Jacob and the Angel

Jacob and the Angel ©2010 Ken Katzen

Here's another angel, from the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling "a man," usually interpreted to be an angel from the context. If there are angels on earth, they are probably the ones we wrestle with, and they don't look like we expect them to. Sometimes, like Jacob, we get hurt before we are blessed. You never know.

Folks are often interested in how a work of art gets made. Here are some of the steps in Jacob and the Angel:

 The idea comes into mind, and usually won't let me go until I create the art. It often begins with sketches, like these, from my sketchbook. 

Then I sketch it onto the canvas if it's a painting, and add a neutral tone. This one is unusual in that I didn't add the neutrals tones all at once.

Here I began to add darker tones to study where I wanted the darks and lights to be.

Then I began to add color, and keep going! Usually, the painting takes on a life of its own, and lots of things change as I go. The whole thing can take weeks or months.