As promised

 

This image is two and a half days of work. There were many breaks in between to identify faint details and to choose colors. I guess my age is showing because of this but, as my end of post says, "Love the details". Doing justice to this image is just like trying to capture him on paper. IMPOSSIBLE! Love of Christ is something intangible within our hearts. He has many possible visages within our minds and hearts. If we had seen Him in person I have no doubts that he would not be as we would expect Him to be visually. I colored this image with love and care to show a possibility of His likeness. I am not completely happy with it but it is the best I could do. 

The Copic colors used are:

This is a MoonTear image as indicated on the image. The white portions of this image were very subtle and the CO & COO cool gray colors were used to make the intended image become clear. The skin shading was kept more tanned to be true to the area He lived in. The hair was difficult close to the shoulder because it was not very distinct but it was there.

Next week I will write a post and share yet another image from MoonTear. There are a few more of the Christ images coming in the future as well. Until then May the good Lord bless and Keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."

Hopelessness

 

The quote above is set in a picture of a desert dune. That is truly what it is like when there is no capacity to love. If I seem to be on this subject a lot it is because it is the single most important subject in the bible. If you have ever felt empty and hopeless then you know what I mean. There are people who are incapable of love or of being loved. They are individuals who are aeromatic. This often results in depression. I am no expert in these things nor am I immune to the effects of  depression. The absence of love is somewhat foreign to me. Compassion for others and empathy for the suffering is something that is hard to ignore in the world today. There certainly is enough suffering to go around. So much so that it is not possible to be involved in every single case. That can be depressing in itself. All I can say is do what you can do and pray for that which you can't directly help with. You can do what you can do and no more. The rest is up to the good Lord.

This week I have a very special image to share. Most of the images for the next few weeks will be from MoonTear. The amazing thing about many of these images is they are AI (artificial intelligence) created. Here is the image as colored and photographed.

I enhanced this through my photo enhancement software to remove the graininess from the finished image. This is close to the way it appears in person. 

The Copic colors are:

I hope you like the coloring. That is it for this week. May the good Lord Bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."

Sneak Peek

 

No message today. The above BainyQuote is the message.

The image shared last week was reduced to 4"x6" and colored. It turned out OK but in reducing the sized much of the detail is lost and it became VERY difficult to color. That said I am using it as a test to detemine the final colors used to do the final (hopefully) 8"x11 1/2" image. 

For those of you that have reduced the size of an image with fine detail you know that some of the detail actually disappears. The finished image will be different than this image. I am not giving the colors used for this image because some of them will change. This is a teaser. I am working on several other easier images along with the final rendering of this one.

Remember to always "Love The Details" and God Bless and keep you safe.

Decision

Last week I wrote about resolution making. The fulfillment of resolutions requires decisions. Those decisions make or break the path we take to fulfilling the resolution. Instead of a resolution I have decided to follow my dear wife and choose a word for the year. "Listen" is the word chosen. You must learn to be still to listen fully. This is the essence of what the word for the year means to me. The place in the bible that is my all time favorite for this is 1 Kings 19:3-13. Elijah, fearing Jezabelle's threat to kill him fled to a cave where he was instructed to go outside as the Lord was passing by. Horrific wind, fire and earth quake were experienced but the Lord was not in them. After this there was silence except for a gentle breeze. At this Elijah fell to his knees for this was the the voice of the Lord. That is what I seek. It is one of the reasons that being alone in solitude is important when praying to the Lord. It is one of the reasons these posts are often done when it is the middle of the night. The solitude and quiet. Listening for that soft gentle voice telling me what to write. It is a time when the hustle and bustle craziness of the daily rush is muted and silent. I wish I could tell you how many times I have started a post during the day and got up in the middle of the night ony to discard it and start over with a new post. That special gentle voice is only audible when we are still and listening for it. Yes it guides us during the day with all of the distractions but to truly hear it requires being still mentally and physically. These times are also the times when my heart and soul can praise our Lord and feel Him close. When He is close that is when that soft gentle voice can be heard.

Rather than a finished colored image this week I would like to share an image I got off the internet from ETSY. ( MoontearPrints ) It is a special image that I will be coloring between now and Easter. These are not free images. Please do not take them.

This is one of several I have purchased to color and share with you. I will also be sharing them with MoontearPrints when finished before it is posted.

That is it for this week. May the good lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love the Details."

Resolutions

 I pray everyone had a happy healthy holiday.

This quote struck me as perfect for this post. We all have wishes and that is what we use for our New Year resolutions most often. The problem is that these things are also those things that are most often something we haven't the will to complete. Why? There is no purpose behind the wish just something we want. Being the human beings we are, making resolutions with purpose gives us the reason to work for even if we do not immediately achieve that purpose. It may seem crazy but  for some Christianity is much like the New Year resolution. We resolve to do something or go after something knowing in our heart that we will break that resolution. We celebrate the birth of Christ then immediately forget what it all means. In a few months we will celebrate Easter, the culmination of the reason Christ was born. Many will go through the motions of celebrating His sacrifice then go back out into the sin filled world and forget what they celebrated. Why? The reasons are many but the truth is there is no belief or commitment. The purpose is nonexistent in the heart. What purpose? To walk with the knowledge and belief that we are sinners and have to guard our walk through this world every moment of our lives. Every Christmas and especially Easter are deeply felt in my experience of them. It is not something that we can touch, smell, taste or see but in the end it will be the greatest fulfillment. Yes I put it in the future because it is not done yet. It is an ongoing process but I know it will be fulfilled. Can you say that about your resolutions?

 Just a quick image. Don't know where it came from but it was done for DW to make a card with. 

The Cop0ic colors used are:

That is it for this week. May the good Lord keep you safe and well. Remember to always "Love The Details."

The birth of Christ.

 

It would seem that many in our government would fit this analogy. Why would I say this? Over the passage of time many have run for office and made promises only to be elected and break those promises. It is rare that promises have been kept. Elected officials seem to think they are better judges of what is needed, what is right or wrong for those that have elected them. Am I getting political? No! What is my point? This country was founded on Christian beliefs and ethics. There have always been those who would bend or flat out ignore those beliefs to the breaking point. Laws have never replaced the need for Christian ethics and beliefs. Christ was born lived and died for us. That birth was a blessing for us in many ways. Most important of all is his example of what we should become in this life so that we would have eternal life. That is not something someone else can give us. Our God came to us in the form of a man to live among us and feel what we feel, experience what we experience. His birth was something we are celebrating this week. Celebrate His birth and let the present giving be secondary.

No artwork today. I will not post again until after the holidays. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New year. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe until then. Remember to always "Love The Details."

Total Love

No truer words have ever been voiced. It is difficult to understand that kind of love or to put into words the impact that kind of love would have on those who embrace it. I can't name anyone who has encountered a flesh and blood  living person in this day and age that has experienced it. Can you? It is available though. We all seek it. We all long for the kind of love that knows no age, no limit, no death. The problem is the definition this world has for love is not that kind of love but one that is age limited and does die. It is based on sexuality not love. Take a look at the divorce rates and length of marriages. Real love is not physical. It is far superior to that. It is not based on a heightened feeling that lasts a short time. It is caring and giving without conditions or limits. It is not looking at what am I getting out of it but what is the need of another. It is when there is a mutual exchange of this kind that love becomes something more. Life long growing into this kind of love creates a bond that is truly permanent.  This is what becoming one is all about. This is what it means to become one with your wife/husband. This is what it means to become one with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to become part of the body of Christ. This is the love that has no age, limits or death. Christmas is nearly upon us. Enter into this season with the proper thoughts and attitude. Thanks and worship of our Lord are in order over and above the gift giving to one another.

The image I am sharing today is another image from yesteryear. The image says it is a Bibiana flower but when researched it is called a baboon flower. Go figure! 

The Copic colors used are:

I know, this is a lot of colors. The light lavender is a tough color to match in the flowers and I wanted to be sure the pot got some attention too.

That is it for this week. May God bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."

No message, Just Pictures

Today I am Sharing some pictures taken when we shared our daughter's birthday at Longwood Gardens. These were globe that cycled through the spectrum of colors. The photos aren't great but they give you an idea of the spectacle outside the conservatory entrance.

This is a side view from the entrance. The front was so crowded there was no room to take the frontal view.

These trees are always decorated just inside the entrance and are a favorite to take personal photos in front of.

We, of course had to do the expected.

Imagine this next two views with people so packed together that you could only go in the direction they were moving. The closer you get to Christmas that is the way it gets with the crowds. It is impossible to take pictures.

This next batch is of the shallow pool, only a few inches deep, that is decorated to the max.

This is a side display room. 

This is a corridor leading to the orchid house.

These are amaryllis growing in a pot with deciduous plants.

This is the orchid house. It is four walls of blooming orchids. Heaven!

I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do. My camera was not focusing properly in the low light. That will be very apparent in the last few pictures of the outside light show.

This is looking toward the Garden entrance.

This was a tunnel of lights that constantly changed in design and colors.

This is a view looking through the tunnel.

More of the lights on the grounds.

This next display was a cage with a light in it. It was designed to cast an intricate shadow on the ground. Amazing!

The last of the pictures are of the display going to the lake and field beyond. Sorry I didn't take any of the lake or the walk back. Jill and I were ready to call it a night at this point.

These were the best of the pictures I took. I hope you enjoyed them and I didn't bore you too much. That will do it for this week, Yay!!!

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."

Omnipotent

 

Omni means in all ways or things. Potent means having great power. Omnipotent means having unlimited power or able to do anything. Why have I broken down this word. I wanted to bring home the description of God as "omnipotent." It is the only way we as finite beings can grasp the unimaginable that our God represents. Our bible often describes things He does that are seemingly impossible. Because we can't grasp that we tend to discount it as fact. We often take the position of "show me" putting Him to the test. Beware the danger of doing this because you may get what you ask for and it will not be pleasant. It is not beyond His power to wipe the slate clean and start over. This brings us to the other word often associated with omnipotent when describing God, benevolent. The word means to wish well. (I used to think it meant "to put up with" which in my case may have been somewhat true.) In other words to wish us everything that is beneficial to our well being. Does this sound like a God who likes to kill and destroy or one who would love and protect His creation? It is not true that He prefers to hurt destroy. Yes it is something He will do but not what He would choose to do. Last week I said God is love. Love would rather protect, cherish, guide and share affection. It is a two way street. The key word for this is choice. It is our choice to accept the love offered to us or to reject it. This is true in this life as well as the spiritual life. Where do you stand in your beliefs of who God is? Do you need to be shown "miracles" or proofs of that love? I look back at my life and see all of the negative that has become the positives and the love is apparent. Living life provides more than enough proof of that love. If there are still negatives then it may be that I need to let go and Let God in those areas. 

Once again we are going to Digital Tuesday for our image. I love the old images for their nostalgic appearance. This one is a rose called "Pearl of The Garden". According to the images found it is a white rose with bright yellow highlights. My DW loves yellow. 

The Copic colors used are:

DW says I am a brute for punishment since I pick the hard images to do. You can't become better at something if all you do is the easy things. We never become perfect but we can become better. In Christianity it is like art, it is a learning process. 

That is it for this week. Have a great Thanksgiving and may the good lord keep you safe and healthy. Remember to always "Love The Details."