Drawing Challenge

Daily Drawing #216, The Monster Under the Bed

| Whitt’s End Art

When I was a child I used to worry about the monster under my bed. Not that there was ever anything under there but in the minds eye the monster was there just waiting for me to dangle my feet over the edge of my bed. Yesterday’s message was about having one of those days. Today is kind of a follow up to that message. I n life we have many monsters under our beds they include health worries, financial concern, family matters and the list goes on and on. These monsters are just waiting for us to dangle our feet over the edge of the bed so they can gobble us up. The key to not letting the monsters under the bed get to you is the say as if you are having a bad day and once again it comes in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Here’s to slaying your monsters.

Daily Drawing #212, So You Think You Want to Dance

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I don’t usually like to admit this but I am a fan of Dancin’ With the Stars. What I like about the show is when a star is a true amateur. They are the complete underdogs and must learn and learn and learn some more. Even with all their practice most of those contestants don’t not make it it into the finals. Still the amateur contestants are an inspiration. They show me with a little dedication and a lot of practice you may not win the contest but you will learn something new which can ultimately be a lot of fun and enriching.

In my life I have always loved but I never had any collegiate training. Still I keep practicing and practicing as I learn the craft of creating art. I may never earn a living creating my artwork but my joy comes in putting it out there for others to see. This I think is my calling from God, the reason He gave me the gift of being an artist. I hope you try something new this year. Something you have never done before like playing an instrument. The key is once you start don’t give up, but keep practicing.

Daily Drawing #205, Getting the Mountaintop Experience

| Whitt’s End Art

This is another one of my attempts at fantasy drawing entitled, “Girls On the Mountain.” I love fantasy art because it allows you to create other worlds and creatures and beings which come from the imagination.  In life we don’t live in a fantasy world we live in a world created by God. A world filled with beautiful mountaintops and luscious valleys.

Job 12:7-10, has this to say about taking a look at the world around us, “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Take the time to get out and see the sights see before and praise and thank God as you do. 

Daily Drawing #197, Are You Prepared?

| Whitt’s End Art

Over the course of my lifetime I have had various occupations. I have worked as retail managers, in factories and currently in a local school district. As I look back at my various jobs I think the worst place I ever was employed worked was at a fast food restaurant. I only worked there for one year but I learned a lot about dealing with irate customers as well as employees who don’t take there job seriously. You haven’t lived until you try to calm down an irate customer because of an unwanted piece of cheese or a couple of misplaced pickles on a sandwich you didn’t have anything to do with creating.

Still I look back at these times and realize how much they prepared me for later positions I have had in life. In all of life we need to look at our current employment, or training (as in sports) and think about about how much we are being prepared for what comes next in life. So take the time to prepare yourself by working hard to learn and grow. It will pay off later in life.

Daily Drawing #196, Count It All As Joy

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If your life is like mine there are periods of time when life feels anything but joyful. Still God calls us in James 1:2 to, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” This means no matter what happens in life we are to call it joyful. Really? God says, yes. If you have an illness don’t dwell on it but look to God to give you comfort and peace throughout the trial. My joy and your joy comes from knowing God is always there for us and as 2 Corinthians 1:4 insures us God is the one, “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Our joy in life comes from helping others who are going get through the same storms we are weathering. It is hard to look for joy in times of trouble or sorrow but it can be found when your heart is in the right place.

 

Daily Drawing #195, Face 2 Face

| Whitt’s End Art

We live in a world which is linked electronically like never before. Young people interact today through tweets, texts, Instagram posts, Face Time chats a few among many choices. Still my favorite way to talk to someone is person to person. Ask my wife she’ll tell you I don’t even like to make phone calls. I have always loved to talk face to face. There is nothing more thrilling than to share a few words or laugh with someone else. To gaze across and sense the other person’s emotions through facial expressions as we talk. This is true conversation. Not a tweet or a text or whatever. God created us to be social beings who rely on fellowship with each in order to live a balanced life. It is time to put down the phones and start talking – face to face.

Daily Drawing #194, Seeing Eye to Eye is Sometimes Hard to Do

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There are times I like to draw things just to draw them. This is one of those times. I just thought the picture of the cat and mouse was interesting. Here are two creatures a cats and mouse who are not normally close friends. In fact most of the time a cat will play with a mouse, by play I mean bat it around and around, until it is ready to finish the mouse off. In the picture the cat and mouse seem to be conversing with each other. Maybe just  asking each other, “How are you doing on this fine day?” To which they’d both reply, “Fine,” before going a little deeper into their comings and goings since they last met. This little meeting also got me to thinking what if we could all look at each other and see through the supposed differences which keep us apart instead of playing cat and mouse games with each other. Here’s to letting God’s love shine through in all circumstances and all our interactions with the people we meet each day.

Daily Drawing #193, Taking Snapshots in the Wilderness

| Whitt’s End Art

I don’t know about you but I am obsessed with taking pictures. Over the years from my teen years till now I have taken thousands of them. Where they all are now I have some idea. Some were lost in the sands of time, others occupy old dusty photos albums and the rest are stored on a portable hard drive. There are times when I go back and look through some of the photos. Truthfully though most of them I haven’t seen in years. My drawing today is a reminder to us all while it is nice to document our lives with our phones or cameras it is also important to make sure we are not losing out on all the fun while trying to the best picture. I also think if we are going to document our lives it is better to do some videos so when we are gone others will have some reminders they can watch instead of store in a drawer.

Daily Drawing #192, Time to Cat-ch A Break

| Whitt’s End Art

My favorite part of this drawing challenge is I never know what I am going to draw. Sure I use prompts but sometimes, like today, I just draw whatever comes to mind. The drawing for today is entitled “Trying to Cat-ch a Break.” it is modeled off of the old Popeye cartoons where Wimpy always asks :I’ll pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” In the Bible God tells us in, Proverbs 21:13 ESV, “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.”

What does this have to do with my drawing? The answer is simple. We are called to care for those who can’t care for themselves. If this means buying someone a meal, then that is what God calls us to provide. The one thing I am reluctant to do is to hand someone money only because I don’t know what they will use the money to buy.  Instead I would give them a grocery card, or take them to an agency where they can receive the deeper help they need. The life of a follower of Jesus is all about giving.