For my birthday back in January, my parents got me a journaling Bible, and I have completely fallen in love with God's word all over again! I look forward to my personal devotional time - something that in the past definitely felt like a chore, I am reminded of God's word throughout the day, and on a sort-of-selfish note, it's a great excuse for some "me" time.
I had a few people ask me to do a tutorial, and to be quite honest, I kept forgetting. It's my worship time, and in the same way that a worship leader doesn't take selfies during service (although wait, in 5 years it's coming...), I just kept getting into what I was working on, and forgot to take pictures. But, last week, I finally remembered, and here you go!
1. I like to set out all my tools. When I started, I just used some kids' crayola school paint, because it's what I had on hand. Later I bought a set of 12 acrylic paint colors from Michael's. I pit out a paper towel to dab my brush on, and I like to mix my colors on a paper plate. I have a little cup of water. Ta-da!!!
2. So, for the color of wheat, I mixed brown, white and yellow.
3. The reason I have the water, is because even when I paint over the words, I want to be able to see the words through the paint. It is God's word after all, and nothing I am going to paint is going to be more important than that. Here in the picture below, you can see the difference between no water added, in the margins, and water added, over the words. I also put a piece if paper under the page, so it doesn't bleed through to the page below.
4. So, the first step was painting the "field" part. It was pretty straight-forward, just brush strokes going from up to down, while changing the color up just a bit.
5. Next, I added a couple longer wheat stems. The one on the far right is a little curvier than I meant, but hey. It's not about perfection. It's about reacting to God's word.
6. Next, I added the fuzzy seed pod bit at the top (if you're a wheat farmer, feel free to correct my non-scientific terminology). I simply ran my paintbrush back and forth at the top of my stems.
7. Then, I added the prickly bits. To add some depth, I went over it with the wheat color I had at first, and then back over it with brown.
8. For some more definition, I went over it and lightly "contoured" it with a black Sharpie pen.
9. Finally I added the verse in the margin. I usually write it out in pencil first, and then go over it with a pen. I have absolutely ZERO calligraphy experience, but I read that the lines on which you go down should be a little thicker, so there you have it. :)
10. I like to underline the verse as well, just for an extra measure of reiteration.
PS: I draw inspiration from many different things. Pinterest, my own devotional time, Instagram accounts, etc. This one was my interpretation of something I saw on Pinterest. :)