This was the second doctrinal / devotional image I did with the XP-Pen digitizer, but the first to get stamped with the Draw Near logo. I water-marked this one, but later ones have the logo clearly visible. Artistically, I did a fair amount of shading. I still haven't made up my mind whether or not I like it like this, or more like later ones where the shading is simple 3 tone - base, shade, and highlights - with no blending. If you aren't familiar with the story the image is riffing on, it is said that the reason there aren't any snakes in Ireland is that Patrick, the "Apostle to Ireland," drove them all into the sea. St. Patrick is actually a fascinating character. He was born during the early 400's to a Roman family in Britan but was kidnapped as a teen and sold into slavery in Ireland. After six years he escaped, but returned to bring the gospel to the residents of Ireland. The reference here is that Christ is the real snake banisher, per Genesis 3:15. His heel is marred from the wounds of the cross, but the serpent's head is being crushed under his foot. This was my first digital drawing for Draw Near. If you look closely, you can see that I drew in the words "Draw Near" in the bottom right. This one is slightly modified from the original. The first, instead of saying "the church is designed for persecution," said "the church thrives in it." I got some pushback on Twitter, with one guy responding, "This is empirically false. Persecution has repeatedly wiped out Christian groups around the world, never to return." I think this criticism misses the point. The church experiences different phases. Sometimes it has prosperity (which is not the same as luxury), sometimes it experiences persecution, and sometimes it experiences dispersal. Wheat grows, ripens, and is cut down to be harvested, both for food and for planting. That's not a failure of the wheat, it is its purpose. Early Christians in Jerusalem experiences tremendous persecution, but they spread it far and wide as they fled. Regardless, I changed the heading because I don't feel like defining the term "thrive" to everyone who reads it, and because the actual point of the drawing was to point out the terrible effects of luxury on the church. |