This is an illustration I did for Lifeway's Explore the Bible curriculum for Sunday Schools. I've done many Bible scenes for this series over the past year, but this is one of my favorites.
In this scene, Jesus is having dinner with some religious leaders when a "sinful woman" (no further explanation on who she was) crashes the party and starts washing Jesus' feet. In Hebrew culture, it was customary to have your servants wash a guest's feet. However, instead of using water and towels, this woman washes Jesus' feet with
her hair and her tears. The religious leaders are scandalized. But Jesus reprimands them and says to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace."
This is a very emotional scene, so I really wanted to do a good job of it. And that means taking my own photo references!
And my best imitation of a scandalized Pharisee:
I also made some crying faces in the bathroom mirror, for references for the woman's expression, but no way am I posting those online. No one needs to see that.
Beautiful. You capture the all the emotions of the scene. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI teach the toddlers (2-4 yr olds) at my church, and I was looking online for an illustration to help them visualize this week's lesson, based on the story in Luke 7. Your illustration caught my eye, and I loved how well you captured the different emotions and reactions to this woman's unusual actions. Then I opened the CD that came with my curriculum and was amazed to discover that their picture was the exact one I'd found and loved online! So I followed the Google image's link to your blog and read the reason why. Lifeway knows great work when they see it. It's clear that God has gifted you as an artist and Bible illustrator. Please keep using His gift--it's a blessing to many, many people.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Meredith! I've never been able to see Lifeway's curriculum in person, so it's really nice to hear from someone who's actually using it out in the field.
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