Art Unboxed – Art In Creation

“I’ve heard a baby cry, I’ve watched the lion stand, and I’ve seen the light of the sun on the mountain, I know they were all painted with the same unseen hand. Art in creation requires an Artist, and I’m so glad He signed His name. “

Ask a painter what inspires them and at some point, even in a very detailed answer certain things will be present. I can almost guarantee that the most prominently mentioned item would be light. It’s been said that an artist pursues light.

Often when a painter begins to paint you’ll hear them instruct their students to begin with “their lightest light and darkest dark.” Everything in between is important, but the establishing of the light, and its contrast the darkest dark are key elements to a painting. They will also explain that how you handle light is one of the key element’s of a great artist.

The second point they will bring out may have different names, nature, plein air, the outdoors, but all will be a description of creation. Every artist will admit no brush can paint a sunrise or sunset as beautifully as it is in reality. Whether they’re a believer in God or not, on this the atheist, agnostic, and Christian agree, a sunrise and a sunset are breath taking.

Beyond the light and the landscape, artist love to draw animals and people. The majestic deer, the noble lion, the strength of the bear, and the beauty of the eagle. A great artist can say so much in painting them, but their inspiration came from life.

Painting from life, that’s another point the majority of artists agree on. Weather landscape, animals, or people, you get so much more detail from being there than you can from a photograph. An artist can walk into a room, look at fifty portraits, and pick out the five that were done from life.

Painting the face of a person is much more than the shape of the eye, mouth, or nose. It’s skin tone, dimension, complexion, expression, and likeness. Great portraits can be amazing, but artists know they can only capture part of the story with a painting.

Before a painter ever picked up a brush, or a sculptor molded clay, we saw the sunrise. Creation itself holds a beauty that a canvas can only illustrate never duplicate. I believe that artistry comes from a Divine Creator. That the One Who invented both wisdom and art, set the sun in the sky and caused the sparrow to fly.

Whether talking about the sunrise from an artistic or scientific perspective there is so much beauty in it. Beyond the attractiveness, part of it’s beauty is in its purpose. Light leads, brightens, warms, strengthens, and establishes boundaries. There is intention in its design, and in it I see God’s hand.

I see the artistry of God in the face of a child, in the smile of an elderly person, and in the greenness of the grass. Artists are like everyone else, at times they lack inspiration, searching for something they can not explain. Often they find this by going outside and viewing the beauty around them.

I believe this is no accident, but the hand of The Greatest Artist. He placed so much in His art for us to find. The chiefest of which is salvation, joy, hope, and truth but also the fact that we never have to give up, give in, or settle for anything less than what He has for us.

My art brings me closer to God because it helps me to appreciate that we are made in His likeness. He created a universe of beauty then placed us in it. He gave a pattern for a Tabernacle to Moses so man could understand that one day God would send His son in flesh to die for the world.

I write this because I truly believe no discussion on art can conclude without speaking on art in creation. An you cannot discuss art in creation without mentioning The Creator. From an artistic standpoint, God didn’t mix the color red, He invented it.

An artist combines blue, red, and green, but first they were Divinely gifted to us all. How anyone can look at our beautiful and brilliant world and suppose that it happened accidentally through a cosmic explosion I’ll never understand. I’m sorry but the delicateness of a flower and the strength of a mountain can’t be produced by a big bang.

For those that are of that mind, I would ask this question, who invented the pieces that blew apart? I’ve heard a baby cry, I’ve watched the lion stand, and I’ve seen the light of the sun on the mountain, I know they were all painted with the same unseen hand. Art in creation requires an Artist, and I’m so glad He signed His name.