Creators

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how incredibly magnificent the world is. I constantly look around me and marvel at the beauty, ingenuity, and uniqueness present in all of our physical surroundings. Every time I try to think about how God did it, my mind is blown so far out of proportion that I usually give up the thought completely...and ultimately the only conclusion I ever come to is that my feeble brain simply can't comprehend it all. But then, once I give in to the fact that I can't understand exactly how God did it, my mind is blown even farther when I think about the fact that God has put in every person the ability to be creators themselves - the ability to replicate His creation to some degree.

How awesome is that? The fact that we can take God's creation and use it to create things ourselves. Certainly, we aren't able to create anything completely "new" in the sense that it doesn't fit into the physical ruleset God placed into the universe we live in...but we are able to take great joy in the ability we have to mimic and expand upon everything He has done. To know that I have this ability inside of me is one of the most unbelievable and exciting things I've ever felt. That I have the ability to create...and in creating, I have the ability to explore and dream of new possibilities that are further revelations of the greatness of God's creation. As an artist, whenever I draw, this theological context always seems to sit happily in the back of my mind, silently supporting and enhancing my creative prowess. I think it's one of the main reasons I love art so much.

Recently, I've been studying the human figure...specifically, the face. As I delve into its features more deeply and completely, the human form consistently shows me how brilliantly constructed we really are. There are a staggering amount of mathematical proportions that go into the face's framework. And in all of the mathematically precise logic, the face is molded into an incredibly organic, soft, and breathable shape that can be one of the most pleasing and familiar things to the human eye. It's funny - I used to be afraid to draw people and faces, because they were so complex...but now that I'm starting to get into them, I'm constantly in awe of the level of detail, precision, and beauty to be found in the human form. In fact, the extreme level of complexity present in the human form's architecture is something that now makes me even more excited to continue studying it. It has truly captivated my heart.

I suppose that through my artwork, I'm coming to a greater understanding of the fact that we are literally the pinnacle of God's creation. I can almost just imagine God creating the first man, sitting back, looking at what He had done, and smiling with an air of satisfaction at his ultimate craftsmanship. The same thing happens to me when I draw something I know is good. I believe that you've probably felt it in something that you've created as well. Inevitably, I am constantly more appreciative of my own God-given ability to be a creator. We are ALL creators in some way.

Here are a few of my face drawings from the past week and a half...all freehanded again. Hopefully they're a little better than the last ones I posted. =)

Now a couple of non face-related drawings.

This is an image I've had in my head for the last 3-4 months. I finally took some initiative to get it on paper. Just a quick sketch that will act as a blueprint for the final drawing. =)

Wall-E is coming along nicely. You can compare this picture to the last picture I uploaded of him a couple weeks ago. I think he's much cleaner now. Haven't gotten to the detail stage yet...still just blocking in colors and shapes at the moment. I'm going to continue working on him to get better at digital painting.

Man. How could any artist possibly not be astounded by the craftsmanship of THE master artist? It's just too amazing...haha...