I Came Not to Call the Righteous, but Sinners.
Acts 9:1-9; Saul.
Luke 22:54-62; Peter.
Genesis 17:15-18; Abraham.
Luke 23:39-43; The Criminal on the Cross.
2 Samuel 11:1-27; David.
I Came Not to Call the Righteous, but Sinners. is a body of 5 works on paper (Water Color, Gouache, and Graphite on 11.5" x 13.5" Strathmore Water Color Paper) that highlights the personal brokenness of the Christian faith. The Bible is contains many prominent sinners, screw-ups, and failures that God redeemed and used mightily. These men were murderers, adulterers, liars, fearful, doubtful, and rebellious men. If God can use these broken people, then there is hope for me.
I chose to be the subject for these paintings because I wanted to magnify how I embody these sins and struggles. My life is tainted and marred with these same failures. Although my life is stained with short comings, I am ultimately redeemed because of the blood of Christ. So I decided to paint everything in the color red, to signify that I am a new creation through the life and death of Jesus.
The title of the the project comes from Mark 2:17, where Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders that he came to help those who needed help, not those who had it altogether. The title of each piece gives the name and passage of the men who failed so greatly. I encourage you to take the time and read their story.
Above are the thumbnail sketches (Graphite) I made to start this project. I originally wanted to have a combination of portrait, landscape, and still life, but later simplified to just portraits.
Once I had a general direction and had picked out my 5 characters, I posed and modeled for my reference pictures.
Here are the more refined composition sketches done on Graphite. They are colored with red Crayon.
Making I Came Not to Call the Righteous, but Sinners. was significant for many reasons. I loved having the platform to share what I find valuable. Art is an amazing avenue to communicate, and it often conveys messages in a way that words never can. I enjoyed the creative process of sketching and iterating to find the best composition. And I found it meaningful to create a complete body of work. It allowed me to immerse in my art and wrestle with more complex themes and techniques. This was a challenging and demanding project, however I grew in my ability to manage work, problem solve, and develop my artistic skills.
