Slaying the Dragon

Goal of the day Slay the might Beast and conquer “Color Theory” finals, so I can go surf some concrete in the sun.

A Dangerous Encounter

Brush and Ink

Dragon Symbol

Warm Color watercolor wash

Look into my Eye

Dragon Tails

Click me to vote PLEASE!

I have entered the St. Patrick’s Day photo contest hosted my Dublin Dog your vote for my Happy Dog Mickey would be AWESOME. All you have to do is click the picture and like the Dublin Dog page, then vote for the picture you see above. You can vote once a day tell April 9th so let’s do this thing and spread the word friends .

Symbolism of Purity

How do you describe purity? How do you depicted purity? A couple of weeks ago I was commissioned to design an image that screamed purity in all it forms. The picture was to be an inspiration and encouragement to the person that was receiving the gift. The message was to never stop reaching for purity and that there is constant grow involved in a person that chooses to live a pure purpose drive life dedicated to God.

A lady in white is a common sign for purity in both Greek and Mediaeval art work. In this piece I was asked to use the White Lady of Rohan dress from “The Lord of the Rings Return of the King”.In the maiden’s hair you can see a net of pearls according to some source the pearl means purity or virtue. Underneath the pearls you will find the celtic knot of the Trinity and three white roses, these also has hundreds of meanings I chose them to show that we can find purity in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The three white roses show that the Trinity is one like in the knot but is also three separate people.  Woven into the braid are three stones two white and one red. The two white stone symbolize the purity if the body while the red stone represents purity of the mind and emotions.

Sense ancient times Asian cultures have held the Lotus as a symbol of purity. The lotus shows different stages of purity depending on how it is depicted. A white lotus shows the purity of body and red shows the purity of mind and heart. A blooming lotus symbolizes the purity that the person has achieved, while a closed lotus illustrates the potential that the person has and growth that is still in progress. The ripples in the water symbolize that if someone is willing to walk pure and righteous for the Lord they will make a difference in their surroundings. 

In the background we can see that white birch create a path way lining the water edge and show the path the maiden has chosen to take. In Celtic lore white birch symbolize growth, strength, loyalty, purity, and renewal.The white stag is a timeless symbol showing up in cultures all around the world with a hundreds of different meanings. In a mediaeval lore knights and kings are always chasing or hunting a white stag but can never reach it. The white stag is a symbol of divine purity something we can never achieve as humans, but we should alway strive to reach and never give up the chase.

The reason I painted the maiden in water is because water is constantly changing and being renewed by rain or other sources. Water also washes away the dirt from are bodies and has been used Biblical as sign of washing away sins and becoming a new creation when Christ is Lord of are lives.

While that is it! I hope you enjoyed the description of the symbolism and I hope you have taken something away that you did not know before. If you did please comment and let me know what it was and if you have any deeper questions about this piece please don’t hesitate to ask them. Thanks for reading! Stand Strong my friends.

Garret

A warrior of the Living God

Passionless…an Artist Testimony

Present Yourself Eagerly

Giving Whole Heartedly

Unashamed By Grace (Part 1)

Unashamed By Grace (Part 2)

Present Arms Worship Art

Yummy is a Weird Word..

     First off my “Manly Apple Fritters” were amazingly yummy. They turned out perfect on my first try, paired with a strong cup of english breakfast tea they made a yummy, mood lifting mid-day snack….. yummy is such a weird word

A Dusting of Snow

Hearty Snack

Second, I updated and renamed a gallery, “A Year of Sunday Sermons” has a ton more pictures, you should take a moment and let me know what you think, these sketches are slowing making their way to my drawing board and becoming finished pieces, so please comment and tell me what ones you would like to see first.

John's Vision

Third, I am sick, so the video post I planed for this week has been postponed do to the fact that I sound like a dying hippo. Please do check back the video and the art work deal with a subject that has been bugging me for some time know the title is “The Cross Roads of Life” you don’t want to miss it. Stand Strong my fiends in Christ

This is what I feel like right now

Garret

A worrier of the Living God.

Related articles

• Manly Apple Fritters (standingstrongart.wordpress.com)

Repaint Jesus

Just wanted to share this with you guys. This guy is really inspiring for artist that don’t see a use for there gift in furthering God kingdom. He has inspired me to refocus my thoughts and art to paint more and more for the glory of the King. Go ” Repaint Jesus” for someone by your actions, actions speak louder then words. Stand Strong my friends pure in heart and mind, set apart in a world of crazy art, for Him. Garret

God Made Not Odd Made

Just me messing around with my camera, while experimenting with a new watercolor technic on a piece driftwood from Ocean Shores. “God Made Not Odd Made” is inspired by aboriginal art but with a little twist illustrating a Christian perspective on creation.

Captain Hook Scourge of Neverland

Hook…hook…hook its the HOOK .About a year ago I ask what sketch I should turn into a painting on my sketchbook page and a couple of you chose this one, so here he is Hook… Captain of the Jolly Roger

I entered this into a Pirates of the Caribbean art contest on YouTube hosted by Val’s Art Diary. Her video of the art enters should be up in a week you should go check it out and vote for your favorite one

Getting Back in Beat

Wow, last post was March 9th, I think I have ignored my blog for far to long, it is time to get back in to the beat of blogging. Sorry about that! I could tell you that life got out of control but that would be an excuse. Things have just been the same old same old ,a little dog training, a lot of eating, an average amount of school and an awesome relationship with my God. Oh I also turned eighteen and my big brother got married those events were pretty awesome. Well all this was taking place I also realized I really like finger painting (defiantly going to be a future post) and got elven other paintings done, (also going to be another past), For my brothers wedding I was honored to be both a grooms men and to make a slide show that tells the story of two people truly in love, this story I would like to share with you. Enjoy and tell me what you think! 

Tools

Tools, every craftsmen has them but tools change with the trade. Well I am here to show you the tools of my trade each tool will have a picture and a brief description that fallows.

First off is me, Garret  Maytum

You might say I am the artist that uses the tool, but that is not the way I see it. You see if I did not see myself as a tool how is God suppose to use me? My art would have no meaning no passion I would be a brush working agains the  grain of the paper making marks that have little meaning.So I have chosen to work with the Craftsmen and let Him use me as He wishes flowing in His hand being used for a purpose and a dream.

Second is my most used and trusted tool that every one has wield at least once in there life. A pencil

Pentel clicker pencil fully loaded with B lead

Third is a little upgrade then  just a pencil, there COLORED pencils

Sanford, Prismacolor

General’s Kimberly, Derwent,

Colored Pencils

Next is a favorite of the Chinese and Indian cultures. Brush Pens

Faber-Castell PITT pens,  Sharpie ,Zig,  Staedtler, Pilot Parallel and Copic Sketch are some of the brands I use and recommend

And to stick it all together is my throne, my plain of creation, my sanctuary well thats the way I see it, other people might see it as just a plain ordinary drafting desk.

Studio RTA Design Glass Top Drafting Table

And the last tools in my box are tools of the  modern artist. My Macbook Pro and  Wacom pen tablet.

Macbook Pro

Wacom intuos 3

the last two item aren’t really an art tools, brushes, or pens but they help me get through artist block and give me new perspective on art work that I can’t get quite right. They our my didgeridoo

Didgeridoo

and my Bible

Bible Reading

Because with out daily renewing of my mind my art would become dry and dead, like a paint brush full of old dryad paint it has no room to carry the new fresh paint so it becomes useless to the artist and is thrown away. Bible reading clears my mind of the things of this world and focuses them back on God the Master Artist.

Well for those of you who were wondering what my tools were there they our. Please comment if you have any further questions or if  you just what to say hi. See you all next friday in the mean time keep Standing Strong in Christ.

Garret

A warrior of the Living God

The Work is Done!!!!

Ok, I’m back and have more of a plan of what my blog is going to be this year, instead of me just posting random picture throughout the week my art is  going to have a theme,a description, and a purpose. I will be making time lapses videos of the art in all its stages, so here is the first one of hopefully many to come.

Purity

Purity : What is purity? pure,white,clean, seeking Gods desires not are own, Free from the thoughts of this world. In art purity is usually , a white rose,a maiden, or an angle. In my painting I chose to use a white tuple because tuple petals have a wax like coating on them that stops stuff (sin) from muddying the color (purity) of the tuple.

Sin: The storm cloud in the painting is the sin trying to corrupt  purity and cut is off from God notice that even though the sin is trying to hide God from us, God is always visible. The black cloth on the cross is  my sin that Christ has taken away to give me purity.

Christ

Life: The red swirls at the bottom symbolize life. Life is not as dark as sin but the business of it can distract us from what matters most. God

Life

Here is the whole painting altogether hoped you liked it please comment and let me know.

Fight for Purity