Bible Journaling - Visualizing The Old Testament

It is finally time to start reading in my Inspire Praise Bible. I have been anxious to reach this point, as this is really what the whole process is about - spending more time in God's word. This must however be time that I spend contemplating the Word, not only more crafting time. As I turn to the page that introduces the start of the Old Testament, I have to stop and wonder how to summarize this testament, as this is what I would like to portray on the blank page that confronts me. The Old Testament is more than just the Law and the Prophets, but these are still central to the Old Testament. This is why I opt to use a stamp of a book on this page, in which I write the words 'The Law' and 'The Prophets.' I then have this book open up to lighthouse built on a rock. The Rock indicates the presence of Jesus in the Old Testament. The Law and the Prophets point towards the lighthouse as they serve as warning signals and guiding lights for the people.
When I was done, I opened my Bible to find a passage about light to write in the open space left in the top right corner of the page. I had a different passage in mind, when I opened the Bible, but my eye caught Psalm 18:27-29. This is a favourite passage of mine, and applied to the picture. I closed the page to return to cover, without putting a bookmark in place, or noting which Psalm it was that I was looking at. As soon as I had done this, I realized my mistake. I opened the Bible yet again to find the particular passage, and somehow opened it right back up at the exact page. This did not happen subsequently, and so I was left to conclude that the passage resonated in my spirit because it was God's Spirit talking to me amidst the chaos and noise of the room I found myself in as I was journaling this page. Here is the passage from Psalm 18:27-29:

You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
You light a lamp for me.
The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.

All that was left to do then, was to colour the opposite page. I walk you through the steps of decorating these two pages, in today's blog.

The pages that faced me as I opened the Bible, was a blank page that begged to be decorated, as well as a beautiful colouring picture on the opposite page. My first inclination was to treat these two pages as a whole and I started off that way, but I soon realized that I wished to work more symbolic than artistic and changed tactics.

To start with, I coated both pages in a layer of Zellen Clear Gesso, so that I could use a variety of products on the pages, without having to be concerned that the products would bleed through to the other sides of the pages.

Once the gesso was touch dry, I slipped a protective shield between the two pages and wedged the Bible closed to straighten out the wobbling wet pages.

I opened the Bible back up to lovely straightened pages.

I decided to emboss the stamp of the book I had.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink to stamp the image onto the Bible page.

I opted for a very neutral colour to coincide with the lines on the opposite page.

I then generously strew embossing powder over the image.

The excess embossing powder was shaken off onto a clean sheet of paper and funneled back into the container.

I then used a hairdryer to blast hot air onto the image, which melted the embossing powder and gave the image a slight glimmer, as well as to emboss it slightly.

I used a metalic pen to write the words 'The Law' and 'The Prophets' inside the image of the book.

I then started a sketch that resembled the one on the opposite page, but realized that this was not the route I wanted to take. I erased the pencil sketch, but found that the gesso background made it virtually impossible to get rid of all the pencil marks. I decided to use incorporate this messy look in my new page.

I drew the image of a lighthouse standing on a rock next to the stamped image of the book.

I smeared the background with two shades of blue Gelatos.

I used a wet brush to paint the Gelatos onto the background. The greyish background, left by the pencil residue, assisted to create a more moody atmosphere to the background.

I coloured the rock with three shades of Derwent Inktense pencils. I then activated the ink with water.

I coloured the lighthouse with Inktense pencils and painted it with water. Then I waited for the image to dry. Inktense can not be lifted once dry, unlike other water-soluble pencils.

In the meantime, I added a little colour to the book.

I then returned to the lighthouse to add shading and light reflections.

I then used a metalic pen to write the passage from Psalm 18:27-29 on the page.

This concluded one of the two pages.

I used metalic pens to colour the butterflies on the opposite page.

I used fineliners to colour the more elaborately decorated leaves.

Then I painted the flowers and leaves with Gelatos.

I used Duo Markers to colour the journaling on the page.

To colour the background, I once again placed blue blotches of Gelatos all over the page, which I then painted with water.

What the page looked like when I was done with it.

What the double page layout looked like when I was done with it.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/E2ydd1qwydY

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2005,2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

Inspire PRAISE South Africa edition copyright 2017 by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA. All rights reserved.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.