Bible Journaling - Genesis 36 & 37

We have reached Genesis 36 in our Bible Journaling journey and in this chapter we see one of the key nations of the Old Testament established in their territory. I thought it was about time that we got some sort of overview of where the history we were dealing with, was taking place, and therefore I journaled a map onto this chapter. In Genesis 37, the story lone focuses in on one of Jacob's/Israel's sons, namely Joseph. We learn a little more about this favourite child of Jacob's and how he seemed to be favoured by God as well. Enjoy the journey with me.

The story continues on the next page where we see the relationship between Joseph and his brothers deteriorating to the point where they actually scheme to murder him. Fortunately, he is only sold into slavery, so that his life is spared.

Genesis 36 and 37 look like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I coat the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso before I start. I have since been given two bottles of Clear Gesso to pretest, before marketing and manufacturing, which are much superior products, but I am not yet at liberty to disclose more on this topic, though I would advise you to keep your eyes peeled in future blogs, as I am very impressed with the results from one of these test samples.

After I let the gesso dry completely, the pages still look like this.

I start by drawing a map of the Middle East on my page. I draw this map freehand, so that it is not a scale model, but try to stick as close as possible to the correct sizes and diameters. I start the drawing in pencil and then outline it with Micron pens.

I use Inktense pencils to colour the water areas on the map.

I use the same pencils to colour the land areas on the maps. I then rewrite the names on the map in pen, as I found that my original writing had largely washed away.

When it comes to the special coat that Jacob had had made for Joseph, I stick to the traditional version of a technicolour coat, rather than the New Living Translation's version, which simply calls it a beautiful robe. I draw the robe in pencil at first.

I then use Derwent Metallic Pencils, which are watersoluble, to colour and paint the tunic.

In the following passage, we learn about one of Joseph's dreams, where he saw his own bundle of grain standing upright, while his brothers's bundles gathered around it and bowed before it. I draw this with Faber Castell Pitt Artist's Pens.

I then decide to use one of these pens to also outline the robe illustrated above.

When I am done, my pages look like this.

I turn the page to where the chapter continues. These pages have already been treated with Clear Gesso.

We now read about yet another dream that Joseph had. In this one he sees the son, moon, and eleven stars bowing to one star, himself. I decide to colour the passage blue, using Derwent Inktense pencils, which I paint with water.

While the ink is still wet, I use a kitchen towel to lift some of the colour off the page.

I then use a combination of Metallic and Inktense pencils to colour the sun, moon and stars. One star is made to appear more prominent than the others. This one I colour white, to make it stand out against the blue background.

We then get to the part in the passage where Joseph's relationship with his brothers reaches such a low point that they decide to kill him. Fortunately, due to Judah's intervention, his life is saved and he is only sold into slavery to a caravan of traders who came passed. Note though, that Reuben, had every intention of releasing his brother and returning him to their father. It would seem not all of the brothers were in unison on the idea of killing Joseph. I depict this scene by drawing a purse with money spilling out of it.

I use a combination of Derwent Inktense and Metallic pencils to colour and paint the purse. It is interesting to note that this passage is in some way a foreshadowing of what would happen to Jesus later on, when His life was also sold away for a some of money.

The brothers are then left to concoct a story about what had happened to Joseph. They decide to shred his distinctive robe so that they could claim that a wild animal had killed him. I draw the robe in red, using pensil, and Inktense pencils. I also draw a large teardrop to depict Jacob's sadness upon receiving the terrible news of his son's death.

When I am done the pages look like this.

I page back to get an overview of the two chapters I had done today.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/7cGohJ95De4

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:
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