When nobody is looking
So often, when I’m sitting in the church and staring – unavoidably – at the windows above the altar, I’m struck by the lack of interaction between the three figures. This week, I happened to bring my sketchbook to church (I tend to take it everywhere, to be honest), and it happened to be the week in which we were all handed coloured pencils to draw on fishes. So, at the end of the service, as people filed out, I started drawing the windows. It wasn’t something I had planned, I just started doodling, with my own pen and some of the coloured pencils that were lying around. The only thing I had in mind was to create some kind of interaction.
As I drew, I discovered for myself the challenge that the original makers of those windows must have faced: if you have three figures, in separate windows, they can’t all be interacting equally. Having started drawing on the left, then moved to the middle, I found that I had created interaction between John the Baptist and Jesus – and that John the Evangelist was going to look a bit left out unless I made him look especially cheerful and willing. So that’s what I tried to do.
Having started with pen and coloured pencils, I went home, took a photo of my drawing, and added colour digitally on my iPad.
Thank you Sheena for asking me to share it.
(PS There are lots more examples of JP’s amazing creativity on his website https://flintoff.org/me-in-brief – Sheena)