Returning To The Art Of Drawing

Ok, so I have to admit something… I haven't drawn anything in several years! Oops :D

Now I want to get back into drawing and illustration, and learn about animation. Because of that, I have decided to start drawing again. It's been over 3 years or so since the last time since I've drawn anything, and now I'm really rusty. I contacted some of my design instructors to see what they recommended for me to do to get started again. One of them, Mrs. Wedel, told me to start practicing and keep on practicing. So, I figured that I would start practicing like I use to by taking a picture that I found and draw it.

Here is my first practice drawing. It's from the book "Through The Lens" by National Geographic on page 196. Let me know what you think…

View from my front door

When I got home today from the office, I saw a really beautiful sunset. It just so happened that my camera was close by, so I set it up to take this photo. This is an HDR photo made with 5 exposures. It's not a perfect HDR photo, but its better than the origional. So what do you think, which one do you like better? Let me know :D

Original Photo                                                  HDR Photo

Canon 30D • 24-70mm 2.8L • ISO 100

Exposure 1: f/4.0 1/25

Exposure 2: f/4.0 1/50

Exposure 3: f/4.0 1/100

Exposure 4: f/4.0 1/200

Exposure 5: f/4.0 1/400

Action Method

OK. I'm one of those people who is always trying to find better and easier ways to stay organized. As a Husband, a Pastor, a Designer, and a Photographer this can be kind of hard. Especially if you have as many projects as I get. I need something that can help me manage all my project lists both at Church, with my clients, and with my family.

Well, today I found a really good project manager that I think will help me do this. Its called "Action Method Online." This is an online project manager that I think can make life easier. Another cool thing is that it's FREE. If its FREE and worth something then its for me. Now I say its free, but there is also a version that cost $12 a month that comes with more bells and whistles. Right now, I'm using the free version to see if its going to work for me. And, another cool thing, they have a FREE app for the iPhone as well!

This online project manager was created by Behance.com. Let me tell you, the people of Behance really know creatives and how our minds work. This project manager is really easy to use, easy to navagate, and so far its better than Apple's iMail, Gmail's calendar and project manager, and Microsofts Outlook and Entourage.

Head over to www.actionmethod.com to check it out for your self.

Graphics were taken from http://www.actionmethod.com/Methodology

Good defence is a good strategy

Image from www.thebricktestament.com

This morning while checking my facebook, one of my former students (from my second youth position at Guthrie's First United Methodist Church) messaged me and asked me a very good question.

He asked me "What does Jesus mean in Luke 22:36 when he tells his disciples to buy swords and then he tells them '2 will be enough'?"

This verse through me for a loop at first. I don't think I've ever payed attention to it before. If you read through the Book of Luke, and look at it in the correct context the answer is there.

I think J. Vernon McGee gives the best explanation about it in his "Thru The Bible Commentary Series on Luke"

Here is what Dr. McGee said on Luke 22:36:

"You had better pack your suitcase and get your traveler's checks if you are going out for the Lord today and give out the gospel. You had better be prepared to protect yourself and your loved ones. We are living in difficult days. The Lord said, 'He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.' Why? For self protection, of course. They were living in days that required a sword. We need to recognize that fact also. IF we do not resist evil today, all kinds of evil will befall us. We could end up in the hospital or have some of our loved ones slain"

John Wesley commented about this verse too. He said "It is plain, this is not to be taken literally. It only means, This will be a time of extreme danger."

I personally think that Jesus was telling those with him to be prepared to defend yourselves and your families. In those times everyone had a sword, and if someone decided to come after you with a sword and you didn't have one then your pretty much a goner.  Jesus didn't say to use the swords to harm or attack others, but at the same time he knew that the disciples and his followers would be in danger and that they needed to be able to defend themselves.

Now the question is: "But, didn't Jesus tell us to turn the other cheek?"

Yes, Jesus said to turn the other cheek in Matthew 5:39 and Luke 6:29. But he was talking in a different context than what he was in Luke 22:36. Jesus is saying here not to retaliate. Sometimes, when we are doing what Jesus has asked us to do, people are going to get mad at us. I've even seen evangelists get punched in the face for saying Jesus Loves You.

Jesus is talking about showing those people love and kindness. When someone has wronged us, we shouldn't react in a hateful or angry way, but in a way that demonstrates Jesus character and values. The actions we make when someone is mean to us should cause them to consider what Jesus is like so that our example might lead them to accept Jesus as their Lord God and Savior.

I know people that take both of these verses to the extreme. One of my professors in college said that if he walked in on his wife being raped he would allow it to happen, and when the attack was over he would simply set down with the guy and talk with him to lead him to Jesus. On the other hand, I know a guy that thinks that you should kill anybody that even looks at your house from the side walk. Both men are Christians, and both of them take these two verses to the point of being extremists. Which is a bad thing.

Jesus said to turn the other cheek, but didn't say what to do if the person kept attacking. I think that is where Luke 22:36 comes in. If someone hits you once and then its over then don't react. If someone comes breaks into your house while your there or someone is attacking you, by all means defend yourself and your family! The hard part is, you have to defend yourself and your family in a way that will show Jesus to the person attacking you. It may mean that you grab a baseball bat and scare the person. At the same time it may mean knocking the person out, then taking them to the hospital, and once they wake up tell them you forgive them and tell them about Jesus. The thing we have to remember is to not act out of hatred or vengeance, but to act out of love for your family first then to the attacker.

I hope that this helps my former student out, and that others may learn something from it also.

What an awesome question! Thank you so much for asking!

If you have any comments, questions, or want to play devils advocate about this topic, please feel free to do so.


If you have any questions like this one, please feel free to ask! I love trying to answer them.

The Birds

So the day after Christmas, Bethany and I took a drive down to Key West for the day. When we got there all we could do was drive around because there was absolutely no parking available that day. So we drove around for about an hour before making the decision to start the 3.5 hour drive back to Miami. On our way back we stopped and walked around on the 7 Mile Bridge, and took some cool photographs. If I had a better camera and a good L series telephoto lens these pictures would be the National Geographic quality (Ok, not really, but possibly if my camera wasn't messed up right now). So here they are. Let me know what you think about them.

Note: The arch that you see on just about all the pictures, i think its made from the lens mount on the camera. I tried to get rid of it, but it didn't work as good as i wanted it to. Good thing this was just for fun.