Art Journal: God's Promises of Rest & Peace

Last night, as I was praying, a picture of a dragonfly on a waterlily leaf came into my head. I felt an immense surge of peace as I became aware of the picture and knew that I could sit back and trust God to keep His word and promises in my life. Today, the image remained in my head and I decided to draw it. It became the next page in my art journal. I show you how to draw a dragonfly step by step in today's blog, before painting it in soft pastels and charcoal.

You will need a white pencil and ruler to start today's drawing. We will once again work on black paper.

Start by drawing a rectangle with a long line running through the centre of the rectangle.

Mark the wings and head of the dragonfly. Fill in the tail (body) of the dragonfly.

Add the details for the wings and body of the dragonfly.

Draw the detail on the body.

Draw the legs.

I then redrew the dragonfly with a white paint marker. Sadly, I made a huge blot in one spot. Do not fret if this happens. Simply blot the worst of the stain away with a tissue.

Then use a black marker to mask the stain.

Now redraw the line.

Once the ink is dry, you can erase the pencil lines with a black eraser.

Draw a lily leaf around the dragonfly.

Use soft pastel pencils to paint the dragonfly in the colours of your choice.

Use a woodless charcoal pencil to draw the detail on the wings, and to add shadows.

Colour the leaf unevenly with a soft pastel that is turned on its side.

Spray the painting with fixative to prevent it from smudging.

I then used the white paint marker to write a series of God's promises all around the leaf, as if to hedge in the dragonfly with these promises.

The final picture.

You can also watch a short video clip of the photos in this blog here: https://youtu.be/_CqFecaAfa4

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
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