Categories
activities

Jesus in the temple picture activity

Picture activity for Warner Press' itty-bitty Easter book

 I just finished this activity for Warner Press. The one thing that made this activity stand out for me was this was the first time in quite a while I drew the whole thing directly in Adobe Photoshop. The sketch didn’t exist on paper until I printed it out the first time.

That is not generally how I work. Usually, I’ll make the sketch within my sketchbook and then scan it. This time, I decided to give myself the challenge of going directly to the software.

I rendered the background art and bike in Adobe Illustrator. For items that require a straight line, that’s where I go. I laugh when someone sees me draw and say, “I’d like to be an artist, but I can’t draw a straight line.” Join the club! No one I know of draws straight lines without using a mechanical device or the computer.

Since these are pocket books, the art is tiny. That’s another reason why I drew the details in Illustrator, i couldn’t get the detail in the bike or elevator buttons without creating it in Illustrator then pasting the file in Photoshop. When it comes to drawing, the two programs work like a charm.

This art is the property of Warner Press, which is why I added the copyright. Use is prohibited without permission from the publisher. They’re at http://www.warnerpress.org

Categories
Illustration Friday

Disgruntled Coach Illustration

 


When I heard Illustration Friday’s word was “ferocious,” I spotted this sketch in my sketchbook. Basketball is king in Indiana and if things aren’t going well, the coach can get quite ferocious. It they get worse, the fans get ferocious and the poor coach begins to fear for his life!

Categories
webcomic

Off the Chip: the First Episode

Chip gives Rodney a cheery greeting. Rodney sees it as a veiled threat.

This was the first in a series of comic strips I drew for a NAEN Ministries about ten years ago. The ministry has since left the Internet, so it was time to bring them back.

Chip is a nice guy working in a technology company. Rodney is the bitter, older curmudgeon who sees Chip’s cheery disposition and a threat to all humanity. Yet, they seem to get along.

I’ll see about posting the strip each Monday.

 

Categories
Warner Press

Tina Houser Children’s Ministry Encounter

Tina Houser’s Children’s Ministry Encounter is coming Saturday, September 24 to Madison Park Church of God in Anderson, Indiana. My employer, Warner Press is sponsoring the conference.

I will be there performing various duties, so I hope to see you there.

Tina is an experienced children’s pastor who is now the Publications Director of K! Magazine. Her emphasis is to train and encourage others to be creative in children’s ministry. She will be discussing various topics, such as…

  • Understanding multiple intelligence
  • teaching kids spiritual disciplines
  • creative teaching methods

If you are a children’s ministry teacher who wants to learn from a dynamic, creative veteran, Then I highly recommend it.

You can find the details and register at this link.

 

PS: The illustration above was created by Christian Elden, another fine Warner Press employee.

 

Categories
cartoon

Floating Bethel

Cartoon of two men. One says, “If it rains any more we’ll have to rename our church the ‘Floating Bethel.'”

The cartoon I did for this month’s Church of God newsletter was an inside joke. I had written this idea when Hurricane Irene drenched the east coast. I had hear of many churches that had been caught in the floods.

This was about the time the cartoon was due. Part of the history of the Church of God always stuck out in my mind. Part of the evangelistic efforts was to outfit a barge for missions. They called it the Floating Bethel.

There was something about a floating church that has always intrigued me. Is it the Noah’s Ark story? Is it the idea that it could be a challenge reading a hymnal while the waves rocked the sanctuary around? Who knows!

I was definitely playing to my audience on this one. Not many people would get it without the lesson in Church of God history. But I thought the imagery would lend itself to some humor nonetheless. I like the language of that time too and how disjointed it feels with today’s vernacular.

I hope the recovery is going along well after the deluge and that no churches had to resort to becoming floating chapels.