The Wonder At The Well

May 16, 2024May 16, 20241 Comment

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.

A cartoon illustration depicting a narrator introducing the opening scene in the story. She is in the foreground gesturing to the people behind her. In the distance, Jesus sits on the edge of the well while people travel by foot up and down a narrow road that leads to a walled town. All people are wearing Roman-style clothing from the time period of Jesus' life. One of the people approaching the well is the narrator, a woman carrying a vase.

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.

Number 75 of 150

May 21, 2023April 28, 2023Leave a comment

And here’s the blind man with a guide dog I promised you.

Public service announcement: A Guide Dog is a type of Service Animal. They are not the same thing as an Emotional Support Animal. Guide dogs and other Service Animals go through extensive training and cost a lot of money. Service Animals know how to behave in public without being a nuisance or a danger. Emotional support animals often don’t, even when they’re legit ESAs (nominal distinction that that is) instead of fake ESA pets. Service animals are required by law to be allowed to go pretty much anywhere that their handler is allowed to go. ESA’s are not. Please don’t attempt to pass off your ESA or (even worse) your pet as a Service Animal. Their poor behavior will reflect badly on real Service Animals. That will just make it harder for disabled folks who depend on ACTUAL Service Animals to get their rights honored. Just don’t do it, no matter how much you want to take fluffy with you to the grocery store.

A cartoon illustration of a old, blind South Asian man walking with a guide dog. He is wearing beach clothes including sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, shots, and flip-flop sandals. He's also carrying a bag with beach supplies including a towel, water bottle, and dog bone. He has a mustache and beard and is half-bald.

Number 62 of 150

April 25, 2023April 27, 2023Leave a comment

This boy is walking with forearm crutches. I was to draw him as if he were walking to school wearing a backpack. I actually kind of like drawing backpacks, for some reason.

A cartoon illustration of a black boy, aged 4-6, walking with forearm crutches. He's wearing a backpack, two-tone t-shirt, athletic shorts, and sneakers.

Number 56 of 150

April 13, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

The last child for this batch, with groovy tie-dye.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous child aged 10-12. They are walking towards the left while waving. They have their long, black hair in two braids and their smile shows a slight gap between their two front teeth. They are wearing jeans, red sneakers, and a pink tie-dyed t-shirt with a tribal-style bear paw print.

Number 44 of 150

February 18, 2023February 2, 2023Leave a comment

I think I found the old ladies the most delightful to draw.

I originally used a brown, yellow, and black combination which I thought was very stylish. But the client wanted purple, yellow, and black instead. So, that’s what we went with.

An elderly Middle Eastern woman is walking towards the viewer with one hand raised as if waving. She's smiling and looks like she's moving carefully. She has a yellow hijab, white, yellow, and light purple horizontally striped shirt, light purple cardigan, loose black pants, and yellow slide-on sneakers.

My Treehouse – Page 8

January 12, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s page 8 from My Treehouse, a short graded reader I recently illustrated for Learning A-Z. As you can see, it’s really not so much a treehouse as an elevated playhouse build around some trees. But the girl seems to like it.

Girl walks out onto treehouse balcony

My Treehouse – Cover Spread

January 2, 2020January 2, 20202 Comments

Well, I’ve been super busy lately. When that happens, nothing gets posted on the website at all. But today I’ve got a bit of a breather while I wait on feedback from a client, so I’m setting up some posts.

I illustrated a short graded reader for Learning A-Z titled My Treehouse. Here’s the spread for the wrapped cover on that one. The first page is the same image, but a cropped version showing just the right-hand side of this scene.
Girl walks towards treehouse.