Painting People Praying by Carol Soul

Painting People Praying by Carol Soul

When I’m talking to a person who has a great God story that the world needs to hear, I get excited about including their testimony in my book! Once they’ve agreed, the next part of the process is talking about their painting. There are still many questions to answer about the painting.

It’s true, some people know what they want in for their painting right away. If they have a usual place that they go to pray, they know right away what they want. Perhaps they very often pray in their back yard in a certain place, or maybe in the field down the road where they go and walk to pray. Or perhaps their written story indicates where their prayers take place. But if it’s not all together clear to them, we have to start to figure out what kind of painting would suit them best.

When a person is unsure where they wanted to be praying, sometimes it helps to delve into their lifestyle a little bit and find out where they like to spend time when they are not at work. Sometimes it’s about places that they feel closest to God, or places that bring them peace. Some people have chosen to be pictured in their favorite park.

Once the scene has been decided, we look for photos online of that beautiful scenery. Many of the paintings I have done have been done by combining a beautiful image of a scene (often found on the internet) with an actual photo of the person praying. I simply paint my rendition of the scene and then insert them into it.

In a painting, things can be changed; paintings are not like photographs. Here are some things you can consider before your portrait is painted. If you have blemishes on your face and you don’t want them in the painting, you can be painted with a clear face. If you would like an olive-green shirt on but don’t have a shirt that color, that is an easy fix. Or maybe you have a vision that is entirely different. Maybe you want an abstract background in your painting, to depict the Holy Spirit moving in your midst. Paintings can be and usually are, much more creative than photography. For instance, if you find a scene you like and you want the trees in the scene to be depicted in their autumn glory, that can be changed too.

You can go to the Facebook page, Carol Soul, to get some ideas. Some of the paintings I’ve done are shown there. You can also look for backgrounds for your painting by searching on the internet. Let’s say you love the way sun rays look, and you know you want sun rays in your painting, but that is all you really know. You can google, “images of sun rays on a beach” or “images of sun rays in the desert,” Or “sun rays near a mountain”. We often talk about mountain top experiences with God. If your testimony is about a mountaintop experience, you may want a mountain in your painting.

In summary, if you have a testimony that you want the world to hear, but you don’t know what you want your painting to look like, having a conversation with me is the best place to start. We can explore different options and most likely come up with something that you will truly love. It is important to me that you love your painting and that the world hears your story!

Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome. My name is Carol Soul, author of Illustrated God Stories. I’m so happy to have you as a visitor to my blog about my new book. This project is very special to me, and I hope to share some of that excitement with you here.

I’ll be using this blog to interact with you about Illustrated God Stories, expanding on some of the topics in it and blogging on some of the ideas related to my book. This is a great place for you to get to know me, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you, too. What did you think of Illustrated God Stories? What questions do you have for me? How do you relate to my book?

I’ll be returning here frequently with new posts and responses to feedback from you. Until next time, tell me a little bit about yourself.