recent doodles

From the pages of my moleskine notebook.

The left side of the page is interesting. I just started making boxes and that's what happened. Those shapes were made over a long period of time. The right side of the page is something I am working on right now. It's scene from a special place in Alsace region of France. I am going to be adding to it. Stay tuned...
Don't you love the creative part of life? Where do these things come from? They come from a creative God who loves to see His children exercising some of his DNA.

Swiss Alps

This drawing is from a photo that I took while in Switzerland. I did something unusual with this drawing that I have never done before. I used a technique known as "Stipling" or "Pointillism", which means the drawing is done using nothing but dots. Yes, it's true. Check it out, click on the picture to see an enlargement. I really like the smooth effect you can achieve with dots.

This is a very famous line of mountains whose names are the Eiger (the Ogre), the Moench (the Monk), and the Jungfrau (the Young Woman)- together they are known as the "Top of Europe". Our God is a great God.

Life comes at you fast

This sermon was brought by Glenn Lewis at Black Forest Christian Fellowship. He pointed out the importance of dealing with sin quickly - today. Life comes at you fast, it is important to be in fellowship with others for the confession of sin, encouragement, and accountability. Click on the image to read about Glenn's unusual illustration used in church.

I worked on these "notes" some days after this sermon was given to give it just a fuller treatment. I wanted to show how life comes at you fast. Apologies to Nationwide, but my insurance policy never covered things like sin, forgiveness, joy, temptation, contentment, or prayer. Only Christ and his body, the church, can touch those things.

Sermon Sketches

I really liked the title of this sermon, "His Way, His Will, His Whisper" taken from Psalm 25. Randy Capp brought this message.

I enjoyed trying to find a way to illustrate Way, Will, and Whisper on the bottom of the page. This has to be done rather quickly during the sermon. But yes, sometimes I finish up my "notes" after I get home from church.
Again, this is a scan from one of my precious Moleskine books.

A little holiday sketching

I was looking for something to sketch recently. Both of the following items were found right outside our door.

These were drawn in my moleskine sketch book. I used my uni-ball signo RT gel 0.38. Both sketchbook and pen are a pleasure to use. Thanks Jim for recommending the 0.38 to me.
If you click on the picture you will see that I primarily used "pointillism" for defining the leaves. That means a million little dots were used in making this drawing. (No dots were injured, abused, or hurt in the making of this sketch.)

Hmmm. What's this?

This is a recent doodle. This is NOT my usual style at all. It all started with one curly line (the one at the 1:00 position). That curly line lead to another, that lead to another, that lead...you get the idea. When this was sketch was finally "done" I was very surprised at myself. My doodling is usually very square, blocky, and rigid - this one was nothing like that. Very interesting!!


I admit I started this little sketch during church on second advent Sunday. When I look at this little sketch I think maybe this is communicating something about "coming" - the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus, exploding into our world bringing power, redemption, and salvation.

Sermon doodles

This sermon was given by Pastor John Kitchen at Stow Alliance on Nov 25, 07. This time I used the printed handout for my notes and sketches.

I like the little sketches by the main points - especially the one showing "A hope worth holding on to." You can click on the picture to zoom in.

End of my rope

Sermon "notes". This was a good word. The message today was from I Samuel 27-30. David finds himself in a pit, at the end of his rope. What does he do? He finds strength in the Lord. How? By binding himself to God.

I wish I could draw people better - but I think you get the idea. David binds himself to the Rope and finds God, in his grace, is still on the other end. By "doodling" or sketching this concept from today's message I have a complete word picture that I will not forget for a long time. Try it some time.
Pastor Harrop at www.bfcf.de gave this message this morning. Navigate to BFCF to hear the full message. God might give you a different visual than he did to me.

What happened here?

Not sure what happened here. This once started out as a sermon doodle, you can see it in the middle of the page. Later, this became a page where I doodled mindlessly. I simply drew whatever came into my head. I noticed there are a bunch of little books drawn on this page. There are also a lot of trees. I like to draw winter trees - no leaves. And, as usual there is a paper shopping bag in my doodling. I guess I like the shape and fold-lines of a paper sack.

I will admit that I was "inspired" to fill a page with random things after noticing something similar produced and on display by our students in their art classes.

I'm still using that 0.39 gel pen. I love the fine line for drawing.

This is a scan from my blank-page Moleskine. I LOVE the weight and smoothness of the paper. Highly recommended.

Sermon Doodle

Today's Sermon. Pastor David told the story of how David cut off a small piece of King Saul's robe. My little sketch could have been better, but I think you get the idea. I wonder if David REALLY had a Swiss Army knife.

David had Saul right where he wanted him - humanly speaking. He could have taken revenge. Instead he only took a piece of Saul's robe. And then, his conscience got to him!! Revenge is never in our interest.

Local produce

There HAS to be a creator. How else can you explain the amazing variety of vegetables for us to enjoy?

Frutigen, Switzerland

I have to admit that I really enjoyed drawing this one. I was kinda sad when I finished it. This one is special to me because of the location.

Frutigen is where my grandmother was born and raised. She very likely attended services in this church. She left Frutigen for America when she was 21 years of age and never returned. Growing up in Ohio I saw lots of old pictures of this church and town and dreamed of one day visiting this place. Now I can say that I have been there many many times. I never tire of this place. How could Grandma leave this amazing place in the alps?

Original size: 21x20cm, 8.25x8.0 in.
Pen: Rotring rapidographs various size nibs.

Various doodles

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I like to doodle. In fact, I am a bit of an advocate for the doodlers out there. Almost all of my doodling occurs while I am in some sort of meeting - leadership, church, etc - and I believe that doodling actually helps me to concentrate on what's going on and what's being said. It's interesting that I can look at the shapes drawn below and remember what the speaker was saying at the time. Not sure why that is, but it is.

Once again, this doodling of mine is a creative release - a way to "unstring the bow."
Last thing...what does doodling reveal about the doodler? (Have you seen that book about Presidential doodles?) Why are almost all of my doodles geometric? And what are those shopping bags doing showing up again?? Weird.

Grocery store goodness

I took these pictures today at the grocery store in France. Such amazing variety. The creator knew what He was doing.

A sketch a day

I did this today - just doodling. I had no idea what this would be when I started. I was drawing a series of boxes on the page (not shown). Then I drew a paper shopping bag, then a jar, then a cereal box, then a milk carton, soon it called for a table-top, the table-top needed legs... There you go. Surprise.

Media: "Uni-ball signo RT gel 0.38" pen on plain paper.

Two Sermons, One Page

Two sermon doodles on the same page. Both messages were given by David Harrop, pastor of Black Forest Christian Fellowship.

I like the picture of David vs. Goliath - and the possible four other giants. Why did David have 5 smooth stones unless maybe he took out more than one giant that day? Click on the picture to read the notes.

Looking for God

Venazza, Italy

This was a quick sketch that I did one quiet morning on holiday in Vernazza, Italy. I don't usually do "live" sketches. Normally, I take a picture with my camera, print up a print for myself, and then make the drawing. I had extra time with this sketch and so I thought I would try to do it right there.

This is a reminder that all of us need to find time to be quiet and look to make God-memories. I loved sitting there in the cool morning air, listening to the little waves lapping along the rocks, and enjoying the deep sound of the church bells in the village. Sketching is a very relaxing activity - God meets you there.

Early watercolor

I made this little painting 10 years ago. I did it shortly after a trip we made to England. This little street scene only exists in my mind and was a kind of compilation of images in my head upon our return home. Notice the names of the stores - I used the members of my family for the names. Click on it to see a larger view.

I really loved London, the main city, but also the back streets. Only problem was the high cost of everything.

Notes on Count Zinzendorf

I actually like to take notes this way occasionally. This is a system called "Mind Mapping". I know it looks a bit strange at first, but it is a very logical way of organizing your thoughts. These are notes I made in preparation for a talk I gave recently on the life of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760).

There is a free computer program that will do this for you on a PC called "freemind". Search for it. I "drew" this mind map in my blank moleskine notebook. I love the heavy smooth paper in this book. Highly recommended.