Lustful and Carefree

Lust

Carefree

Psalm 126

When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."

The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like streams of the Negev.

Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.

He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.

What a passage, huh? That's pretty much my favorite verse right now...it's been a real encouragement. And there's the second week of Character Creation! This week we had to design two characters...one embodying our best trait and one embodying our worst. So, here they are!
I felt it was an opportunity to be a little uncomfortably honest and open up the discussion. I'm convinced that (with the Lust piece), though the theme may be gross and most people would prefer to avoid it altogether, it should be openly addressed and so put more thoroughly to death!
So, I think the Psalm puts the two pieces in context. Only through Christ is there victory, and how!
I certainly didn't set out to make something gratuitously "dirty" or inappropriate...and I hope nobody's offended by this sort of thing. I just wanted to be honest, and it's really important to me not to make light of evil. To call sin "sin" is really vital! And to put that in context with Joy and freedom! (That's a whole 'nother conversation...but I feel like even in stories geared towards 'kids', evil should be honestly portrayed. The Bible doesn't skimp on it's accounts of sex, death, war and cruelty and neither should we!) Anyways, I hope you can enjoy and appreciate these as such. I can ramble on, but I'd hope these two stand on their own in tension. Hopefully it provokes some good thought and conversation.

Carefree just sort of came together this week for the assignment, but the Lust design I've been wanting to do since last year's seniors completed this same assignment! The actual design has changed drastically since it's original incarnation, and you'll remember the crotch-arm from a previous piece, perhaps?

Anyways, here are some of the recent sketches in progression to that final piece:

Also, I forgot to post one last little color study I did at the end of the summer...it's a palette I want very badly to revisit...I'll leave you with it:

Enjoy!
-Nick