This Is Going To Be Quite The Challenge

My only comment is:


Most Jewish men have dark hair and eyes and not blonde hair and blue eyes. He also wasnt attractive like I have seen in most paintings of Him.

This is what the bible says he looked like:
Isaiah 53:2 "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."

Thank you, Melissa. I'm not sure that I'll be painting a portrait of him. If I do, he will most certainly appear Jewish and not particularly handsome.

You've got an hour to paint? put on some healing music, think healing colors and do an expressionistic piece.
Anything else with that time constraint will end up being unfinished and frustrating.

I'm so glad you commented, Marlene. Always a voice of reason. For sure it will be impressionistic.

I found this link in regards to how average Jesus might look: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/was-jesus-white/

Can you start a sketch ahead of time or is this supposed to be a spontaneous event?

Seems unreasonable to me...one large painting in an hour? Will they supply the gallons of coffee you may need to meet this schedule?
Perhaps a triptych? Painting number one: The head and neck. Painting number two: Torso. Painting number three: Legs.

LOL!

Best of luck, Jani. (Sounds like a good cause, though.)

You have to paint during the service? You may want to look up the Divine Mercy image ... That is of Him healing souls.... Perhaps you could concentrate on one aspect for each... His hands....His Blood and Water coming from His Sacred Heart....His tender and Merciful eyes....


There is one image of Him here... http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/

You could google for different examples

God bless!

Yes, Glenn, I can have them already sketched and ready to paint. Still, I will have to practice beforehand.

@ k L: Lord have mercy on my soul, lol. I'm going to need it.

Thank you, Rose, I will look at the link and consider that idea for sure. Similar to what you and JL are thinking is an idea to do Jesus' hands with the holes showing the disciples that he is indeed risen. Just everybody's hand though in one painting.

A progressive group of paintings is a good thought, but need to be a simple design and probably impressionistic as Marlene suggests. I have to keep reminding myself that it is only one hour per painting.

Jani, you will be fine. As stated, just prep. I jest, gulp.

Thank you, J L. What better way to grow as an artist and a person than to take on a challenge like this.

Good link, Jani. Hebrews are Semetic people. Two thousand years ago thAt light brown skin most likely turned brown from the sun.
If you opt to go the more realistic route, I would first discuss it with your church authority.

Btw, the men in my family are all fAir skinned, blond with blue eyes, as i am. I color my hair dRk brown.

King David was fair skinned and had red hair like me or redder A ruddy character. Was it Jacob or Esau that was the redhead?

I would have never guessed you were a blonde, btw.

Thank goodness you can pre sketch! You can do it, I have faith in you :o)

If only it was sketching. I can do that very fast. Perhaps I can practice sketching with paint. Now there's an idea.

Thank you, Melissa, for your vote of confidence.

You are very welcome :o)

No ideas for the images but would you consider making stencils -in advance- to speed up the process. Or does it have to be done from scratch in an hour?

Good Luck!!!

What a challenge. I would think that the folks in this ministry already have lots of faith in your ability to pull this off Jani. If not , they wouldn't have allowed this to be set up. An honor that I hope is truly appreciated by everyone involved. But then again, it seems that there is really One greater that this will be happening for. Let your brushes do the dancing for that audience.

I hope that we will have the pleasure of seeing what you came up with.

And those who knew me then, can't picture me as a brunette!

Stay very sober about what you can accomplish in one hour and set out to accomplish that well!
Get a ground color in first and perhaps sketch with markers for those who are watching you. Bring big brushes!

Wow Jani that is some challenge! They know you can do it or they wouldn't have asked! I agree big brushes and lots of them. Mixed media come to mind for me...I think I would chose an oil pastel and watercolor. I hope we get to see your beautiful creations...they will be!

Jan, i've been approached twice in the past year to do religious art by ministers.
Both times I turned them down. Hope you're effort is rewarding.
Drew

one more thought Jani....
only my religious work requires a tremendous amount of prep work in my head.....get your head in the right place by studying and visualizing ahead of time.
With this kind of art, you are entering the arena of performance art, yet your mind needs to be so focused on your subject that you shouldn't even be aware they are watching.....

As far as prepping the canvas ahead of time , I'm guessing whoever asked you, has little idea of what can feasibly be accomplished in the time constraints he gave you. Suggest getting at very least, a ground cover in and perhaps the design blocked out.

Marlene, again, thank you for the sound advice.
Staying sober will be easy. They use grape juice not wine, lol.

You are correct. It would be like a performance. I would like it to be more like I block out people and just do it.

For me, it would be a lot of prep work. Paintings that size usually take hours. Heck, my little birds take hours. It would have to be a very simple concept and impressionistic in order for me to pull it off. And practiced so I can fit it in an hour.

I haven't said yes yet, Drew. I may say no as it is a lot of work to prepare and figure out how to do it reasonably and be a complete piece. Usually if my works aren't top notch in my eyes, they don't get seen. I have high quality standards and guarantee them to my customers. So if there is a huge chance that they would end up sub par, then I will say no, but if I feel that I can do it...I don't know. I tend to bite off more than I can chew. Definitely going to review this with realistic eyes and prayer.

Glenn, I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He has never ever failed me. My prayer usually start with, Lord, you are the one who gave me this ability... Who am I to question if you are calling me to do this? That is my spiritual side. My physical side still gulps and doesn't see how it is possible, but I know that it is possible. What an amazing experience it would be if I did pull it off?

Does my trepidation come from a lack of self confidence or is it practicality?

Strange, I was just telling someone the day before I was asked that I don't like painting in front of people, but that is because I don't practice in front of people.

Not strange at all, Jani....you put it out there and the universe complied!

So that's how it works, lol.

I discuss plien air painting with a friend and how I'd like to ease into that and bam I'm on stage painting in front of a huge crowd. Yup. Sounds like something God would do to help me grow. :-)
Well, I have three weeks to ease into that.

Barbara, it doesn't have to be from scratch. They will be giving me more info this week on what they are looking for.

I forgot to mention that two other people have been asked to do a piece of art too. A young child and a teen. Now if I say no and they say yes...Oy vey!

That's Yiddish for "Lord have mercy."

Realistically, you will be able to begin OR complete a painting in an hour....I would suggest that you reserve the right to complete the painting on your own time and present it when it is completed to your satisfaction. it will still be a great adjunct to the service and will help you de-stress and maintain your high standards.
To be honest, this isn't about how good your work is, Jani...most people have no clue what is involved and they probably didn't get past " let's have Jani paint a painting in an hour while we watch...how cool would that be?!?!"

I've done a lot of painting in front of people but never with a time constraint to complete a piece. I know me, I know my standards and you know yourself as well.
Keep us posted!

You can always practice at a local tourist attraction. Find a busy corner and practice!

DO you know where the sacramental wine is stashed?????

Wow. One painting per hour...

Do you like to do silhouettes? You could do beautiful colored backgrounds - sunrise, blue night sky with stars, rays of light, very loose bands of color suggesting landscape, etc. Then do an easter-theme silhouette in front of the colors.
You could create the silhouette templates ahead of time, at home.

Maybe practice one or two at home, so if your stencils aren't working well, or whatever, you can figure out how to solve the problem without a crowd watching you struggle with fixing it.

Suggest bringing acrylics - they dry faster, and a hairdryer -- so within the hour, the background is dry enough to do the silhouettes without smearing the wet paint.

Just an idea.

The sacramental wine is actually grape juice, Marlene. I am such a light weight with wine that even grape juice would have a "wine" effect on me. :-)

I had a friend tell me that I could treat it like an art demo. If anyone has read my blog post on my first art demo,Demo Is A Four Letter Word; they may say, uh, no, not a good idea.
I did promise myself that the next demo would be less complicated. Maybe that demo was prep for this event.

Truly good thought, Greg. Something to try and just may.

I thought of bringing a hair dryer, but I think using a hair dryer in the middle if Easter service would be obnoxious, lol.
I know you mean to dry it before and in between services. :-)

Thanks for the ideas and the support that has been given so far. Definitely have some thinking and praying to do and brainstorming. I'll keep you posted on where this ends up for sure.

Um... definitely no hairdryer.

Just a note on using "wet" media in a public place:

When I plan events for artists to come and paint live models in our art gallery, I make them bring a drop-cloth, to protect the floor. Sometimes they object, I bare my teeth and growl at them until they relent, because if they drop a brush (or worse, a fully loaded pallet face-down), that could be a real mess, and I hate cleaning paint out of floors. A cheap dollar store plastic tablecloth works fine.

If the church will be crowded full of people in their Easter Sunday best clothes, you may want to arrange for the church to provide some kind of a barrier between you and the crowds. It would be bad if someone's new best clothes came in contact with the edge of a wet canvas, or pallet, or brush or whatever. If it were me, and the church had me set up in a location where the crowds could come in contact with wet paint, I would refuse to do it.

If after a while you don't feel at peace about it I wouldn't do it. Feeling it is a big challenge indicates you are not at peace. If it is for you, you should have a vision for it and not have to ask others how to go about it and get ideas. It seems out of order of the service, how can people give the their full attention to the speaker when something else is going on and may not reflect the same. How can others tell you what will be said?

Hmmm......no comment

Just make everyone in the front row wear raincoats and bring a big watermelon to smash.....oh wait.......

It took da Vinci 4 years to meditate on scripture to do the last supper.
How long do you have Jani?

I was thinking maybe one of his Resurrection outside of the Tomb...

Not to worry, Drew, it took him longer than an hour to paint it ;)

"Just make everyone in the front row wear raincoats and bring a big watermelon to smash.....oh wait......."

Okay Marlene, you finally got me! Can't stop laughing...

KL,
You gotta be old enough to remember Gallagher!

Most days I'm only here to hone my comedic skills.

Marlene, too old that I remember lots of things...and my hair used to be dark brown...

And it is the vision of the Gallagher scene in a church, no less!

Greg Olsen has this down pat. Maybe go through his images and see if you can gain some inspiration.

I'll look at his work, Kim.

I just came up with one image. Actually it was one that I have thought of before, Drew, in the pre-internet days (I have one hour per painting). It was when I was going through a tough time. I had this vision of me groping through the dark trying door knobs that wouldn't turn to open. The doors were all locked, but finally I found one. When I opened it, I was washed in a blinding light of hope and joy and purpose.

This verse fits this vision very well. Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I can paint that. The canvas is all black except where a door is being opened and light is coming through the door. A child is standing in the doorway bathed in the light from the door.

This image will cover a lot of things about Jesus. The door is Jesus as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). The light represents Jesus as the light to the world (John 8:12), and a child representing how we need to come to Jesus. Unless we are like one of these (children) we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). Children more easily trust and have faith in God. They don't complicate faith with the troubles of this world and don't place their value in the things they own or do for a living. They are themselves and come to Jesus just as they are.

I think that one would be doable in less than an hour and can be done with acrylic paints or other medias and could even be abstract as a distant view on canvas. Perhaps a zoomed up view of someone opening a door coming from the darkness would be more impactful.

Jani,

This is certainly a tall order.....

But with the evidence of your current work, I know that you are up to this challenge.

What I see in your marvelous art is a confident spontaneity



I'm sure this why you were asked to take on this project.

So, I suggest, that you just BE YOURSELF....and just let the juices flow.

Thank you, Roger. Very nice compliment and encouraging words too. I will indeed do that.

Edit: I just saw your comment, Suzanne. I feel a lot more at peace about it now that I have an idea to paint.

I did it! Completed the challenge. It was an anxious two weeks. Now I see that I was anxious for nothing. It was fun.

This week I painted three practice paintings and today did three 2 foot x 3 foot paintings in three hours. Whew! I'll post the pics as soon as I get them together.

Thanks for updating, Jani - congratulations and glad you enjoyed it. Eager to see the pictures.

Jani, would love to see those paintings! I'm glad it was fun instead of stressful :)

For now, the images can be seen here: http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2445771

I will need to take some time to photograph each one properly before a close-up view is possible.