Drawing Diary: 12 and 13 March 2012

Draw

12 March: Facebook vs. Photo-Album

Last wednesday I watched some Story Keepers with the kids, which is an 2D animation series about the early christian church in Rome where adults tell bible-stories to their kids.

This weekend I saw some photo´s of my nephew (1) looking through the christmas-book I have illustrated (snufs). YAY! for writing down stories to pass around this year, and to pass them down in the years to come.

13 March: Fjernt

With the graphic crew at my work, we were evaluating the newest issue of our magazine, Mot Målet. Besides the magazine, we were working on a couple of other things simultaneously. Because of this I could not give the magazine as much attention as I would have liked, and I did not really feel I was "there". I think it is showing. When the work is going so fast, the whole team has to be able to trust each other. I am very thankful that I work with very dedicated and trusting people.

Technology is changing what of our life-story we pass down to our children. Even when social media will make it possible for our children to access lots of information about us, in decades to come. It will never take away the value and need to tell them the stories of our lives. It´s a very humanistic thought, I know.

Just for the sake of "Chronicling my life", I will have to print a few copies of this drawing book, to send it to the members of my family.

More seagulls, more chaos.

The first version of this Jonah-page was too calm for me, so I added some more sailors in mid-air and "mid-sea". And a great length of rope to add to the clutter and confusion.

Just before christmas I worked with the third page in the bible-study series about Jonah. On this page he is thrown overboard the ship he was on to run away from God.

Advent was is a long time ago. These weeks, we are preparing for Easter. Everyone in his and her own way. Some people fast from food, some people take a "screen-free" week, where they will not be looking at a TV-screen, computer-screen or iPad outside of their office-hours. The idea is to spend the "freed-up" time on your family and friends. Or on God.
A friend of mine slipped on the icy road to work, a couple of days ago. His laptop broke the fall, but the screen the screen had to give way, and it has not been working since. A rather involuntary screen-fast.

I like the idea of thinking about fasting as "freeing up" time for something/Someone. Instead of the traditional idea of "abstaining from" one thing or another thing.

Here is the first version of the line-drawing where Jonah gets tossed overboard.
When it was done, It still was not chaotic enough, so I started to plan in some more elements on the computer (the pinkish-yellow lines and marks). 

Then I took my original line drawing back to the light-table, and drew in an extra length of rope, crashing pottery and screeching sea-birds. Then it got closer to the fortissimo I wanted. Time was running out, and I had to start coloring.

I still use too little time and thought on coloring, I am a lazy painter.
Here is the final picture as it has come in YWAM Norway´s magazine Mot Målet.
Can you find Jonah who is being tossed overboard? and can you find Jonah´s bag of luggage?
If you were the captain of the ship, what would you keep Jonah´s luggage, or ret rid of it?

Drawing Diary: 10 and 11 March 2012

10 March: I was blind but now I see (Joh 9)

Egil Svarthdahl had let us know that christians use 90 to 95% of their resources on christians, I understand that a church building and staff are pricey. From his experience as a TV-pastor, he said the Norway is not waiting for christians to make speeches, but rather to show who God is, by their lives. Even those who are believers have this need.

11 March: The christian artist/blogger

Me and 500 other people where in Vang-church to listen to Egil Svartdahl. He talked about fear and peace, about himself, and about Ludvig and Solan. With a couple of friends we sat in a café afterwards. The conversation came to «christian artists», I think it´s legit if my artwork does not show my beliefs, but it would not be legit if I, as a person, would not show what I believe in.

On the saturday-seminar, Egil explained some idea´s from Bill Hybels book: Becoming a Contagious Christian.

Here is a cool video from one of my favorite bands talking about being a christians.

Drawing Diary: 8 and 9 March 2012

8 March: Dette er ekte glede.

I was at my bible-group, and someone showed a picture of her nephew (or something), holding a newborn family-member. The man had been addicted on much and lived to feel the greatest pleasures. Now, he has been clean for 3 years. When he held the newborn, he had to cry and said: This is real joy.

9 March: A sour slice

Today a colleague apologized for giving me sour remarks the other day, of course I forgive. Bad days happen to everyone. The processes and communication in design-jobs can be very unclear, irregular and un-pastoral.

Even the more reason to ask sincerely: "how are you doing?", and give everyone the "VIP-treatment". You get the best out of people when you give them the best.

I listened to this song  by The Chap,
These lines out of the chorus arrested me:

Wrote you a letter, I´d soon regret,
made me feel better. For a day.
Writing´s for cowards, talking´s for men.
Cowards write songs and, never do what needs to be done.

Drawing Diary: 6 and 7 March 2012

6 March: Being your own only reference is not going to work.

It was very quiet at the café today, many of the christian youth must have been at their cell-groups, very good for them. I had some short and concrete talks with some young creatives, one guitar-player, one film-maker. I only remember this one sentence I said. It´s so cool these young people being full passion (I just hope it´s not going to burn them). There is a lot I want to be talking with them about, from the few years I have been "a creative". Keeping a diary helps a lot.

7 March: Other people´s stories

There just started a new school here, and the students have been sharing their life-stories with each-other. I talked with a couple of them afterwards. The people with the easy lives feel guilty about theirs, when they heard the other people´s hard lives. It´s a known fact that we never get satisfied. Especially if we compare our bad sides with other people´s good sides. We concluded: It´s good it is to be thankful for the lives we got, and for how God has been with us all of our days.

Sub-conscience influence: The pirate-girls might have ended up looking like Jeremy Bastian´s work. His work is just waaaay more detailed and just better. Following his recommendation, I snuck a peacock-feather on the right girl´s hat.

I find his work very inspiring, you can probably see a likeness.

Some blues must have hit me, as I found myself trying to sing this song.

It started to snow today, and I feel alright.

Good quote from the movie Munich: «You can´t make a decision, if you can´t make it in one day.», It´s very true for this diary project.

Drawing Diary: 4 and 5 March 2012

4 March: Ties

Sometimes I just don´t know anything significant to write, not even after two days of thinking. Just enjoy the pencil-drawing of my nephew Ties (1). He was visiting his grandparents (my parents) this weekend. And we got to skype a little, despite the birthday guests present.

5 March: King of Olives

I watched the movie "Munich", which is about the terror-attack at the 1972 Olympiad. At work I am working with a book abut the evangelism-outreach that happened at the same time. I have no outspoken knowledge or sentiment on the israeli-palestinian conflict. So I am not going to say anything about it.

I think I must have mangled some significant symbolism of the olive-branch.
My idea with the title and picture was is very deep and reflected. They are two kings on one and the same card, killing each other. And I used olives instead of the usual playing card colors, because there are a lot of olives in the land they are fighting over. That´s all.

Drawing Diary: 2 and 3 March 2012

2 March: Spring song

Early spring is the messiest time of the year. The melting snow makes everything puddly and muddy. When we open the window of our busy basement office, we can hear the birds sing. The first song-birds are back in the trees. Down by the side of the road to work lies a little frozen bird, that one did not make it into the new season.

3 March: Destructive/constructive

I was talking with someone that recently had started working at here. We were comparing the YWAM-base with other places we have lived and worked. At one point it came up, that everything here is «spiritual». Here it is very unusual to find people keep having destructive life-habits. In other aid-organsiations and NGO´s  you could get away with that. We really hope and want that Grimerud is a constructive place to work.

I think it is very good that people come to be at a YWAM-base because it is such a good place to be for them. And to set off some time for bible reading and prayer. But we are a missions organization, and not a rehab/hospital/hotel.
Firstly, we want to be an organization that is guided by God (through his word and Spirit), this has always been a very decisive value.
The post of 14 February is somewhat about the same topic.

Drawing Diary: 29 February and 1 March 2012

29 February: It´s like the great stories, Mr. Frodo.

I worked with OCR-scanning of a 40 year old book. It is a very compelling story of how christians impacted the town of Munich under the olympiad in 1974. For that event, YWAM ended up buying a castle (Hurlach) in the vicinity, which I believe they still have today. There are many those great stories in the 50-year history of YWAM that testify of who God is. It is so necessary to know these stories and keep passing them on. The ones that really mattered.

1 March: I talked with our recreational cook Christian today, and the talk went both deep and wide. At one point he commented that art makes such a difference in board-games for certain people, it makes it so much easier for them to relate to the story, and so engage in the story. The same way perhaps, I think your every day will get stronger when you see the greater story. I want to know the great story of my life and tell others about it.

I am very encouraged to hear all your reactions on my drawing diary, both on-line and in real-life. I hope it is somehow giving you an idea of how to tell how your days are.
Some people have already ask me wether I will publish the diary after I am done with it, so they can buy it. Sounds like a goodie! I have not made up my mind about that, and we still have ten full months to go. Let me know if your interested.

Here is the website of the YWAM base at Hurlach, looks like they have a 40 year anniversary this year.

Drawing Diary: 27 and 28 February 2012

27 February: Why did Jesus go to the synagogue?

I always have the most interesting conversations with my friend Christina. She asks a lot of questions, and I like that very much. She works in a church, and she seems to break her pretty head over why people don´t go to church and how to get them to go. I believe Jesus liked to visit his small-town synagogue-service so He could worship His father together with the other believers.

28 February: 1000

For months I too have been working on this big summer-project. Mainly with the graphic part of promoting the event and keeping people informed. But I haven´t really cared so much wether we are actually going to get all 1000 people there, for me it has been just a "work-thing". But today I got convicted about not 100% caring wether the plans actually will happen. That is a very bad work-motivation. I pray to God for the right motivation and guidance, for me and for my co-workers.

If you like my quick T-shirt idea to the left, then you might as well like the Salvation Army shirts.
It would be so cool to make a couple of cool shirt-designs for my own church or for YWAM. Who´s with me?

This is the big summer-project (Norwegian) we are working towards.

The day after the big Oscar-day, ClassicFM was playing film-music the whole day.
Gabriel´s Oboe from The Mission is one of my favorite pieces of film-music.

Blote voeten / Bare feet

Three pairs of God-given bare feet.

Bare feet look really nice sticking out from under dresses and pants.

Deze week heb ik een paar blote voeten zitten schetsen. Ze kwamen er makklijker uit als ik verwacht had (of loop ik mezelf te onderschatten).
Ik vind ze gewoon mooi, ik ga er verder niks over zeggen.

Ondertussen is er op het kantoor een grote berg met opdrachtten weg gewerkt, en nou is het even rustig. Op maandag ben ik vaak het meest uitgeslapen en is het rustig op het kantoor. Er was niet veel anders te doen als oude kopieën van ons blad Mot Målet in te scannen voor het archief. Met een week begint er hier een Familie-school (FMS) van drie maanden, dan is er volle drukte en chaos met negen extra gezinnen. Één van "cursisten" in mijn vriend Lars, waar ik samen mijn Discipelschap Training School (DTS) mee gedaan heb. Ik ben er erg blij mee dat hij hier een paar maanden met zijn familie zal zijn.


This week I was sketching some feet from photo-reference, for some project. It looks like bare feet are pretty easy to draw. I guess some people will call this finished drawings, but for me they are meant as sketches.

Now that I have your attention, I feel like I should come up with a funny or awkward story or insightful truth about feet. Or quote something form the bible, for you to reflect on for a while. Nope, just look at them, I think they are beautiful. Welcome back next time.

Meanwhile, the workload has lessened, We have been on our toes pretty much all the time since the beginning of January. Much of my work will now have to do with our big summer-happening in Newcastle in England. We will be going there there with 1000 Norwegians during the Olympic games and work together with the local churches and reach out to the city. Our plan is also to take a viking ship there. I will keep you updated about this.