Illustrations for Redemption Press
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The second panel on page 10 shows people praying outdoors in nature near a tent. This represents another way Jesus says people will pray after they learn his teachings.
The Wonder At The Well
Tag: historical
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
7 of 18
On page 10 there are two panels showing how people will pray in the future, after they learn what Jesus has to teach. This first panel shows a Samaritan family praying around the table before a meal.
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
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This is the second of two panels on page 9. In the story, Jesus and the woman are discussing how their people pray, and this panel shows how Jewish men pray at The Second Temple. (If you look close, you might notice that only the men are going up into the temple.)
I had to use historical references to draw the temple because the actual temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Luckily, I found some archeological drawings and photos of models depicting what The Second Temple was supposed to have looked like.
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
5 of 18
Pages 9 and 10 are drawn with panels instead of the two-page spread I’ve used so far. This is the first of two panels on page 9. It shows some Samaritans climbing Mount Gerizim to pray.
In the story, Jesus and the woman are discussing how their people pray, and this panel shows how Samaritans pray three times a year on Mount Gerizim.
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
4 of 18
Unfortunately, here we’re back to a fairly boring back view of Jesus as he talks to the woman. But it has a pretty view of the scenery. She is now feeling a bit embarrassed about her earlier attitude.
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
3 of 18
This image was the one I was most proud of in this project. It’s an unusual bird’s-eye view and shows Jesus mostly as a reflection in the water. It’s the most creative way I found to show Him without directly showing Him.
Additionally, in this scene Jesus is talking to the woman about both real and figurative water. (He’s comparing his teachings to eternal water which will sate her figurative thirst forever.) So, showing the water here served the story.
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
2 of 18
In this second illustration we see the woman speaking to Jesus with an attitude as he holds out his hand. (He is asking for water, and she’s appalled he’s even speaking to her, since she’s a Samaritan and he’s a Jew.)
Notice how only Jesus’ hand and arm are shown? In the previous post about this I explained how the author did not want Jesus depicted directly. The art direction for this panel was to show Jesus holding his hand out to the woman. So, that’s just what I did. Only his hand and arm were really necessary to convey the idea, so that’s all I showed.
Do you see the animals in this panel? To make the story more visually interesting, the author had me hide a butterfly and a frog somewhere on every page. I also included that cat in some of them. The frog and butterfly are both species native to the area around modern-day Israel. The Middle East Tree Frog and The European Common Blue Butterfly. I was more concerned with visibility than accurate sizing, so they’re both drawn larger than they actually are. The cat is just a regular orange tabby.
The Wonder At The Well
Illustrations for Redemption Press
1 of 18
I recently finished a series of illustrations for a book titled The Wonder At The Well by Vicky Wedel for Redemption Press. By the publisher’s name, you can guess this is a story for the religious market. It tells the biblical story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well and was so moved by what He said that she immediately went to bring most of her village to come listen to and learn from Him.
Nothing against the story, but it’s not the most visually interesting tale. It’s basically just people talking in every panel. Talking about something that a Christian audience would find very important and inspiring, of course. But still just talking.
However, there was one interesting challenge. I’m sure you’re all aware of the controversy about how to best depict Jesus in art today. Historically, most cultures generally depicted Him as looking like themselves. So, in Asia, He looked Asian. In Africa, He looked black. And in America, He’s usually depicted as white. That’s not necessarily a problem except that, unfortunately, at least in the US, there’s been a lot of White Nationalism that’s become attached to the image of White Jesus. To avoid the stink of that, many Christians here now prefer a more historically accurate Brown Jesus. But not everyone.
To sidestep the whole messy issue, the author on this project decided she just didn’t want His face shown clearly in any of the images. She wanted all back views and obscured views. Nothing straight on with any clear details to his face.
So, the unique challenge for me was to illustrate this story so that it’s not just a series of back views of Jesus. To be clear, there are some back views of Jesus. It couldn’t be avoided. But I’m very proud that I managed to make sure it wasn’t all back views.
Here’s our first one. It shows Jesus’ back, but also the narrator, townspeople, and the town in the distance.
Another thing to note is the speech bubble. This project is drawn using comic book elements including speech bubbles and panels. This panel is a two-page spread with a quarter-inch bleed. I’m not including the text of the manuscript in these art samples, only the art.
Finished: Claudette Colvin on the Bus
And now I’m done.
This is the final version of my illustration of Claudette Colvin refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus on March 2, 1955 in Montgomery, AL. She was 15 years old and was riding the city bus home from school. Because she refused, police were called and she was arrested.
This was 9 months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, but they were not the only ones. Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith and Jeanetta Reese also refused to give up their seats. Their arrests were the trigger for the Montgomery AL bus boycott that ran from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956. All these women were plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit against the city of Montgomery, AL and the bus company. On June 5, 1956 the court found that bus segregation was unconstitutional but it was sent to the US Supreme Court and through an appeal before the city and bus company were finally forced to integrate the buses on December 20, 1956.
There are two photos of Miss Colvin taken around that time which I used for references on her likeness and a hint at the clothing she might have worn that day. I’m not sure what color she’d have worn, but red illustrates anger and stands out nicely from the green bus seats. I always draw kids with big eyes, so her eyes are disproportional. I hope that doesn’t throw off her likeness too much. I think her face could be a little narrower, but then the huge eyes wouldn’t fit. I got her chin with that little almost-cleft. The nose is pretty close. Glasses and hair are right, I think. I got her coloring from a color photo of her as an adult.
I didn’t find any references to who the white woman was who demanded that Miss Colvin move or any of the other passengers on the bus. So, I used my imagination and designed some generic characters with 1950s clothes and hair. I hope I didn’t make the women too colorful. I got their fashions from vintage photos and drawings.
The bus interior is based on several reference photos of buses of that era.
Anyway…
What historical figure should I tackle next?
WIP: A Little More Progress…
Here’s some progress on my Claudette Colvin illustration. Lines are more-or-less final and I’ve done the colors and shading on Miss Colvin there in the middle.
More to come…
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 