I got the idea for this drawing from the following paragraph in Frank Holmes' biography of R. C. Chapman: It is only fair to say of the two other leading figures of those years, Darby and Müller, that they were both holy men, and by no means devoid of love. The position seems to be that each member of this remarkable trio manifested one gift above all others. With Müller it was faith; with Darby it was hope; and with Chapman it was love. Müller’s faith was evident in the Orphan work; Darby’s hope was seen in his expositions of the Second Coming; and Chapman’s love appeared in his quiet ministry of reconciliation. These three men made a huge impression in church history. Müller started an orphanage to show the power of faith-based ministry, eventually providing for more than 10,000 orphans and providing extensive financial support for China Inland Missions, all without asking for a shilling. He became known as "God's Banker." R. C. Chapman provided Agape Leadership to the early brethren movement, and during its moment of crisis, helped hold together a model of church function that would eventually put more missionaries into the field for its size than any Christian denomination. He also mentored and modeled true servant leadership to a generation of believers. He was often called "the Apostle of Love." Darby formalized the early church's pre-millennial views, including the imminent rapture—views which had long fallen out of favor. He is often recognized as the father of Dispensationalism. The picture on the right is an animated gif that shows the process: Pencil sketch, digital trace of pencil sketch, adjustments to traced image which is then printed and inked with traditional brush-pen, scan inks and adjust / cleanup, digital color, textures (hard to see), and color adjustment (toned down the saturation a bit). I started a Robert Cleaver Chapman quote art twitter account. Not sure how long it will last, but it has helped me absorb more of Chapman's works—of which there are few. Chapman destroyed most of his sermon notes and writings before he died, saying that he did not want to dilute the milk of the word with his watery ink. That goes with his humble character, but I think we are the worse for it. Right now I only know of four works related to him: Two biographies and two books. The books are "Choice Sayings" and "The Shepherd and His Ransomed Flock." I think there may be one more, but I'm not sure. Both the books were bootleg - originally published without his consent, but after they began circulating he released edited, more accurate versions. Here are three quote art posters I recently made with Canva, an online graphic design tool. You can click them to see larger versions.
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