This is the second of nine illustrations for a short series for Menno Media for their Shine curriculum. Here we see a scene from the story of the woman at the well. I illustrated this story once before in a previous project for a different client. This is where Jesus tells the woman about who he is and about the figurative water he is offering in the form of his salvation.
Here on pages 11 and 12 we’re back to a two-page spread with a bleed around the edge. This illustration is where the penny drops. She says she knows that the Messiah is coming, and He responds with, “I am he!” Which, skeptical me, thinks would lead to a lot of questions to confirm such a claim, but this is a bible story, so she takes him at his word.
Remember how I’m not supposed to show Jesus’s face clearly? This scene comes the closest in the book to showing His face, but I gave Him shaggy hair to cover His eyes.
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.
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.
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.
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 