Take and Eat, Part Two

I finally took a deep breath and started painting “Take and Eat.”

Then I remembered I wanted to also do the cup verses, and it really would be better if I did them at the same time so the skin tones matched. It would also give each side a chance to dry while I worked on the other painting. So I sketched out the other set of hands and filled in the background.

I had a lot of highs and lows during the process. There are so many layers with watercolor!

The trickiest part was when I thought I loved the hands, and then I had to figure out how to add the objects in. I’ve spent a lot of time working on hands, but bread and pottery not so much.

I got through it, but I didn’t love it. Everything seemed so monotone. The hands shouldn’t be the same color as the bread and the pottery. I thought I had the skin tone right, but now it was way too yellow. However, I was afraid to go over it with another wash and details.

I messaged a friend who had been following my progress, and she asked if I could lighten the background. You can’t with watercolor because once it’s on the paper, it’s there. You can only add more layers and make it darker. I had been thinking about going over it again though, so maybe with sepia instead of black?

That I loved! The photo doesn’t show it as well, but it really made the hands pop. The colors of the sepia and black all separated out and swirled together making a beautiful, surreal background that these paintings just called for.

I matted and framed them, and I added abbreviated versions of the verses from Matthew at the bottom of the mats. They look stunning.

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples. He said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” ²⁷ Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you, ²⁸ for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Matthew 26: 26-28 (EHV)

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