Illustrated Bible?

[katescreates]

Hello everyone, I am a Christian studying BA Illustration and I wondered if I could get people's thoughts on an illustrated bible targeted towards young adults. It struck me that there were millions of bible stories with pictures for younger children, but as soon as you hit the teens, that's it- ordinary bible for you. I'm putting together a proposal for an NIV translated bible that could be read and studied, but also have the occasional picture. My thoughts are one per book. What are everyone's thoughts on this?

THIS ISN'T PROMOTION FOR AN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE- I JUST WANT PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS ON THE IDEA

 

[DaisyDay]

Are you talking about anime type or William Blake type or something altogether original?

 

[d taylor]

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My grandmothers Old Bible was illustrated. I say was illustrated, but actually it should be is illustrated, as i have it now.

 

[katescreates]

Are you talking about anime type or William Blake type or something altogether original?

More towards the William Blake side of that spectrum, but something more fresh and modern, while still keeping the illustrations historically accurate.

This is an illustration that I have done as an example (ignore the watermark) of Jesus walking on water

 

[katescreates]

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My grandmothers Old Bible was illustrated. I say was illustrated, but actually it should be is illustrated, as i have it now.

That's cool! Do you think the pictures in that bible look quite artistic, or are they more for educational purposes?

 

[angelsaroundme]

While not quite the same, graphic novels, comic books, webtoons, etc. are booming at the moment. Arguably that shows people are seeing the value of illustrations. I think illustrations give a Bible more uniqueness as the translations tend to be pretty similar.

 

[d taylor]

That's cool! Do you think the pictures in that bible look quite artistic, or are they more for educational purposes?

They are more of just a general illustration not really that artistic but also they are not going to educated a person. At most they will give a visual to the stories that are illustrated.

If you are talking about educating a person with illustrations in The Bible. You will need about a 20 to 30 volumes of books and it may even take more books than that to contain the illustrations that would be needed to educate people.

 

[Brother-Mike]

Hello everyone, I am a Christian studying BA Illustration and I wondered if I could get people's thoughts on an illustrated bible targeted towards young adults. It struck me that there were millions of bible stories with pictures for younger children, but as soon as you hit the teens, that's it- ordinary bible for you. I'm putting together a proposal for an NIV translated bible that could be read and studied, but also have the occasional picture. My thoughts are one per book. What are everyone's thoughts on this?

THIS ISN'T PROMOTION FOR AN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE- I JUST WANT PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS ON THE IDEA

I definitely like the idea of a bible but with occasional illustrations or even little graphic inserts here and there (e.g. Art of Life Holy Bible).

For larger illustrations, especially if you’re doing one per book, I’m a fan of illustrations that step outside of the linearity of the narrative, maybe more akin to mural work or even some Asian art forms that are comfortable expressing multiple scenes in a single image. Take, for example, Dürer’s Apocalypse woodcuts:

To me these are loaded with complexity and bear up to centuries of scrutiny and analysis unto themselves. A beautiful bible with images like these nestled here or there would be wonderful.

 

[katescreates]

While not quite the same, graphic novels, comic books, webtoons, etc. are booming at the moment. Arguably that shows people are seeing the value of illustrations. I think illustrations give a Bible more uniqueness as the translations tend to be pretty similar.

That's true! Lots of secular books and movies in general are being converted into graphic novels. I have seen graphic novelisations of the bible, however verses tend to get lost inside speech bubbles. They work well as story books, but not so much for studying and reading scripture. I'm hoping to do an in-between where you have the cool illustrations but also all of the bible text.

 

[Sabertooth]

I like the idea for the historical parts of the narrative, but not all books lend themselves to illustration. Historical books would include parts of the Pentateuch through Esther, the Gospels & Acts. Even in them, you have books that repeat each other like

• Kings & Chronicles,
• Ezra & Nehemiah and
• the Gospels.

Would you illustrate them separately or combined?

Job is a debate.
Song of Solomon is sexually explicit.
Psalms might work.
Everything else is instruction and/or prophecy.

(FYI by given description, Adam was red. It is a good bet that Eve was, too.)

 

[katescreates]

I definitely like the idea of a bible but with occasional illustrations or even little graphic inserts here and there (e.g. Art of Life Holy Bible).

For larger illustrations, especially if you’re doing one per book, I’m a fan of illustrations that step outside of the linearity of the narrative, maybe more akin to mural work or even some Asian art forms that are comfortable expressing multiple scenes in a single image. Take, for example, Dürer’s Apocalypse woodcuts:

View attachment 322507

To me these are loaded with complexity and bear up to centuries of scrutiny and analysis unto themselves. A beautiful bible with images like these nestled here or there would be wonderful.

Oo I really like that idea! I'm imagining all the different books told inside one image, like in the example you gave above. Thank you for the examples, I will definitely look into those.

 

[katescreates]

I like the idea for the historical parts of the narrative, but not all books lend themselves to illustration. Historical books would include parts of the Pentateuch through Esther, the Gospels & Acts. Even in them, you have books that repeat each other like

• Kings & Chronicles,
• Ezra & Nehemiah and
• the Gospels.

Would you illustrate them separately or combined?

Job is a debate.
Song of Solomon is sexually explicit.
Psalms might work.
Everything else is instruction and/or prophecy.

(FYI by given description, Adam was red. It is a good bet that Eve was, too.)

Thank you for bringing that up, its definitely something I'll have to think about!

 

[Sabertooth]

Everything else is instruction and/or prophecy.

Some of the Prophets (like Daniel & Jonah) have historical events mixed in, too, but long, detailed prophecies do not lend themselves to sequential art.

Ezekiel got vulgar in some of his prophecies, too...