"Let there be Light"

This is the first painting I did, "Walking on Water", for "Let there be Light", the show that is now hanging in the gallery at the Crystal Cathedral, in Garden Grove , California.



This is the first version with Christ looking like he was near the shore. Besides not looking like a sea, the illusion of walking on deep water wasn't there.



This is the second version of water which I liked because of all the color I infused into it, but it still didn't have the feel of deeper water and rougher sea water. On the third and final version above I decided to limit the color on the water and try to convey a rougher wave feel with all the warm tones in the figure of Jesus.







Here's a shot of the Gallery building



Let me tell you how it came about.
I am fortunate to know, and be best friends with an artist in Seattle, Chris Hopkins. He's always been an oil painter, even in the early part of his career when we both worked at a Hollywood design studio, Willardson & White, where we were primarily working as airbrush painters making a living at advertising art of all kinds. Album covers, movie posters and product advertisments of all kinds. Chris and I both landed there out of Art Center, and had more than three years of working side by side having a great time and creating so many fun memories. I stuck with airbrush after leaving W&W, but very quickly, over a period of just a couple of years,Chris crushed his airbrush, (literally, and then painted it as a still life), and developed a portfolio of nothing but oil painted illustrations.
Just when I thought Chris had outdone himself on any one project, he would blow me away with a bigger and better piece that looked like he worked on it for a year. He can paint more in one week than five painters can painters can paint in a month. It was Chris that suggested I paint something for an upcoming show that he helped organize, that was going to include, not only some of his Christian pieces, but many of the other best known names in Christian art. I have to thank Chris publicly for inviting me into a group that he worked for years earning their respect. This is a highlight of my career and a real honor to be hanging my art among the works of these artists.

I won't post any images of their art here without first getting permission, but I will give you links to all of their websites so you can see how amazing this group of artists are.

Chris Hopkins

Dennis Lewis

Thomas Blackshear

There are many more artists in this group, but I'll need to find my catalog from the show to continue with links. I'll add to this post as I locate links to the artists, and photos from the show.

Here is the second piece I contributed, "Into the Desert"




Here's a shot of Dennis Lewis posing in front of the piece he painted.