Of Shepherds and Angels

Copyright © Favian Ee  Dec 2015

Something from Christmas last year. Done in watercolour and ink.

Because He Lives

You might be wondering why the caption panels are empty. Well, it is quite simple actually. When I conceptualized this comic, I drew inspiration from the well-loved song Because He Lives by Bill and Gloria Gaither. It was only several days after and after I had inked and lettered the page that I realised the song was probably not in public domain, which meant they still held the copyrights. That was on Thursday. Yes, Maundy Thursday. It was too late to get permission, but I did write in. However, since I haven't gotten a reply, I decided to finish the comic and remove the text digitally, and let the reader fill in the blanks themselves. After all, most would be familiar with the lyrics of the first stanza.

I have sought as much as possible to match the lyrics with Bible imagery, except for the last panel. The final panel proved to be quite a challenge. How do you illustrate "And life is worth the living just because He lives?" I felt that it would be good to honour those who lived and died for Christ, and so I drew Fav and gang reading biographies next to his biography bookshelf. Fav is reading about Jim Elliot, who wrote the famous words, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim gave his life reaching the Auca Indians of Ecuador who slew him and his fellow missionaries. His sacrifice was not in vain. The Aucas later repented and put their faith in Jesus through the ministry of the slain missionaries' wives.

Because He Lives

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Chorus
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

Lyrics copyright © Bill and Gloria Gaither

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

Blessed Christmas, everyone!!

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

(Isaiah 9:6)

Jesus Paid It All!

Forgot to post this on the blog for Easter. I did remember to post it on our Facebook page, though!

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
- Elvina M. Hall, 1865.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
- Ho­ra­tio G. Spaf­ford, 1873.

The Man Who Created a Beast

Glen Keane is one of Disney's greatest modern-day animators. He has been responsible most recently for much of the artwork that went into Rapunzel, and has worked on many hand-drawn animated features in the past. One of his most remarkable work is his animation of the transformation of the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. But what is most remarkable about this animator is that he draws his inspiration from his Christian faith.

I came across an old article (dated to 1992) which a friend posted on facebook where he speaks about his faith: http://www.aimeemajor.com/anim/terrywhalin.html

And here is the pencil test for the Transformation of the Beast sequence. It brings tears to my eyes. There is something in the charm of those rough pencils...



And here is Glen Keane sharing about it in his own words:

How Excellent Your Name

I'm currently working on more comic strips. Hopefully once there's enough material, they can be compiled into a collection or book. One of the things that continually inspires me is the same thing that inspired the many psalmists of old: Nature. In fact, one of my favourite psalms is Psalm 19. The first half of the psalm speaks of God's general revelation through nature.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.

- Psalm 19:1,2 ESV -

I've drawn illustrations and a comic on Psalm 19:1 before, so I didn't want to simply do another one. While this comic is partly inspired by Psalm 19, it also draws inspiration from Psalm 8, from which the title is derived:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

- Psalm 8:3,4 ESV -

O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
- Psalm 8:9 NKJV -

You can purchase a T-shirt with this comic here!

Copyright © Pix Artz Pte Ltd  June 2011
If you would like to license this comic, please contact us by leaving a comment on this post with your email address.

Why Does God?

Sometimes people ask "If God is good, why does He let bad things happen to good people?" or something along those lines. The trouble is none of us are good by God's standards: "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins" (Eccl 7:20 ESV). In fact, being a holy God, He must punish sin. The real question is: "What kind of a God lets the sinner live?" Pastor John MacArthur replies, "A God who is a saviour by nature."


Copyright © Pix Artz Pte Ltd  May 2011
If you would like to license this comic, please contact us by leaving a comment on this post with your email address.


Update: Now you can wear this comic on a T-shirt! Visit our Zazzle shop here!