Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Wanted to try the ink splatter transitions in After Effects feat. a design I might sell for my church's craft faire ... but we'll see how it goes 😬 hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved ones!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

26, the Golden Year

don't let it go for nobody

I was told that your golden year is when you turn the same age as your birthdate. And honestly, I only found that out like seven years ago. Turning 26 was my golden year ... but it felt more alarming than what I anticipated on lol.

I've had this idea of a doodle of myself looking back at myself when I was younger. Sometimes I think what would 17-year-old me think of me now? Or what would I—if I even had the chance—tell myself ten years ago? Sounds pretty vain to be thinking about, and ultimately it's God who keeps me accountable, but it's a thought that comes and goes through my mind.

Here’s to the beginning of 27.

TAKE HEART

It's been a while. COVID is still around and I got a new job so I haven't really been sketching things as much :( but I'm trying to pick that up again!

I saw this quote on Tumblr a month ago—"Make it your ambition to take heart" from Rainer Maria Rilke. Not sure why, but I wanted to make a Rugrats title card for it. I also wanted to make my own backgrounds, but why not use an actual rugrats' drawing? My niece got into coloring during quarantine and loves it, so I used her drawings hehe.

Honestly I don't know who Rainer is, but I love this quote from a biblical perspective. On their way to Gethsemane, Jesus focused His ministry to His disciples before He was arrested. He said,

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
(John 16:33 ESV, emphasis added)

Also, fun fact, I found out today was the release date for Rugrats 29 years ago!

"Jesus wept."

"The Greek word here has the connotation of silently bursting into tears in contrast to the loud lament of the group (John 11:33).

"His tears here were not generated out of mourning, since he was to raise Lazarus, but out of grief for a fallen world entangled in sin-caused sorrow and death.

"He was 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief' (Isaiah 53:3)."

—John MacArthur, ESV MacArthur Study Bible

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,

Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a

high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in

every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with

confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and

find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

"I will not compare other beauty to mine."

I wouldn't really call myself a "huge Paramore fan," but for someone who has been following up on them since my freshman year of 2007, Hayley's solo album Petals for Armor was released today!

I've listened to most of the songs, and so far I like what I hear—but it is very deep and very personal as it talks about her depression and her divorce. If you've liked Paramore's latest album, After Laughter, you can vibe out to this album as they share some similar music vibes, but you can also get a sense of her own style she's put into it.

One of my personal favorites is "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris," which inspired me to finally do some flower studies. They're still pretty rough, but I love the meaning of how we all grow together but differently, displaying our own kind of beauty.

 

 

(Fun fact: the purple flower was grown from my mom's garden)

my fave song during quarantine ... so far

I believe it was April 1st when I discovered this song and even up to now, I still jam to it as if it was the first time I've heard it. So after listening to it so much, I was inspired to create a (second) Lukanette drawing. I'll set the mood:

Marinette and everyone from Kitty Section are hanging out at a café and it’s open mic. Marinette highly encourages Luka to perform the song that’s been stuck in his head (if ya know what I mean lolol), but he’s hesitant. Marinette then gets their friends to encourage him to perform. Luka is still skeptical, but when Marinette asks him, he shrugs it off and gets on stage to perform. So his song goes something like this …

"Bags" by Clairo

(and yes, specifically THIS version!!)

Bonus sketch:

because we're living in this historical time

Let's help stop the spread!

"He Is Here"

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Proverbs 15:3

"The person who fears God is conscious that God is aware of every minute detail, every mundane activity in his or her life. Such awareness serves as a check on temptation to sin. This doesn't mean living in constant fear that God is going to 'get us.' It does mean that because we're aware of His all-seeing eye and all-hearing ear, we love in a way that pleases Him as He sees what we do and hears what we say.

"The important thing to realize is that everything about us—not only every word and action, but also every thought and motive—lies before God as an open book. To fear God means living in this continual awareness of His presence and knowledge."

—Jerry Bridges, The Joy of Fearing God

hand studies

Who has ... with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Isaiah 40:12 (NIV)

"A hand breadth is the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger when the fingers are completely spread apart.

"God is so great that He marked off the heavens by the breadth of His hand. We can't really calculate the distance across the universe. We do know that the nearest star, other than the sun, is about four and a half light years away. Since light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second, that nearest star is over twenty-six trillion (26,000,000,000,000) miles away.

"And that's just to the nearest star! The distance across the entire universe, whatever it is, would simply be in an incomprehensible figure to us. Yet God tells us He merely marks off that distance with the breadth of His hand."

—Jerry Bridges, The Joy of Fearing God

Happy First Day of Spring feat. my fave cats!

Un petit chat sur le toit, se languit sans sa Lady ...

"I think I need a little peace"

I think it's so funny that everyone (including me) was expecting 2020 to be such a great year, yet the past two weeks has been nonstop talk about COVID-19 along with a bunch of memes about having no toilet paper. I don't know what interests me more ... to see a lot of people being very fearful about this virus or to see the selfishness in people as we live in this chaotic world.

I don't mean to sound ignorant about this—I definitely agree that we should all be mindful of what's going on and take precaution towards it—but I do believe that God is sovereign over everything that is happening, even the choices that our president makes.

Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Psalm 115:2-3

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Even with this issue going on, it actually feels nice to be at home and rest from the everyday busyness that goes on—I even got to start sketching again! :)