A Chinese gaucho from "The Birthday Cake Mountains". Medium: pencil, paper, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro (boy on horse), Artrage (background)

This post is an attempt to answer two questions I get asked from time to time.  The first is “How do you make your comics?”  The second is “How did you get into this?”   I first entertained the idea of art as a career 12-13 years ago, but I had just graduated from college with a degree in English and $20,000+ in student debt, so going back to school for a whole new field, though it was my heart’s desire, just wasn’t practical.  At that time I had never even owned my own computer, and was just discovering the internet, so I had no idea what was available in terms of technology or online resources, though I can imagine it was far less than what we have at our fingertips now.

I dabbled around with cartoons a little at that time, designing a few cards and posters that my friends and family really loved, but my technique was all trial and error, and I felt intimidated by  “real artists”, the title I mentally ascribed to those with formal training who drew beautifully and made it look easy. Opportunities were opening up for me in other areas, and the door seemed to be closing on art, so I entirely gave up on my dream before I really even started to pursue it.

That all changed 4 years ago, when I was in Argentina, where I got up one morning to have devotional time, and when I just couldn’t get into it, I just started drawing instead.  It may sound unspiritual, but I think what God was saying to me at the time was  “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (Ecc 9:10)

My adoption of technology began with a simple online search for reference photos.  In the past I’d had to spend money on expensive magazines for those, but now I’d discovered that with the right keywords in an image search engine I could find millions of them for free.  I began to get curious about the tablets I’d seen artists using in animation magazines.  I’d always imagined that they were ridiculously expensive, but I found out that I could order one from a local computer dealer for about $50.  My first plug and play tablet was a Genius (Taiwan).  Really low end, but it did what it promised, and I was using it with ArtRage to draw my own cartoon characters in no time flat.  My first project was drawing a figure set to aid overseas workers with telling the Christmas story.

I eventually moved back to the US and bought a Wacom Intuos 3 tablet.  At $300 it was much pricier than the Genius, but well worth it because it had express keys I could use as shortcuts with graphics software, which really sped up the drawing process.  The Wacom pen also had replaceable nibs, and the felt nib created resistance between the pen and tablet, slowing down my strokes and making it easier to draw smooth lines.

About 2 years ago I upgraded to a Wacom Cintiq 12WX ($1000).  The Intuos and Genius were blank pieces of plastic. While using them you had to look at your monitor to see what you were drawing.  The Cintiq, however, has an onboard LCD screen, so you are drawing directly on the display.   The Cintiq was amazing, but I ended up replacing it quickly because it promised but failed to deliver portability.  Though it has its own screen it still has to be connected to a computer. With its own video converter, USB cable, and power adapter, it’s a few extra pounds to lug around in addition to your laptop.

I finally replaced my Cintiq with a Fujitsu t2010 convertible Tablet PC ($1500), which I’m still using today.  The display screen of this laptop swivels around, allowing you to draw on it in slate mode.  It only weighs 3.5 lbs. My only complaint is that the CPU is only 1.5 Ghz, and it’s failed me with the most recent upgrades of favorite graphics programs  such as Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and Adobe Photoshop Elements.  If you’re interested in Tablet PCs, I suggest you check out the video reviews at GottaBeMobile.  The HP 2740p is at the top of my wish list right now.  Unfortunately Apple doesn’t have much to offer in the way of tablets, though the Modbook (a bit clunky at 5lbs!) does run a Mac OS.  You can always plug a Wacom intuos or Cintiq into a Mac, as long as you aren’t counting on portability.

Speaking of Wacom, one of the most important things to look for in a Tablet PC for illustration purposes is a Wacom active digitizer. (Most devices have the “Wacom Penabled” label.) Inking on devices with a passive digitizer, such as the iPad, is significantly less smooth and accurate.

Though I rely heavily on technology to produce the final illustration, each drawing still starts with pencil and paper.  After I draw it freehand I scan it into the computer where I make corrections and add color, textures, and backgrounds.  I’ve found that Autodesk Sketchbook Pro is the perfect tool to resize out of proportion body parts, add layers, and move characters around in a picture for better composition.  ArtRage is the program I use to paint backgrounds.  It mimics real art materials such as paints, pastels, and even glitter perhaps better than any other software so you can be creative without making a mess. Technology really levels the playing field when it comes to art, so if you have an ounce of doodling DNA in your body, go for it!

Can you imagine?

There are plenty of verses in the Bible that tell us what to think about. A favorite is  Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. ”  There are other verses that very specifically instruct us to feast our minds on the word of God: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. ” (Josh 1:8) Similar verses can be found in the Psalms 1 and 119. They are pretty straightforward, and reassure us that meditating on God’s word is one surefire, foolproof way to renew our minds.

But some verses are not as specific.  How about this one? “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2) Wow, how exactly do I do that?  For those who’ve had third heaven revelations maybe this is a piece of cake,  but what about those of us with shorter prophetic resumes? Well, I think the first step is, just as some of the verses I mentioned above say, to look at the Scriptures.  There are descriptions of  heavenly reality found throughout the Bible.  The most famous ones are found in Daniel and Revelation, but accounts can also be found in the Psalms, gospels, and other books as well.

While reading these, however, keep in mind that these passages are describing things that you have most likely never seen with your natural eyes:  A wheel within a wheel, living creatures covered with eyes, a sea of glass, etc.  So at some point you are going to have to engage your imagination, and using your imagination to perceive things above is another great way to renew your mind.  That might be intimidating to some,  perhaps they are afraid they will see inaccurately and those wrong images will corrupt their theology.  But my response to those concerns would be a reassuring “Relax, you ARE going to get it wrong!”

What I mean is, no matter how accurately you see what is above with the eyes of your heart, scripture teaches that we know in part, and we see through a glass darkly.  However, I can also guarantee you that you will NOT err on the side of imagining heaven to be more wonderful than it is, because no matter how extraordinary your vision of heaven is, you will only be scratching the surface.  Paul said that God is able to do exceedingly beyond what we can think. (Eph 3:20)    So go ahead, think about heaven, and try to think it’s even better than it is, and you won’t even come close to its awesome reality! And remember, Colossians 3:2 isn’t just a license or an invitation to imagine – I think Paul kind of meant it as a command. 

Let's see what this gibberish is all about!

Last December I finished my 2nd comic book, The Sleep Talking Sister.  Although it featured 10 more drawings than One Thing I Know, it only took me half as long to draw.  Since I’ve been learning as I go this was very encouraging to me.  Although I still  struggle with drawing backgrounds, props, and new poses, things are getting easier and I am making progress.

The idea for this book came as a result of two experiences.  The first is my strange habit of praying in the Spirit in my sleep.  I often wake myself up wailing in glossalalia, and on several occasions have recognized a few words of Japanese.  Once a roommate even confirmed that I had awakened her during the middle of the night praying in Japanese.  This was the catalyst for a chain reaction of “what ifs”:  What if I was praying for a specific person and/or situation in Japan? What if I recorded my Japanese prayers ? What if they contained information that was useful to someone there?  This book explores the possibilities posed by those questions.

The second experience I drew from was the brief time I spent with River Life kids when I was visiting the U.S. in 2008.  When I visited them they had a map spread out on the floor and they were interceding for the nations. They prayed for me and prophesied words of encouragement.  In recent years they have also prayed for several adults with terminal cancer that were completely healed!   My time with them inspired me to include a similar group of children in this comic book.  The kids in my book meet every Saturday morning to fellowship, worship, and encourage each other.  This book is the first in the BarnaBuddies Prophetic Adventure series, and future books in the series will introduce similar kids’ fellowship groups around the world that work together to see God’s kingdom come on earth. For example, the next book, The Birthday Cake Mountains, features kids praying together in China, Argentina, and America.

You can download a copy of The Sleep Talking Sister here. You may even print it for personal, non-commercial use.  It’s a large file (33MB) but I think most networks will be able to load it pretty fast. If you have any problems then right click on the link and select “save link as”, then you can download it without slowing down your browser.  Enjoy!!!

Surely you will summon nations you do not know . . .

“Bless the Lord oh my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name . . .” Ps. 103:1  Well then, what is within me that is blessing the Lord?  There is a whole world within each one of us and according to the psalmist, it’s all meant to bless Him.

Today it was revealed to me that one of the things within me that blesses Him are the multitudes that will believe through my life.  While I was resting in his presence I heard voices singing in my spirit.  It is not the first time I’ve heard this “congregational” worship within, but it’s the first time I really asked the Lord about it. I felt like he said, “These are the nations and generations that will believe through your life and testimony.  They are still inside you, and when you praise me, although some of these people do not yet believe, and others are not even born yet, they praise me when you praise me.”

This was amazing to me.  I was reminded of the following verse: “And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. ” (Heb 7:9-10)  The tithe is an act of worship, and Levi did this through Abraham before he was even born.  Likewise, we have natural and spiritual sons and daughters that praise God through us.

I can’t even begin to understand or explain this concept or its implications because this revelation is a gift I’m still unwrapping, but it has encouraged me to believe with greater conviction that He will use me to touch nations, and He will do the same through you!  Please share any further thoughts about this below – I’m looking forward to reading your comments.

Additional scripture references:

“Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.” (Ps 2:8)

“Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” (Is 55:5)

“The smallest one will become a clan, And the least one a mighty nation.” (Is 60:22)

“It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.” (Ps 22:30b-31)

A blind man looked at me!

I started drawing the One Thing I Know comic book in fall 2007. At that time I intended it to be a black and white coloring book, but friends suggested that I really had a children’s book in the making, and they were right. It took me about 18 months to finish in my spare time.  The very thought of writing and illustrating my own book was very intimidating to me. There was a lot of artistic and technological stuff to figure out, and I procrastinated quite a bit.  But when I finally printed the foreign language version of the book in spring 2009 it was a very satisfying feeling.  I’ve never been good at finishing things, but this project really inspired me to persevere.  The first printing was just 1000 copies on a tight budget, but the kids that received these books loved them, so it was definitely worthwhile.

One Thing I Know is the story of a little Chinese blind boy named Bin Bin.  The seed for the story came from a dream I had while living in Argentina in 2006, in which I followed a “blind man” onto a city bus, who turned out not to be blind at all.  He took off his sunglasses to reveal 2 healthy, twinkling eyes, and he smiled at me.  Without him having to utter a word I instantly knew he had an amazing testimony, and when I woke I wanted to tell it.   After I returned to Asia I had several encounters with blind people that helped to further develop the plot of the story.

I am hoping I will have enough funds for a proper printing of the English version of this comic book in the near future.  I plan to update the layout, and use a higher quality paper that will allow it to compete and stand out among other children’s books in the U.S. and international market.  In the meantime, you can view and even download the pdf of the full book here. It’s a large file (25MB) but I think most networks will be able to load it pretty fast. If you have any problems then right click on the link and select “save link as” , then you can download it without slowing down your browser.  Enjoy!!!

Let's get drawing!

I started this website a little over 2 years ago. I thought  an art blog would be a good way to keep myself motivated and on task as I wrote and illustrated my first children’s book, and it was.  But then I really got into the book itself, and then two completed books later the website had totally fallen by the wayside.

Well, I hope to revive it in the next few weeks, and I’ve started by dressing it up with a new theme, the frugal Theme by Eric Hamm.  I also plan to expand the content to include not just art, but articles on spirituality and creativity as well.  I’m hoping you’ll join me here often to read, comment, and participate!