A good example is Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends.

So detailed are Alma-Tadema's pictures that he is credited in the book 'Great Painters and their Famous Bible Pictures' for having "peopled the past, rebuilt its towns, refurnished its houses and rekindled the flame upon the sacrificial alters".
It was during his first visit to Italy in 1863 that his mission in life became clear to him. He began his painstaking study "to bring antiquity back to life in so far as it lay in the power of his art". Muther said of him "There was no monument of brass or marble, no wall painting, no pictured vase or mosaic, no sample of ancient arts, of pottery, stone-cutting, or work in gold, that he did not study".

When painting scenes in Egypt he made many trips to the British Museum in London where he made sketches of the ancient artifacts on display. The picture above 'The Finding of Moses" took Alma-Tadema two years to paint and includes a number of archaeologically precise objects and inscriptions. His infatuation with detail brought some criticism though. Some critics said that his pictures "lacked sentiment" or "possessed no heart-interest". Others said that his work was becoming too encyclopedic.
Alma-Tadema's passion for antiquities did not confine itself to his paintings. His house in London was also filled with Egyptian decorations, pillars, mosaic floors, tiger skins and oriental carpets. His garden also was in the classical Roman style filled with marble benches and basins and statues of bronze and stone.

Alma-Tadems's paintings have served to inspire film makers of both the past and present. Cecil B. DeMille when filming The Ten Commandments had a set of Alma-Tadema's prints for the set designers to study. More recently the set designers of the Oscar-winning film 'Gladiator' took their inspiration from the very same pictures.
Alma-Tadema was knighted and received an Order of Merit, and, although his paintings were publicly acclaimed during his lifetime, following his death in 1912, they fell out of favor. During this time some of his paintings could have been purchased for as little as £20. Things changed though in the late 1960s when there was a revival of interest in Victorian paintings.
When the picture above 'The Finding of Moses' was auctioned at Christies in New York in May 1995, it sold for £1.75 million!

Links to some of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's Bible Art:
Joseph - Overseer of the Pharoah's Granaries
The Death of the First Born
An Audience at Agrippa's
More pictures of historical interest to the Bible Artist:
Sculptors in Ancient Rome
Egyptian Chess Players
Egyptian Juggler

More about Lawrence Alma-Tadema here.

The Great Bible Discovery update

2009-05-06T00:50:00.007+01:00

Thanks to Stefan Koelewijn from the Netherlands I now have the full 24 volume set of 'The Great Bible Discovery' series first published in France in 1983 as 'Déccouvrir la Bible'. This series of books contains some superb Bible art by some of the well known European comic strip artists such as Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Pierre Frisano, Carlo Marcello, Raymond Poïvet and many more.

Stefan has the remaining 19 volumes for sale which include numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21. 23 and 24. This is your chance to either buy that elusive copy to complete your own set or take this rare opportunity to start your own collection by buying all 19 copies from Stefan for a very reasonable €100 (+postage). This works out at just over €5 per copy which isn't much more than the original selling price. Remember, these books are rare and it's not unusual to pay over £30 for one! (I did!) Stefan is also willing to sell them individually for €10 each (+postage).

If you are interested in any or all of the numbers above, email me and I will forward on your email to Stefan. Good luck!

Further Update: 26.09.09
Stefan has just emailed me. He in willing to sell individual copies now for the bulk price of €5 each! I wish that I had met him earlier! Email Stefan to see which copies he still has available!
Further Update: 26.11.09
A lucky reader of the blog in Singapore has just snapped up all Stefan's copies of the Great Bible Discovery!

Related posts:
The Great Bible Discovery

Spot the Mistake!

2009-04-30T18:49:00.005+01:00

Here's a picture taken from the new 'Egermeier's Bible Story Book.' The picture is by one of my favorite Bible artists Clive Uptton and shows Elisha with the Shunammite woman. (2 Kings 4:18-37)
Can you spot the mistake? I'll add the first correct answer below.

The correct answer came in from Nikolaj from Belgium. Well done Nikolaj! The answer is:
Elisha was Bald!
This is a common mistake made by Bible artists. The reason for this is, I think, due to the fact that the most popular depictions of Elisha are when he is present at the translation of Elijah in 2 Kings 2:1-11.
The Bible artist would need to read on past this story to verse 23 to know that Elisha was bald!

The only reason that I've mentioned this is that I was thinking the other day how helpful it would be if publisher brought out a 'Bible Artist's Bible'. A reference book that gave a physical description, (where possible) of every character in the Bible along with a time-line showing the age of each character at the different events in their lives. This would stop Bible illustrators drawing a young Daniel in the Lion's Den! There may already be a book like this available. Let me know if you see one!

It's not only Bible artists who would benefit from a book like this, I'm sure that Bible students, writers, film makers and many more would welcome an easy to follow reference guide to Bible characters.

Picture © Warner Press 2009

Sackcloth Garments

2009-04-19T11:41:00.001+01:00

We have a question from Jessica in California:
"What would sackcloth garments have looked like?"
I thought that I would throw this one open to readers of the blog. I will try to find a suitable picture to add to this post after I've received some answers.

The Door

2009-03-31T21:30:00.012+01:00

We don't usually have poetry on the Bible illustration blog, but as it's getting close to Easter I thought that I would share with you an Easter poem that I wrote back in 1999. It has sat on my desk for ten years waiting for me to do some illustrations to go with it!
It's a poem with an Easter theme and follows a small group of children who are watching Jesus working in the carpenters shop. The children want Him to stop working and tell them a story, but Jesus wants them to learn something special about 'The Door'. The words of Jesus are in green. I hope you like it!

'The Door'
An Easter poem
by G.D.Kennedy.

As children we sat on wood shaven floor,
our questions to Jesus we cried.
“What are you making?” we fervently asked,
“A door” He softly replied..
“What is a door?” the youngest one asked,
we laughed, but Jesus sat down.
“Through a door you can enter into a place
where once a way was not found”.

“Have you finished the door now Lord Jesus?
will you tell us a story now please?”

“The work of the door is not complete
til it’s taken away to the place,
where it’s final purpose will be fulfilled,
where it’s final task it will face”.
So He lifted the door high up on His back
it’s heavy weight weighing Him down.
We followed Him through the onlooking crowds
til we reached the edge of the town.

“Have you finished the door now Lord Jesus?
will you tell us a story now please?”

The work of the door is not complete”
sighed Jesus His eyes lifted higher,
“until it hangs upon a frame
held by nails, forged in the fire”.
So He picked up His hammer & three iron nails
and held up the door to the frame.
Blow followed blow as it sank into place,
in the silence we called out His name.

“Have you finished the door now Lord Jesus?
will you tell us a story now please?”

“The work of the door is not complete”
said Jesus His eyes full of pain,
“un-til it’s stained with crimson stain
to protect it from strong wind & rain”.
So He plunged the stiff brush deep into the dye
and stained the olive white wood.
The dye ran down to the palms of His hands,
for a moment we thought it was blood.

“Have you finished the door now Lord Jesus?
will you tell us a story now please?”

Many years passed, and now a young man,
in a crowd I met Jesus once more.
His eyes met with mine, He smiled and said
“Behold, I am the door”.
Jesus?...the door? What did He mean?
a riddle I could not unwind,
Until I stood at the foot of the cross,
then two questions came into my mind.

“Have you finished the door now Lord Jesus?
will you tell me the story now please?”

It was then I recalled being sat at His feet,
as a child I remembered Him say,
“The work of the door is not complete
til the door is taken away.
til it’s hanging on that destined frame,
held by love,not nails so cold,
til it’s stained with sin....not it’s own”.
til it’s paid the price that I owed.

“Have you finished the door now Lord Jesus?
Is the work of the door now complete?

“It is finished” cried Jesus looking down from the cross,
the work of the door is complete.
the way back to God has swung open wide.
in tears, I fell at His feet.
I now understood ,there's only one way.
“I am the way” Jesus cried
“I am the door”, the way back to God,
“I am the crucified”.

“Now the work of the door is complete Lord,
will you bid us come enter now please?”

© G.D.Kennedy. 1999-2009.

David and Goliath, and Philistine Armor

2009-03-28T21:53:00.015Z

David and Goliath is one of the better known Bible stories. Anyone who doubts the authenticity of the story should take a little time to look at the evidence. As is usually the case, the latest archeological discoveries add even more weight to the authenticity of the biblical account.

To some, the idea of one champion fighting on behalf of an entire army is fanciful, whereas this was the common practice of the Philistines in deciding the outcome of a battle. To the Philistines, a battle of champions represented the will of the gods! If their champion won, then the gods were on their side and they could expect victory over their enemy.
The 'Battle of Champions' was characteristic of Aegean peoples and this form of battle was known almost exclusively from the Greek Epic tradition. This form of battle however was unheard of among the Israelites which might explain their difficulty in selecting a champion of their own. The fact that this battle, in the minds of the Philistines, was a battle of the immortals would explain why the Philistines fled following Goliath's defeat!
Goliath was indeed a formidable and intimidating champion chosen no doubt for his size, (nine foot and three inches), which some attribute to the possibility that he was a descendant of the Anakim. When Joshua expelled the giant Anakim people from the land of Canaan a few found refuge in the city of Gath where Goliath originated from.

Some also try to discredit this biblical account by saying that, according to the Egyptian reliefs in the tomb of Ramesses III, (shown below), the Philistines wore no coats of mail or greaves and so the biblical narrative is incorrect! They forget that these ancient carvings are depicting the 'captured' Philistine army which had been deprived of all weaponry and armor as was the practice inflicted on a defeated enemy. The Israelites not only took Goliath's weapons and armor, they weighed them too!

Nate Butler asked the question why do so many Bible artists illustrate Goliath's helmet incorrectly when there is so much archeological reference available that clearly displays it? That's a good question, and it's true, we do have a very good idea of what the Philistine helmets looked like from the ancient Egyptian reliefs at Medinet Habu. But, it's also true that Goliath was equipped like no other Philistine foot soldier, and it does appear, from the biblical text, that he used a sampling of weapons from different parts of the ancient Middle East. There is a very good reason for this which we will look at shortly.

Goliath's Helmet
The Egyptian reliefs found at Medinet Habu (see above) clearly show the distinctive feathered helmets which were unique to the Philistine army. The helmets appear to be secured under the chin by leather straps. Feathers were held in place by a decorative metal band. Interestingly, the Philistines are shown to be clean-shaven! When I tried illustrating Goliath above without a beard, it just wasn't Goliath! This is one of those occasions when, as Paul G says, we need to play to the expectations of others! Because we use the word 'Philistine' to describe someone who is uncultured, we tend to think of Philistines as bearded barbarians but, as we will see shortly, this might be far from the truth!

Goliath's Shield and Sword
These reliefs also show the captured small circular shields used by the Philistine foot soldiers. Goliath's shield was no doubt larger than most, and was borne by a shield bearer who traditionally walked in front of the warrior up until the battle. Goliath's sword is interesting too. Experts claim that the sword described in the Bible, and worn on the back, was a curved blade Sickle sword and not the straight sword normally used by the Philistines. The sickle sword was first used by the Canaanites and, because of its brutal effectiveness, was later adopted by the Egyptians. So, why did Goliath own such a sword? It makes sense that a warrior like Goliath who had no doubt fought one to one battles on many occasions previous to this, would have collected trophies of these victories. Perhaps the sickle sword was one of these trophies.
By displaying an array of captured weaponry Goliath was also displaying his superiority over all opposing forces. They declared Goliath's invincibility! Perhaps this was a tactic intended to intimidate his enemies even before the battle began!

Goliath's Scale Armor and Greaves
Scale armor was important because it protected a soldier without restricting his movements. It was first used in the Aegean.
Each bronze scale was attached in rows to a leather apron. Each overlapping row was offset giving the appearance of fish scales.
The Bible clearly states that Goliath wore "greaves of brass upon his legs". Again some have criticised the biblical account here by claiming that the Philistines did not wear greaves. But, in a recent article in the 'Biblical Archeological Review' which discusses the recent find in Ashkelon of some greek-style pottery, Dr Stager said "Throwing caution to the wind, I am willing to state flatly that the Sea Peoples, including the Philistines, were Mycenaean Greeks." Dr Stager went on to say " because the Bible describes Goliath as going into the battle wearing bronze greaves on his legs. No Canaanite or Israelite soldier wore greaves, but Greek warriors did." So this would explain Goliath's bronze greaves. Maybe the Philistines were not a barbaric uncultured people after all. They may well have been descendants of the more elevated Greeks!

Goliath's Spear
Goliath's iron headed spear has been the subject of much speculation. Some believe that it was more likely to be a javelin than a spear. There are two theories that speculate why the Bible likens Goliath's spear to a weaver's beam. The popular opinion is that this statement refers to the spears size and weight. The second opinion states that the Aegean javelin had a cord wound around the shaft held by loops which gave the spear greater stability in flight. Apparently this winding cord and loop arrangement gave Goliath's spear the appearance of a weaver's heddle rod, characteristic of those used for hand loom weaving in Israel.
I look forward to your comments.

Samson

2009-03-14T15:42:00.005Z

I have Just finished illustrating a picture of Samson from Judges chapter 16 for our upcoming Bible. Most children's Bibles show Samson in the process of pushing over the two key pillars that supported this vast temple, so I thought that I would depict the scene that led up to this event instead. Incidentally, if you are interested to read about Samson's physique, we have discussed this before in the 'Was Samson Muscular?' post.

In the picture above you can see Samson being taunted by the Philistines. From reading the text in Judges 16 it does sound like this scene is taking place in a building dedicated to the worship of Dagon. Dagon appears to be either a god of grain and agriculture or a fish god, (half man, half fish). I decided to go for the latter and based the stone statue in the background on ancient stone carvings thought to be of Dagon. In 1 Samuel chapter 5, we read about when the Ark of the Covenant had been captured and was placed by the Philistines before the statue of Dagon. When the statue fell prostrate before the Ark for the second time, we read that both its head and hands were broken off. No mention of legs, which might give credence to the fish god theory. This might be interesting to discuss further.
At the bottom right of the picture you can see one of the priests of Dagon. He is wearing the fish-head mitre and cape as depicted on ancient carvings showing the priests of Dagon.
Incidentally, and while on the subject of fish, we are in the Jewish month of Adar. The month of Adar has a sign which is the fish! The reason for this is that traditionally this is the month that the fish in Israel spawn. The Hebrew word for fish is 'dag'. (I thought you might find that interesting!) Anyway, back to the story.

Samson was blinded and bound with fetters of brass. This was a common punishment used also by the Babylonians, Assyrians and Persians. We read in 2 Kings 25:7 that Zedekiah was punished in the same way. There are a pair of ancient bronze fetters in the British Museum that were found in Ninevah. I would describe them as a sixteen inch brass rod with a two pronged fork at each end. These two prongs were hammered around the ankles of the prisoner allowing only short steps to be taken. The chains that I have illustrated around Samson's wrists are not mentioned!
At the bottom left of the picture you can see a Philistine soldier wearing the feathered helmet depicted on the ancient carvings in the temple of Ramesses III.

Samson is stood at the central point of the temple between two of the load bearing pillars. The light coming from above is from a large central opening in the roof above. The reason that I believe that there was a large central opening in the roof is that the text suggests that the three thousand people stood on the roof were able to see Samson being taunted. It makes sense that if two of these load bearing pillars that lined this central opening were toppled how the entire building would collapse. If you look through the arches at the back of the picture you can see that the temple is built on high ground. Buildings used for the worship of pagan deities were always built on high ground as this was thought to be nearer to the heavens where their gods dwelt. These are referred to in the Bible as the 'High places'.

Delilah is stood in the shadows under the arches and next to the stairs which led to the roof. As always, I look forward to your comments.

Related posts:
'Was Samson Muscular?'

Painting the Hebrew Bible: Words and images.

2009-02-28T20:58:00.013Z

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new visitor to the Bible illustration blog, whose recent comments on the blog I know many of you have found incredibly helpful. Nahum HaLevi, (who is also a Levite), is a Jewish Bible artist based in the U.S. His paintings can be found at Nahumhalevi.com. Each painting on Nahum's website is accompanied by a highly detailed description which, apart from being a fascinating read, reveal Nahum's immense knowledge of the Torah. I asked Nahum if he would consider writing a short post for the B.I.B describing his Bible Art. He kindly agreed.

Painting the Hebrew Bible: Words and images, by Nahum HaLevi.
The thrust and focus of my paintings is an attempt to grasp the transcendent meaning of the Hebrew Bible, and by extension to use art as a tool to try to understand the underlying nature, structure and essence of the universe, in other words to apprehend God. As a template for this process I attempt to visually express the biblical narrative by deriving multiple images from multiple translations of the original Modern Hebrew text, and at times retranslate the words back into ancient Hebrew and further back into proto-Sinaitic pictographic Hebrew.
Biblical Hebrew contains many words with multiple meanings, a testament to its very early and ancient origins. The meanings of some Hebrew words can be radically changed by a mere alteration of pronunciation, or textual context, or even by a single letter substitution. These linguistic elements have led to a wealth of literary interpretations.
Many of my paintings combine the multiplicity of meanings of the Hebrew biblical text with the multiplicity of visual images derived from these different literary interpretations of scripture thereby resulting in combined visual-literary stories that are not possible by isolated pure literary or visual analysis.
For some paintings I fuse images and words from disparate scriptures thereby creating fusion imagery of disparate biblical characters and concepts in different historical space-time coordinates into one holistic story. By retaining fragments of the different stories, each individual story is told, and a new creative story is told for the first time, providing multiple layers of meaning to the original stories.
In some paintings , I use the principle of taking stories of individual characters from sequential chronological periods of their lives and jumbling them up into one narrative as though each story is a single point in the space-time continuum, and lives not only in the past or future, but in the never ending present.

One example of this is in the painting "Moses : Rock 'N Rage".
In this painting I have fused the young Moses who hits and kills the Egyptian taskmaster drawing out blood, with the older Moses who hits the rock in the desert, drawing out water quenching the Israelite's thirst. Also visually fused in this painting , are the Egyptian taskmaster and the rock who spew out blood and water as a result of being hit by Moses. The inspiration for this imagery comes from the common Hebrew word used in both stories for hitting- "Vayach"- "and he hit", either the Egyptian or the stone.
The visualized simultaneity of two separate historical events combined with the simultaneous sequential chronological unfolding of both separate events, confuses our natural understanding and perception of linear time, providing us with a more accurate perception of the malleable bending of the space-time continuum, and thus fills us with an other worldly ethereal transcendental feeling.
In some paintings I attempt to create a cinematic sensation of time moving both forwards and backwards on a two dimensional canvas by having individuals moving multiple arms and legs in different sequential geometric and spatial planes. I have used this technique in "Moses : Rock 'N Rage", and even more so in "The School of Shamgar".
   In a similar vane in the painting "The Amramovitz Family: Teamwork", I portray the infant Moses with a beard, fusing two of Moses' time coordinates; that of his infancy with that of his adulthood visualizing the simultaneous separate existences of these images within the space-time continuum, as well a providing a sensation of time rapidly moving forward or backwards from infancy to adulthood, depending on one's perspective. Again this confuses our perception of ordinary space-time and transports us into another realm of thought which transcends the ordinary laws of physics as we perceive them.

In my paintings I also like to convey a sensation of synesthesis. Synesthesis is a neurological condition where certain individuals crisscross and confuse different senses, for example, some people can taste or hear colors. Certain people can see sounds. This is what is conveyed in the Bible , at Mount Sinai, when the Ten Commandments were given, and God descended on the mountain, that all Israel saw the sounds of the shofars (trumpets) and the sounds of thunder. I have conveyed this in my painting  "Shavuot" by drawing musical notes in the background. Similarly in many of my paintings I hope they are appreciated by utilizing sensory modalities other than sight, and I hope that you not only see the paintings, but hear their conversations, and the music they are playing, and hence I hope you fuse sight and sound, that you see and hear illuminated symphonies, and that you are momentarily transported and enjoy a separate reality.
By providing and fusing multiple scriptural word definitions and multiple images derived from them, in many paintings you might see simultaneous multiple image possibilities, and you might simultaneously sense that you are in the past, present or future, or all three, You might sense that you are at location X, or Y, or simultaneously feel that you are at both locations. When you read a word or several words and sentences, you might simultaneously understand multiple definitions and explanations. If you do all that, you might appreciate a greater totality of the universe, or at the very least will understand the limitation of our human brains when viewing things statically.
   I personally view every two-dimensional biblical canvas as a small bird's eye view of the vast space-time continuum. Different splashes of paint and letters all represent different points scattered in space and time, existing separately and yet simultaneously, all splayed out in a microcosm before our frail visual fields allowing us to grasp past, present and future in simultaneity, as they twinkle, coexist and meld into one unified coherent whole giving us a multifaceted perception of infinitely changing realities- dare we say a fragmentary glimpse of God.

Samuel and Eli

2009-02-22T13:23:00.008Z

Before illustrating the picture (right) of Samuel and Eli, I wanted to gather some information about where this scene was taking place. In the first few verses of 1 Samuel chapter 3, a Temple is mentioned. But which Temple is it speaking of? Solomon's Temple had not as yet been built. Rabbi Naftali Silberberg sheds some light on this...

After the Israelites crossed the Jordan river into Canaan, the portable Tabernacle was erected in the city of Gilgal, where it remained for the fourteen years it took them to conquer, divide, and settle the land. After that, the Tabernacle was dismantled, but the tapestries and rugs which covered it were taken to the city of Shiloh where they covered a newly built stone, fixed albeit roofless, sanctuary. This Tabernacle stood there for 369 years until it was destroyed by the Philistines during the lifetime of Samuel.

So it would appear that, in Shiloh, which was the religious capital of Israel in the time of the Judges, a more robust version of the Tabernacle was built in stone. A precursor to the Temple.
I presume that the reason that this structure was roofless was that it retained the Tabernacle tent coverings. For an artist's impression of what the Tabernacle/Temple in Shiloh may have looked like, click here.
There also appears to have been some sleeping chambers added close to the sanctuary for the High Priest and his attendant, and the addition of some doors, (1 Samuel 3:15). Some commentators say that the sleeping accommodation for the Levites and priests was provided in tents next to the Tabernacle.
The scene takes place in the early hours of the morning before the lights of the golden lampstand were extinguished. These lamps were extinguished at sunrise, (Lev 6:12,13). The light source for this scene is provided by the seven branched solid gold lampstand which was 18 handbreadths in height and over 100 Ibs in weight! I have decorated this lampstand or 'menorah' with almond blossoms according to the description in Ex 25:31-40.

According to Josephus, Samuel was 12 years old when the Lord spoke to him. Eli, who was one of the last Israelite Judges, (before the Israelite monarchy began), is seen wearing the seamless white under garment worn by the priests. His high priestly robes which included the turban or mitre, the sleeveless blue robe and the ephod are folded next to him. You can see the bells and pomegranates woven from scarlet, purple and blue wool along the hem of the ephod.

As always, your comments are welcome!

Related posts:
The Day of Atonement
What did Herod's Temple look like?
Being Roofless!

Daniel in the Lion's Den

2009-02-14T15:20:00.005Z

The most common mistake made by artists when depicting 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' is showing Daniel to be much younger than he actually was. Most children's Bibles show Daniel to be between 20 and 40 years of age when this event in his life happened. A close inspection of the dates in the margins of your Bible reveal that Daniel was around 80 years old when thrown to the lions!

When I was comparing the many versions of this scene painted by different artists. I noticed something interesting about the lion's den itself. Artists like Henry Ossawa Tanner, J. James Tissot, W A Foster and Briton Riviere show a purpose built lion's den, rather like a stone prison cell, whereas Rubens, Gustav Dore and others favor an underground cave, either naturally formed or hewn out of the rock. I noticed that the pictures that portrayed the den as a cave were less menacing to the viewer than those which depicted the den as a purpose built cell. The reason for this, I believe, is that the lions which are shown lying in a natural cave look almost like they're relaxing in their natural habitat. Whereas, the lions shown pacing up and down an empty stone cell look much more restless and agitated. These lions are being contained in a purpose built waste disposal unit! The monotony for them was only broken when an unfortunate victim was thrown in!
As the lion's den appears to be in the grounds of King Darius' palace, it would make sense that it was a purpose built enclosure. In my version, (above), I originally showed lots of blood spattered on the walls of the cell, but I decided that, as this picture is for a children's Bible, I should remove some! Although some kids love the gory bits!

I very much liked the lighting in the version of 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' by Henry Ossawa Tanner which is a feature of his work that we've discussed before on the blog.
Harold Copping added a nice touch to his version of this picture also. The reflective eyes of the lions in the semi-darkness are lit by the light coming in through the opening above. Copping also shows the den to be only about 8 foot high which also makes sense. Most artists, including myself, depict the den as being much higher.

As always, we look forward to your comments.

'The Messiah in the Temple' project

2009-02-08T13:14:00.011Z

This is an item I came across today on Dr Leen Ritmeyers website.

'The Messiah in the Temple' project is in the process of developing a 3D visual media presentation of the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. When it's complete, this looks like it will be a very helpful resource for Bible artists who need to visualize the Temple and its surroundings in their Bible pictures. This promises to be a very accurate portrayal of the Temple as both Dr Roger Liebe and Dr Leen Ritmeyer are advisors to the production team. You can read more about this fascinating project on 'The Messiah in the Temple' website. I look forward to seeing the completed film.

To give you an idea of just how helpful 3D digital models of the Temple can be for Bible artists, check out this clip on Youtube.

Finally, and while on the subject of Bible film projects, I was contacted recently by Gaines Johnson of Johnson Imagineering. He asked me if I could put the word out to Bible illustrators that he needs artwork, based on Creation, for an upcoming film project. For more details contact Gaines Johnson.
Image © The Messiah in the Temple project 2009

Related posts:
What did Herod's Temple look like?
Interview with Dr Leen Ritmeyer
Herod's Temple Mount model update

Baby in a Basket

2009-01-31T15:52:00.008Z

The earliest sources of pictorial information regarding clothing in Bible times comes from the ancient hieroglyphics found in the pyramids and tombs of Egypt. These pictures carved in stone not only provide us with detailed information on Egyptian clothing, they also record the clothing worn by other civilizations such as the Philistines.
Stone carvings found in the temple of Ramesses III for instance shows the armor worn by the Philistine captives. This gives us an indication of what the armor worn by Goliath may have looked like.

I've just finished the picture (above) depicting baby Moses being discovered in the bulrushes by Pharoah's daughter and her handmaidens. Because there is such an abundance of historical reference available for Egyptian clothing, Bible artists have no excuse for getting it wrong. There is one problem though. When producing pictures for children's Bibles we must choose modesty over accuracy! Egyptian handmaidens, (especially when working in water), wore little or no clothing, and much of the cloth used at this time, (due to the hot climate), was a very fine linen which was cool but see-through!
When Harold Copping illustrated the finding of Moses, he chose accuracy over modesty. His depiction of this scene must have caused many a raised eyebrow when it first appeared in the Copping Bible in 1910! It's possible that Copping was influenced by two well known paintings from that period, both with the same title 'The finding of Moses'. The first painted by Frederick Goodall in 1885, the second by Edwin Long in 1886. It would appear that nudity in Victorian paintings was legitimised when depicting either a biblical or historical subject. This fact possibly influenced the Bible artists of that period. It's true to say that Copping's picture would not find its way into a children's Bible today! Although the children's Bible that I have, which does contain this picture, was published as late as 1958.

I've mentioned in the past that there is sometimes the temptation to start illustrating a Bible story before reading it!
We think that we know a particular Bible story so well that there's no need to re-read it. The story of 'Moses in the basket' is one of those stories. When I was reading the story again, I noticed something that every artist who has illustrated it, (at least in all the children's Bibles that I own), has missed. Verse 6 of Exodus 2 clearly says "...the babe wept". In all the pictures that I've seen depicting this scene, Moses is shown to be lying quietly in the basket.

After doing some research I found that the brown torpedo-shaped pods that are often depicted amongst bulrushes by Bible artists are in fact Reedmace. True Egyptian Bulrushes are topped with green pom-pom type heads. (See picture above). This illustrates another point, that Bible artists are heavily influenced by the Bible art that has gone before.
The ark of bulrushes was a vessel made of woven papyrus stalks which was made watertight with a mixture of bitumen and mud, probably from the river Nile. (Mud from the Nile was also used to plaster buildings). I did illustrate this mud covering on the basket but it didn't look as nice as when you could see the basket weave, so I decided to leave it off. This might be the reason why other artists have chosen not to show a mud covered basket also!
Palm trees along the Nile are slightly different too. Rather than the branches forming a complete globe shape, the leaves grow upwards forming a half circle.

I hope this has been helpful. As always, I look forward to your comments.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T23:53:00.011Z

"Happy New Year" to all the readers of the Bible illustration blog!
My apologies for not posting recently but things have been extremely hectic here!
I hope everyone had a very pleasant Christmas.

There have been lots of exciting things happening during the closing weeks of 2008 which I would like to share with you. We have now officially teamed up with 'New Tribes Mission' with a view to redoing their Chronological Bible picture set which will now comprise of around 164 pictures. The present set of 105 pictures were painted in 1985 by Caloy Gabulo, an artist from the Philippines. These pictures are used by NTM missionaries to present the Gospel message to primitive people groups around the globe.
This is an exciting and challenging project and many things will have to be taken into consideration as we prepare these pictures as many of the tribal people who will be viewing them have never even seen a picture before!
In one particular tribe, if only half a person is shown in a picture, (e.g. the other half is out of view,) they think that the person must only have one arm and leg! This is just one of the many aspects that need to be considered. We enjoy pictures with dynamic perspective and dramatic lighting because we have developed a sophisticated visual language that we understand and take for granted. It's hard for us to imagine the questions that might come into the minds of those viewing pictures for the first time. Some missionaries have pointed out however that the tribal people's ability to understand and appreciate this visual language develops fast, and so we shouldn't get bogged down with simplifying the pictures too much. They stress that Biblical accuracy should remain paramount in the pictures even though certain aspects of Bible times may be hard at first to explain.
This project is going to be immensely interesting and challenging and there will no doubt be lots to blog about! I would appreciate your prayers as we move forward on this.

The second exciting development is that we are in the process of providing pictures for our very first Bible! The pictures for the 'International Children's Bible' will need to be finished by the end of February. Authentic Media will be looking to publish this Bible in the Summer of 2009, God willing.

Finally, a Christian card producer has taken some of our 'Nativity pictures' with a view to producing a range of Christmas cards and Advent calendars for 2009! Watch this space.
Because of the above workload things might be quiet on the blog until the end of February. If I get chance to post though, I will.

Inscription on the Cross

2008-12-07T14:15:00.006Z

The question below comes from Bible artist Greg Owen from the U.S.

What did the sign look like that was on the cross? Was it a clay tablet? Was it wood? Were the letters painted, or written in chalk? Did it hang from a rope, or was it nailed up? (weren't nails expensive, making rope or wooden peg more likely?)
Perhaps we cannot know for sure. But what is your best guess, considering Roman history and the most common ways of making signs at this time in history?

Thanks for this question Greg. When I recently illustrated the Crucifixion story, I must admit, my research was more centered on the inscription rather than on the tablet itself. In 'Bible Manners and Customs' it says:
"It was a Roman custom in cases of capital execution to put on a tablet the crime for which the condemned suffered, this tablet being placed in full view of all who witness the execution.... The tablet was sometimes carried by the condemned man himself, hung around his neck, on the way to execution.
In the official Language of the Romans it was called 'Titulus'. It was a metal plate, having black letters on a white ground."

It would make sense that this tablet was made of metal as it would have been reused from one execution to the next. In the last post we looked at how the black ink used at this time was also water soluble so each inscription could have been easily washed off with a sponge and water. How was the metal background whitened? It's possible that the same chalk mixture that was used to whiten tombs, (see 'Raising Lazarus' post), was used. This was also water soluble.
No doubt the heinous crimes recorded on these tablets were intended to incite and enrage the onlookers!
Jesus' crime "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" must have received a mixed reaction.
It would also make sense that the rope which supported the tablet around the neck of the victim, also held the tablet to the cross, hung from a wooden peg nailed into the vertical beam. Most scholars believe that only the horizontal beam of the cross was carried by the victim to the crucifixion site.

There are others who believe that these tablets were made from hardwood.
Whether you believe in relics or not, there is one relic that some experts believe to be the actual sign from above the cross. The 'TITULUS CRUCIS' was made of walnut wood! So maybe my wooden representation of the titulus, shown above, was not too far out!

Related posts:
Crucifixion (part 1)
Crucifixion (part 2)

Biblical Animation

2008-12-06T14:18:00.004Z

Had an email this morning from Nathan Daniel from the 'Biblical Animation blog'.
Some of you will know that Nathan has been working on a 3D animated film of Nebuchadnezzar's dream which is now finished apart from a little tweaking.
You can see some of the finished stills from the film on Nathan's blog.

As some of you will know Nathan is our language expert on the blog. Nathan informs me that he will probably upload the film at some point for readers to view.
I look forward to that. Thanks Nathan!
Picture © Nathan Daniel 2008

Healing of the Paralyzed Man

2008-12-01T19:23:00.009Z

Just finished the story of the healing of the paralyzed man from Mark ch2. There are six pictures in this set which brings our total Bible picture count to 758.

Picture one shows the four men with their friend on a stretcher outside the crowded house. One of the men is pointing upwards towards the roof. Picture 2 shows two of the men taking their friend up the exterior steps built into the side of the house, while another is starting to break up the roof. You can see the 2 foot high parapet wall around the top of the roof, a building regulation laid down in Deut 22:8.

Breaking through the roof seems a little extreme, but apparently this was a common practice in those days for the purpose of lowering down grain, straw and other articles. Dr Thomson in 'The Land and the Book' wrote "The roof could easily be broken in this manner, and easily repaired." There are many other explanations as to how the roof was taken up in this story, some required very little damage to the roof itself. It comes down to which theory you prefer. This is not set in stone! Click here for more information on houses in Bible times.

Picture 3 (above) shows the paralyzed man being lowered down before Jesus. This picture appears on the cover of the new ICB Gospel of Luke, (only 99p!)
In picture 4 we see Jesus questioning the scribes. When you illustrate a scribe, remember to add an 'inkhorn' hanging from his belt. Inkhorns were long slim boxes about 9-10 inches in length and 2 inches wide. They were made of either a hardwood like ebony or more commonly from metal such as silver, brass or copper. They were exquisitely carved and contained the writing implements used by the scribe. The inkhorn was divided into two parts, the main longer box held the reed pens and a knife, while the smaller 'inkstand', which was a much heavier little box with a hinged lid, held the powered ink. The ink, (which needed water adding to it before it could be used), was made from a mixture of lamp soot or pulverized charcoal and gum. Because this ink was water soluble, it could be easily erased with a sponge and water!

In picture 5, Jesus heals the paralyzed man. In picture 6 the man is following the command of the Lord Jesus by taking up his bed and going home!
This set of pictures will be uploaded to the 'Bible picture website' shortly.

Campaign for 'Real' Christmas cards!

2008-11-26T18:41:00.002Z

It's that time of year again when everyone's rushing around trying to find good Christmas cards, (and Bible artists are kicking themselves for not producing any! Which l do every year!)

I'm not sure what it's like in the US, but in the UK it gets harder every year to find really nice Christmas cards that contain the 'real meaning' of Christmas. If the major card producers and outlets are turning their backs on the real meaning of Christmas, (which they seem to be), then maybe it's time to buy our cards elsewhere! I don't know about you but I'd rather pay more for a card with meaning! As we approach a time of recession, think about how giving your business to the smaller Christian card manufacturers and retailers could really help them through a tough time. As the high street shops are not selling the cards we want anyway, it makes a lot of sense!

So where can we find good Christmas cards? One of the best selections will be found at your local Christian bookshop, but there are some very good online stores too. I always like to give a plug at this time of year to the range of cards produced by the Nazareth Village Project. (The photo above was taken there!) Click here to see their latest range.

If there are any other manufacturers of 'Real Christmas cards' out there with an online store, please send me a link to display on this post. Also if you're a card manufacturer and would like to use some of our Bible art on your Christmas cards or Advent calendars next year, contact Jem Hudson.

To find out more about the photo above, click here.

If you agree with this post then send it to a friend! Let's start the Campaign for 'Real Christmas cards'. Let me know where you buy yours.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers!

Nativity pictures: Part two.

2008-11-25T15:15:00.011Z

Last week I finally finished the second part of the Nativity story which I intended finishing about this time last year! (My apologies). There are now 14 pictures covering the whole of the Nativity story. Part one is here.

There are 7 pictures in part two , which cover the visit of the wise men to the fleeing of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to Egypt. Part two of this story brings our total Bible picture count to 752.

Picture 8 shows the wise men arriving in the courtyard of Herod's Palace. Above the curved section of Roman columns you can see the Mariamme Tower. Out of the three towers that Herod had built, The Mariamme Tower was the most ornate. Josephus said "the king considering it appropriate that the tower named after a woman should surpass in decoration those called after men."
The tower is named after Herod's beloved Hasmonean wife Mariamme whom he had murdered!
Picture 9 (above) shows the wise men before Herod. Picture 10 shows Herod with his advisors. Picture 11 shows the wise men leaving the palace and the reappearance of the star! See the post 'Nazareth or Egypt' for more on this.

Picture 12 shows the wise men bringing gifts to the infant Jesus in a house, (not a stable). In picture 13 we see Joseph being warned in a dream to flee.
Picture 14 (right) we see Mary, Joseph and Jesus entering Egypt. I reconstructed the Sphinx to go in the back ground of this picture but decided that it was too busy!

Related posts:

Nativity pictures: Part one
Nazareth or Egypt?
Pictures of the Nativity
Drawing Angels!

Pictures of Creation

2008-11-22T13:25:00.012Z

A couple of weeks ago I finished the new version of Creation. Just knowing where to start when capturing the awesome events of creation is always a challenge to the Bible artist. What makes it even harder is when you know that you've already illustrated it twice before, and each time you want to do a better job!

There are seven pictures in this set. This brings our total Bible picture count to 745.
Picture one illustrates the first two verses of Genesis ch 1. Picture two shows the creation of light on day one. (Not the sun, which wasn't created until day four). I remember hearing a lecture given many years ago by a professor from Jodrell Bank Space observatory. He explained how we know that light came before anything else. Mind blowing stuff! I wish I could remember all of what he said.
Picture 3, (above), depicts day two. Picture 4, (day three), shows when the land and all plant life appeared. Most artists show this scene taking place during the day. Because the sun was not created until the following day, I chose not to show a blue sky, but rather bathe this scene in the brilliant white light created on day one.

Picture 5, (Day four), shows the creation of the sun, moon and stars which presumably included the multitude of galaxies also. When we consider the immensity of our own solar system alone we have to join in with the psalmist and say "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him..." Psalm 8:3-4.
Picture 6, (day five), is always a little tricky, and most artists (including myself) usually divide the canvas into two. The top half being sky, the bottom half water. It is the easiest way to show both birds and fish, but there is always the risk of your illustration looking like a page from an animal encyclopedia! (Which mine does!)

I noticed in DC Comic's 'The Bible' illustrated by Joe Kubert and Nestor Redondo, that they show the animals being created on day five, not day six, which is a pretty basic mistake. Other than that it's a very well thought out and well researched publication, and I love Nestor Redondo's art.
Picture 7, (day six), shows Adam and Eve with a selection of the animals. In my two previous versions of creation I have only shown Adam with the animals on day six because chapter two covers the creation of Eve. On reflection this was not correct as both Adam and Eve are mentioned at the end of Chapter one. Chapter two is like a recap. The Bible back-tracks in the story to look at the creation of Eve in more detail.

Any depictions of dinosaurs were rare until the end of the 19th century which explains why they don't appear in earlier Bible pictures of day six. I'm not sure when dinosaurs started to appear in Bible illustrations, possibly early to mid 20th century. Bible artists of today regularly add dinosaurs into their pictures, in fact they feature quite heavily in CEF'S curriculum.

I would like to close this post with a quote that I like from Dr. "Fritz" Schaefer, Professor of Chemistry and the director of the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He said "The significance and joy in my science comes in the occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, 'So that's how God did it!' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's plan."
To read Dr Schaefer's article 'Stephen Hawking, The Big Bang, and God' click here.

To see some stunning pictures of God's creation, click here!
The heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1

Bible Artist's Models

2008-11-10T00:38:00.014Z

I've received some interesting emails recently that I thought I'd share with you.
Philip Hanna contacted me from Kentucky in the U.S. to tell me that his mother, an Armenian lady, now 86 years of age, has a very interesting friend. Philip's mom grew up in Palestine and her close friend Najibe (Nadia) Kattan was the model for Mary (right) in Elsie Anna Wood's Bible illustrations. Philip received a phone call from Najiba only yesterday. She now lives in Los Angeles. Phil said that whenever his mom sees EAW'S pictures of Mary, she can recognize her friend's face from many years ago. Philips parents served for many years as Presbyterian missionaries in Lebanon.

I also received an email a few weeks ago from Linda Martin in Ontario, Canada whose great grandfather was William Hicks. Hicks worked on a farm in Shoreham Kent, and was the model for Moses (left) in Harold Copping's Bible illustrations.
Linda wanted to see Copping's pictures of Moses to see what her great grandfather looked like. As I still don't own a 'Copping Bible', I forwarded her request onto Dr Sandy Brewer.
Sandy Brewer was also contacted a few weeks back by the son of Henry Wickenden. Henry Wickenden was the model for the African boy in Copping's famous painting 'The Hope of the World'. Although Wickenden was not black, he was chosen because of his thick curly hair!

When I last spoke to Bible artist Keith Neely, he had a staggering 21,479 photos which he had taken of models in Bible costume! And that was for the Old Testament alone!
I suggested that when he and his team finish the 7,600 illustrations needed for the Thomas Nelson Illustrated Bible, that he should upload the best of these reference photos onto the web, or maybe bring out a collection of them for sale on dvd! If you would like to see some samples of Keith Neely's Bible figure reference photos, click here. This is one of Keith's Bible illustrations (right) which is in a different style to the one adopted for the T.N.I.B.
Image © Keith Neely 2008

Valerie Neild from London contacted me to ask if any of our readers might have any more information on Bible Artist William Hole? Valerie is a relative of William Hole and would like to find out more about him. If you have any information, please pass it on to me and I will forward it on to Valerie. Many thanks.

UBS 'Global Illustration Project'

2008-10-23T00:36:00.007+01:00

Attention all Bible Artists!
I've Just received an email from Randolph Capp in Germany with details of a very exciting project being organized by the 'United Bible Societies’. The ‘Global Illustration Project’ is looking for Bible illustrators to produce around 200 Bible illustrations for use around the globe. An excerpt from Randolph's email follows:

An artist's opportunity of a lifetime – a global illustration project!
The United Bible Societies is a fellowship of 145 national Bible Societies working in over 200 countries. Bible Societies serve Christians in every continent, providing Scriptures at a price that people can afford. Bible Societies are not affiliated to any one Christian denomination, but serve all Christian churches and develop products and services appropriate to local needs.
One of these needs is for Bibles and Bible storybooks, both for children and families. Toward that end, the United Bible Societies is seeking to commission artists on a work-for-hire basis to produce a collection of 200 high quality, colour illustrations that any national Bible Society can use for this purpose. In a sense, the collection is best thought of as a database of artwork from which Scripture materials can be produced. It is to be called the UBS 'Global Illustration Project'.

The level of artistic expertise for this work is high. Illustrators must be "visual translators" of the Biblical events. All costumes, architecture, fauna, and ethnicities must be accurate to the text. In addition, the artist's style must be acceptable across a wide range of cultures and aesthetic tastes. While a single artist for the entire collection is preferred, it is more realistic that an artist is commissioned for the Old Testament and another for the New Testament.
Any artist interested in submitting samples and pursuing further discussions about the UBS Global Illustration Project is invited to contact Randolph Capp, (UBS Design Consultant).

Randolph sent me two sample illustrations, (one shown below) as a guide to the artistic level required. Randolph added, “We’re not necessarily looking for artists who can duplicate this particular style, but who can depict realistic, complex compositions in a manner that is not stiff and boring, like so many classic Bible illustrations”.

I'll try to keep you up-to-date with news about this exciting illustration project.
My apologies for the delay since my last post. I'm still recovering from a bad dose of flu!

Update:26.02.2011
I now know that the illustrator of the picture above was Patrick Berkenkotter. You can read about his experiences working on the UBS Global Illustration Project here.

Happy 2nd Birthday B.I.B!

2008-10-09T23:16:00.006+01:00

Yes, the Bible illustration blog was officially two years old on the 3rd October!
Readership of the blog continues to grow steadily each month. We now have over 1,000 visitors every week! I would like to take this opportunity again to say a big "Thank you" to all the readers and contributors, and I look forward, God willing, to posting more new articles, interviews and book reviews in the coming months.

When I started the B.I.B. two years ago, I only expected that a handful of Bible artists would ever visit. I never dreamt that University professors, Lecturers and Archeologists would eventually form part of the regular readership! I've been amazed by the amount of interest that the blog has received.

There are 112 posts to date which means that I add just over one post per week on average, so make sure that you visit at least once a week to check it out!
If you're a new visitor to this blog, you can find all the past posts in the 'Posts by Topic' section in the right hand column.
Many thanks again for your support of the B.I.B.

A Journey to the Holy Land

2008-09-30T22:52:00.004+01:00

I've just read a copy of 'A Journey to the Holy Land'. (An artist's diary by Margaret W. Tarrant), which I purchased from Amazon for 1p!
This is a 24 page shortened version of her own diary, which she called 'With a Sketchbook in Palestine'. It's a lovely little book illustrated with some very nice watercolours and pencil sketches which she made during a six week visit to the Holy Land in 1936. The book reads more like a travelogue, and accurately chronicles life in the Holy land during the 1930's. For this reason, it's not as interesting to the Bible illustrator as Elsie Anna Wood's 'A Gift Returned with Love' whose observations related more to Biblical times.

MWT made some very useful detailed sketches of traditional costume, architectural features, landscapes and of course the local people busy about their various occupations, which she later referred to when completing her Bible pictures.
MWT didn't just stay in the popular tourist areas of Jerusalem and Nazareth; she was able to travel into the surrounding villages and observe life in these much poorer communities. The buildings here were, no doubt, more like those of Bible times.

From reading her diary, I got the impression that MWT, like William Hole, was so impressed by what she saw of Israel in 1936, that she felt no real need to change or adapt these scenes for her Bible pictures. She comments "There were thousands of people who looked as if they had stepped straight out of Bible stories!" EAW, on the other hand, discerned that much had changed in the Holy Land, and she strived to record only what she saw to be biblically accurate. Having said that, you will not be disappointed if you purchase this little book. The pictures are beautiful!

I chose to add this particular picture (left) because of the black cat sat on the roof!
We were looking at MWT's use of animals in the last post. On the back cover of this book there's an old photo of MWT with a large black cat draped over her shoulder. This begs the question "was the cat in this picture actually there on the roof of that Jerusalem wash house?" Or did MWT add her own cat into the picture?

In March of last year, MWT's original sketchbook entitled 'Palestine 1936' sold at auction
for £550. It contained seventy two pages of her pencil sketches. What a bargain! If you're looking for a bargain, you can still grab a copy of 'A Journey to the Holy Land' for 1p on Amazon! You'll have to be quick though!

Pictures © The Medici Society Ltd 2008

Related posts:
Bible Animals
Elsie Anna Wood

Bible Animals

2008-09-24T00:26:00.003+01:00

I recently came across the above postcard for sale on Ebay. The illustration is by English Bible artist Margaret Tarrant. Her style is similar to that of Cicely Mary Barker whom she was good friends with. Like Elsie Anna Wood, Tarrant also went to Palestine in the 1930's to sketch and paint the landscape and it's people.

When I first saw this postcard, the animals struck me as being very British!
A fox, badger, cat, dog, pig, rabbits, goats, sparrows and an owl are all animals and birds that are commonly found in the British Isles. most of these animals and birds however, are found in the Bible, or at least have a close relative in the Holy Land. The Lord Jesus speaks of foxes in Matt 8:20, and dogs in Luke 16:21, He also mentions sparrows in Matt 10:29-31. Pigs, deer, owls and goats are all also mentioned in the Bible, as is the rock badger in Psalm 104:18, (although this was probably not the black and white British variety!)

Although cats are not directly mentioned in the Bible, we know that they were common in Egypt, so it's possible that there were some in Israel too, (although they wouldn't have been domesticated). It's been suggested that the reason that cats are not mentioned could be due to the fact that they were considered deities by the Egyptians.
There were no rabbits either, but there were two species of hare to be found in Syria, and one of these is very like the English variety.

We do tend to include in our pictures just the animals and birds that we readily associate with the Holy Land such as Camels, sheep, oxen, donkeys and doves. Maybe we should be a little more adventurous and, like Tarrant, add the odd fox or maybe even a cat into our Bible pictures! What do you think? If you're feeling adventurous, there's a helpful list of all the animals found in the Bible here.

Related posts:
What do ewe think?

The Prodigal Son

2008-09-19T15:19:00.011+01:00

The latest set of Bible pictures to be completed is a new version of 'The Prodigal Son'. There are 9 pictures in the set which brings our total Bible picture count to 738. This set will be available shortly from the 'Bible Picture Website'.

Picture 1 shows the son asking his father for his inheritance.
Picture 2 shows the son leaving home. There's a look of excitement and anticipation on the son's face, but the father's heart is heavy.
I was reminded, when illustrating this scene, of the Norman Rockwell picture 'Breaking Home Ties'. Rockwell's picture always reminds me of the time when I left home at the age of 17 to train as a cartoonist in Scotland. My Dad always wore overalls just like the Dad in Rockwell's picture.

Picture 3 shows the prodigal son partying! Picture 4 shows the prodigal walking through a hot dusty scene. His clothes are worn and the sun is blazing down. There are carcasses of animals lying around to indicate the famine in the land. Picture 5 shows the prodigal with his head in his hands surrounded by pigs. The pigs are feeding on the pods that are scattered on the floor around him.

Picture 6 shows a view from one of the upper rooms of the fathers house. We are looking over the shoulder of the father who is looking in anticipation towards an approaching figure in the distance. It's a very peaceful evening scene bathed with a pinkish glow from the setting sun. the cattle and sheep are grazing. Two servants are sat on a nearby roof cooling down and another servant carries a water jug across the courtyard below. There are no signs of famine here!
The stone balustrade across the bottom of this window is based on one of Dr Leen Ritmeyer sketches shown in the Houses in Bible times post.

In picture 7 the father hugs his son. Picture 8 (above) shows the servants following the command of the father by putting a ring on the son's finger, shoes on his feet and giving him a new coat to wear. You can also see the fatted calf being led away in the background. I was reminded recently by a friend of mine (Paul Rockley) that the ring was a symbol of acceptance, and that the sandals denoted the son was now a free man (slaves went barefoot).
Notice also in this picture that the servants all have an earring in their right ear. This was a way of showing how kind this master was to his servants. They had served the master for six years according to the requirements laid down in Exodus 21:1-6 and could have gone free, but chose rather to be bond servants, or bond slaves.
A slave could choose whether he wanted to go free after six years service. If they loved their master, he or she could stay on as a bond servant. The ceremony for entering bond service was as follows. The freed slave was taken to the entrance of the house, and his or her right ear was pressed against the door or doorpost and then pierced through with an awl (a spike). An earring was then worn as a symbol to all that this man or woman was a servant by choice and could neither be bought or sold.
(see Ex 21:1-6 and Deut 15:17). Both Paul and Peter referred to themselves as bond servants of the Lord Jesus.

Picture 9 shows the father speaking to the angry brother. celebrations are going on in the house behind them. There is a golden glow from the house which falls onto the father, but not the brother. He is in the foreground with his back to the house and lit by a separate light source, the moon. This was to emphasize that the brother wanted no part in the celebrations.
All comments welcome.

Posts on some other Bible stories:
Blind Bartimaeus
The Rich Young Rular
Zacchaeus
On the road to Emmaus
Raising Lazarus
Woman taken in Adultery
Feeding the 5,000
Healing of the Ten Lepers
The Ascension
Parable of the lost coin
The Temptation of Christ
Jesus in the Temple

Guest Bible Artist interview #5

2008-09-18T14:19:00.027+01:00

Annie Vallotton.
You may not be familiar with the name 'Annie Vallotton', but you will almost certainly have seen her pictures! Which is not surprising as a press release I came across recently from publisher HarperCollins claims that Ms Vallotton is the "Best selling artist of all time!" What you might find surprising though is that this 'best selling artist of all time' is famous for her Bible pictures! Swiss born Annie Vallotton, who now lives in Paris, provided the line illustrations for the 'Good News Bible' back in the 60's. According to the press release from HarperCollins, Ms Vallotton's picture sales are in excess of 70 billion-!!
last month, the 'American Church in Paris' dedicated a new library to Ms Vallotton called the 'Annie Vallotton lending library' and Ms Vallotton attended the service. (see picture above courtesy of Mike Norris).
Our 'Contact in Paris' Paula Taquet-Woolfolk, who attends the ACP, very kindly offered to interview Ms Vallotton on behalf of the Bible illustration blog, and conducted the interview in both French and English.

Before we go into the interview I would like to share with you a little bit about Annie Vallotton that Paula discovered while having lunch with her.
Annie, fresh from her art studies, didn't launch herself into a career, but worked in the refugee camps during the second World War painting frescos on the walls making them more welcoming to the refugees who included families from Poland, Estonia, and the Baltic region. Annie worked through the night on the murals and slept during the day!
It was while working in a refugee centre in Toulouse that AV met her lifelong friend Jeanne Bulté. Jeanne Bulté was a social worker, who was assigned to work in the same refugee center in Toulouse. During the war, both Annie and Jeanne worked in the Resistance. Annie's Swiss nationality helped her when she transported mail back and forth. While working in the camps Annie and Jeanne met Bertie Albrecht, (the leader of the Résistantes - the female part of the Resistance). Bertie told Annie that Annie's grandfather, Paul Vallotton, had baptised her many years before!
Later, Annie saw Bertie Albrecht on one of the streets of Paris, heavily disguised. Bertie told Annie that she had acted insane while she was in prison so that she could get out. Bertie continued to work in the Resistance until she was killed by the Germans.
Annie comes from a very talented family. Her father, Benjamin Vallotton, was a well known writer and wrote 55 books. Her father's cousin was the well known painter Félix Vallotton. Annie's brother Pierre followed in the footsteps on his Grandfather and became a minister. He also built by hand many magnificent church organs! Annie herself is also very musical and plays the violin.

The Interview:
How did you come to illustrate the Good News Bible, and how many illustrations did you complete for it?
In the early 60s, a man from the American Bible Society, American Eugene Nida (currently living in Brussels), contacted me from Germany to ask me if I could come to Stuttgart where he had ten minutes only during which he wanted to see me. Was I willing? Yes I was willing. I met him at the airport and he had one of my very first books with him. He wanted me to make illustrations for the Good News Bible (GNB) an edition for children, and he wanted the same kinds of illustrations that I had done in this book. He said "I want very much to have Your illustrations because your illustrations are very simple, and we love them!"
He said "Are you ready to do this?" I replied "Yes, I am quite ready!" I was very excited. Then I started doing the Bible illustrations and I've been doing them all of my life! (AV laughs). I believe I did around 510 drawings!
All in Black and white?
Yes, all in black and white unfortunately. I have recently received a new edition published by the Korean Bible Society with my illustrations in color. I was very surprised to see it in colour! I believe this is the first edition of the GNB with all illustrations in color. I asked the American Bible Society to make one, they agreed, but I've been waiting for three years!

Can you remember how long it took you to illustrate the Good News Bible?
I can't remember. It took me a long long time I must say, I didn't want to have illustrations with many lines. My desire was to have just the main lines. This is why I did some of the drawings 80-90 times before I achieved the one I wanted. I wanted to simplify them the most I could. I wanted to get to the truth...the most important thing!

Did you have an interest in the Bible before you were asked to illustrate the GNB?
Yes, I became a Christian at one month of age, (AV laughs), so I've always been interested in the Bible. My younger brother, Pierre Vallotton, is a minister, (now retired). He was at the Reformed Church of Saint-Dié, in the Vosges (Église Réformée de Saint-Dié). He built the organ there and asked me to design six stained-glass windows depicting the Creation. It was a fascinating job to do! (see windows below). Also on one of the inside walls of the Église Réformée de Saint-Dié, there's a large painting by the French painter and Pastor Henri Lindegaard (1925- 1996).

Can you remember having any difficulty depicting any Biblical characters, or a particular Bible story?
No particular difficulties - I wanted to illustrate everything, even if it was very difficult. My desire made it easy. I wanted to reach the youngsters.

Your style has a timelessness about it due to its simplicity, and yet at the same time, you manage to get so much expression
into each picture. Did you illustrate the GNB in your own style, or did you simplify your own style?
Yes, yes. Exactly so! I wanted to be as simple as I could, especially for the youngsters, but also for the adults too!

Many people have commented that your pictures never distract from the text, and never try to interpret the story. Was his difficult to accomplish?
I did not find this difficult to accomplish, because I tried to find total simplicity.

Did you find yourself having to do much research into Bible clothing, buildings, customs etc?
I had no need to research clothing or buildings, you see, I wanted drawings that were 'out of time'.

What did you use to illustrate the pictures with? Also, did you add colour to any of the pictures yourself?
I used a pencil to do the roughs and a pen to ink them. I never added color, someone else did that.

Do you still do any Bible illustrations?
Yes! What I am doing a lot now is speaking to children in many different churches. On 21st September I will be speaking at 'Temple du Foyer de l'Âme'. I am going to this church to speak to the children about the Lord, and to draw for the children. I hope to have a lot of children there. I will teach them a song also! (AV sings a little chorus for Paula, she's very musical!)

Have you illustrated any other Bible related books?
Yes, several. 'Priority: Jesus' life in 60 drawings', 'From the Apple to the Moon', 'The Mighty One and Sam', 'Who Are You Jesus', 'The Man who said No: Story of Jonah' also 'Blessed Are the Peacemakers'. I also worked with author Claire-Lise de Benoit. Our books were published in Africa in many different dialects. Over one hundred I believe!

Bible artists rarely get recognized for their work, but this month saw the opening of a library in Paris dedicated to you! (At the American Church in Paris)
Was this a big surprise to you?
Nothing coming from the Americans surprises me! (AV laughs). I was very, very touched, I love the American people.

I read on the internet recently that, according to the publisher Harper Collins, you are the 'Best selling Artist of all time'. Do you have any comments on that?
(Ms Vallotton laughs) Laughter is the king, and saves one's life! You especially need humor! Too many people read the Bible with a severe face! I say no, the Bible is not that! The Bible is life, and it is wonderful! (Paula agrees).

The photo above was taken in the church which Annie attends and shows her speaking to the children with the aid of an overhead projector. Annie Vallotton clearly loves children, and has dedicated her life to presenting the Bible message in the clearest possible way to them. It's fitting that the illustrator of the 'Good News' Bible is still active presenting the Good News in person! I would like to close with a quote from another interview with Anne Vallotton conducted by Annie Biroleau-Lemagny. (kindly translated by Paula Taquet-Woolfolk).
"She (Annie) attributes the success (of her pictures) to the simplicity, and the absence of ethnocentrism which permits each person to project his own face and his own culture onto her graphic suggestions".

Thank you so much again Ms Vallotton for agreeing to the interview. A big thank you also to Paula Taquet-Woolfolk for conducting the interview, and Mike Norris, also from the American Church in Paris, for providing the photo of the dedication service.
As Ms Vallotton has no internet access, I will send a selection of the comments that readers leave on this post for her to see.

Update: December 2009
Just received a Christmas card from Annie in which she writes:
"I love very much all what is said in the comments on the Bible illustration blog...... All the comments go in my heart because they look so sincere."
Annie goes on to say that she wants to write a reply to each comment which she is doing slowly. I will add these comments as soon as I receive them.

Black and white photo © Eglise Réformée de l'Oratoire du Louvre 2008.
Annie Vallotton illustrations © Bible society 2008

Related posts:
Interview with Jeff Anderson
Interview with Keith Neely
Interview with Diana Shimon
Interview with Dr Leen Ritmeyer

A Gift Returned with Love

2008-09-13T00:07:00.008+01:00

I am deeply indebted to Prof Sandy Brewer for the loan of the very rare book 'A Gift Returned with Love' which is a brief autobiography by Bible artist Elsie Anna Wood. EAW was 87 years old at the time of writing and was living in a nursing home in Norwich. She died 4 years later in 1978 at the age of 91.This is one of the most unusual books I've ever seen. It has obviously been self published presumably at a low cost and is very simply bound. It contains no pictures, and the text is in a typewriter font which gives it the feel of an original manuscript. Combined with the poor quality paper, the impression is given that this is an unimportant book which it most certainly is not! Anyone with an interest in Bible illustration will find this a wonderfully fascinating and important book! It deserves to be reprinted and fully illustrated with EAW's full color pictures.

EAW saw herself as a 'Missionary Artist', and a successor in this respect to Harold Copping. A Missionary artist is one who provides pictures for missionary societies to help them present the Gospel message. EAW was a missionary artist in the true sense as not only did she go to live amongst the people that she was drawing, but just as a missionary has to learn a new language in order to effectively communicate, she also adapted her style of illustration, or rather she learned the 'visual language' of the people in order that her illustrations would be better understood by them. When in Egypt she wrote:
"...everything had to be noted and learnt, before I could begin to draw in a way which would be familiar and acceptable to the children who knew only their own country and its ways". She also makes an interesting observation about light and shadow in the Holy Land.
"Here I observed that even in representational paintings there was no use of shadows, as we are accustomed to see in Europe.....I began to perceive that this flat shadowless treatment was in fact due to the actual appearance of things in intense light. For the strong sunlight on the ground reflects light onto vertical surfaces, almost abolishing shadows". She also wrote "I found that when at the first I drew in pen and ink, using fine lines and cross-hatching for shadows to which I had been accustomed, the comment might be "Why has he got dirt on his face?" So I learnt that I must follow the Eastern manner and do without shadow....Although at the time I did not realise it, this study was for me equivalent to the language study with which most people started their missionary career. I was learning not word language but picture language".

EAW was especially thrilled to visit Jerusalem. She wrote "I am in love with Jerusalem. It is a much more beautiful place than I had imagined." she did regret not staying in the Jewish quarter of the city however, as she explains "It is probable that if I had lived in that Jewish Quarter I should have painted my pictures with more of the Hebrew rather than Arab touch."

When asked how long it might take her to complete the task of illustrating the 'Life of Christ' in fifty pictures, EAW estimated two years. She later commented "I had at first, in my ignorance, estimated that I would need two years to complete fifty pictures-!! Then I thought that they could be done in five years. Finally, with some other work undertaken, I found that 35 years had passed when nearly one hundred had gone to press. She had commented earlier "I don't want to sacrifice quality to speed though, in fact I just can't."
Sandy Brewer informed me that EAW had been involved in a car accident while in the Holy Land which had affected her eyesight.
EAW had hoped to be able to complete 100 Bible pictures, and despite problems with her eyesight, she still managed to complete 95!

EAW's research was second to none! In 1934, in preparation for her pictures of the Nativity she travelled to Bethlehem and sketched the landscape and the people. Later, when she had to draw Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, (see left), she travelled to Jerusalem and stayed in a little hostel belonging to the Greek Orthodox Convent which was situated in the upper garden itself. EAW comments "For the Gethsemane drawing, I had to get my information about the probable position and appearance of things. It would have been a moonlight scene, for Passover was at the time of full moon." While at the convent she would go out at night "to sit among the olives and try to determine what exactly is the colour of moonlight. I made rough charcoal studies of the trees (one cannot paint by moonlight) then I would come indoors and colour my sketches according to what I remembered, and out again, till I became too weary."
After EAW describes in her book the great lengths she went to in choosing the location for the Crucifixion picture, she says "Of course such detail as this makes no difference to the intrinsic truth of the story, but it does make a considerable difference to the maker of the picture, for the sense of actuality of a definite place and situation creates a firm basis on which the scene can be built up in one's mind." I agree with this comment wholeheartedly. If all the detail that Bible artists include in their pictures only satisfies them, it's been well worth the effort!

I found the book thrilling! I could associate with so much of what EAW speaks about, even down to the way she chooses a paintbrush! But what is most helpful is the wonderful way that EAW vividly describes the colors and scenery of the Holy Land. This book can only be described as a feast! I'm so glad that EAW wrote this book. In her closing remarks she writes "I look back to the day when, singing in the Sunday School, I mentally decided to be "on the Lord's side". A child's resolution has never been regretted. And as I trace the series of events which led to the task of painting the life of Christ, I see that He has acknowledged my resolve. For hardly a Sunday School or even a Day School is without at least some of my pictures of that life.
But how very much of their value depends not only on the pictures but upon the teachers who use them, giving children an awareness of Christ, His love and His power."
Elsie Anna Wood was a special lady with a great gift. A gift that she used for her Lord. It was a 'Gift returned with Love'.

Pictures © SPCK 2008

Related posts:
Elsie Anna Wood
More Elsie Anna Wood Bible Art

The Lost Sheep

2008-08-31T13:22:00.015+01:00

Our latest Bible picture story to be completed is 'The Lost Sheep'.
There are 4 pictures in this set which brings our total Bible picture count to 729.
Part of picture 4 (right) shows the traditional method used by shepherds to carry sheep.

Drawing a Biblical Shepherd!
I thought I might share with you a few bits of information about Biblical Shepherds that might come in useful to anyone who needs to draw one.
The equipment of a shepherd:
We only usually identify a shepherd in our pictures by the addition of a staff or crook, but there were a number of other items that a shepherd used too. Many shepherds like David used a sling. A sling was used to both ward off or kill predators that threatened the sheep. What happened though, if the stone missed its target, or the predator was too close for the sling to be used? In Psalm 23, David says "Thy Rod and Thy staff, they comfort me." We've already mentioned
the shepherds staff which was used to hook under the front legs of a sheep that was in danger, and lift it to safety. It was the rod however that the shepherd used to defend both himself and the sheep at close quarters when the sling had failed.
This rod, which you can see being used by a shepherd in the picture (left) by Elsie Anna Wood, was more like a two foot long club, thicker at one end and typically made of oak wood. Sometimes spikes were driven into the hitting end for greater impact! It was a club like this that David used to rescue the lamb from the lion's mouth. David, who was familiar with the shepherds 'tools of the trade,' uses the picture of both the rod and staff to show how God is one who would both Defend and Rescue him in times of trouble. This was a great comfort to him.
A Scrip was a bag that was made of a dried goat's skin and was used by the shepherd to carry his food such as bread, cheese, olives or dried fruit. The shepherd also carried a cloak which doubled up as his bedding at night.

The shepherds entertainment:
Shepherds spent long hours out in the fields, and remember there were no ipods or GoBibles to listen to in those days, they had to make their own entertainment which was often in the form of music.
A flute was often taken into the fields to pass the time. No doubt this had a calming effect on the sheep too!
Were the sheep the first to hear Davids harp playing?

The Shepherd as a Door:
The sheepfold was often just a circular dry stone wall with an opening that served as an entrance into it. It was in this opening that the shepherd sat and slept. In this way the shepherd both protected the sheep from danger and stopped them from straying. The shepherd was acting as a door to the sheepfold. This is what the Lord Jesus was speaking of when He referred to Himself as the 'Door of the sheep'. (John 10: 7-10)

I hope that this has been helpful. All comments welcome!
Elsie Anna Wood picture © SPCK.

Related posts:
What do 'Ewe' think?