A Man of Sorrows

I awoke one morning about a month ago with a feeling of urgency…maybe that’s not the word I want…maybe more “feeling impressed upon” to do a specific painting. I made a sketch, showed it to my son and explained to him my thoughts on the painting. The first thing he said in response was…”a man of constant sorrow.” Isaiah 53:3 says “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” Let me show you by posting my latest “practice” work.

A MAN OF SORROWS
16x20 oil on stretched canvas

Detail...Christ's tears

As I mentioned above, this is a practice piece. I wanted to make sure that what I had in mind; I would be able to create before doing a large canvas. I am told that an artist should leave the interpretation of an artwork to the viewer, but I want no mistaking what I’m saying here…or is it really what the Lord is saying??

The background is the Orion cosmos. For your interest, the constellation Orion, which by the way is the largest and brightest constellation in the universe, depicts… the Glorious One, He Who Triumphs, coming forth as light. Something I learned in my Sunday school class after I did the painting. Isn’t that interesting? (The Greeks call Orion The Hunter). Christ is shown in His ascended glory looking down on earth; His left hand clutching at His heart in grief, while lifting His right hand off the earth in a gesture of both blessing and allowance (allowing man to make his choices, good or bad). He is crying because He is saddened at what He sees as man’s rejection of the Word of God.

Through the art forums I belong to, I have received suggestions on how I can make this piece even better and I appreciate that help very much. I am intimidated by doing a larger canvas, so I am not quite ready to tackle that yet, but I will when it feels right.

Mahalo and thank you for visiting.

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