My illustration is of a lamb basking in the sunlight while lying down in a pasture. This is a digital illustration piece.

The first part of my creative process for this piece is the Scripture engagement. After realizing what God was doing in my life, I was inspired to create a piece that reflected that. I typically draw pieces that are on the cute and whimsical side of things, and for a while had felt that that doesn’t translate to serious Christian art. Before this piece, I had not drawn any faith-based work. The Psalm that was on my heart helped me jump the hurdle of melding my art strengths with my faith—the imagery in the first few verses seemed a perfect subject to work with my style of illustration, while also conveying something so personal.

After deciding what to draw, I looked at many photos of lambs to try to find one in a pose similar to what I had in mind. I ended up using several photos at different angles as references while I sketched out the idea. I also played around with color palettes until I found one that I liked, wanting to strike a balance between the warmth of the Sun and coolness of the earth in the morning. I used a variety of brush types in my art program to give an illustrated and textured look to the piece.

The passage of Scripture I chose is Psalm 23. I drew this when I was desperately wanting to move forward in my life, but things felt really stagnant no matter what I did. I kept trying to make changes but nothing would happen. God showed me that this was a period of rest after a lot of grief and turmoil in the years beforehand, having walked through “the valley of the shadow of death”. He was allowing me time to “lay down in green pastures” where things were stable and calm, and He did the work to restore my soul. I learned to allow Him to guide me forward on His timing, and enjoy each season of my life for what God is doing in it.

In my artwork, I tried to encapsulate that feeling of calm and peace that settled into my soul when I realized what He was doing.

I have prints of this piece available in different sizes, starting at $8 for a 5x7. Please email me at fairycirclestudio@gmail.com if you’re interested.

I sell stickers, stationary, art prints, and other small merchandise, as well as offer commissions for custom pieces. You can visit my website fairycirclestudio.com or email me at fairycirclestudio@gmail.com.