Hey, guess what? You remember how I said last week that I had been drawing lots but procrastinating the scanning? I just spent 4 hours scanning, cleaning up, and uploading them, so hope you enjoy, lol.
First off (above)- Some friends and a are starting work on a short film for the LDS Church youtube video competition. The basic idea is that we are doing a movie trailer of the Book of Mormon. The first costume test is above, with my roomate Justin as General Moroni. More updates to follow!
Helaman's Stripling Warriors- (The Book of Mormon)
The Stripling Warriors, also known as the 2,000 Sons of Helaman, were a group of young men who had never fought before, but were able to save the Nephite nation through the miraculous intervention of God
Zarahemnah- (The Book of Mormon)
(above left) An evil tyrant general, Zarahemnah was one of the first great enemies of Captain Moroni in the Book of Mormon. He and his men invaded the Nephite Nation, fought a sore battle against the Nephite Army, then found themselves surrounded. Moroni told them they could depart in peace if they made a covenant not to invade again. He wanted to preserve the lives of his enemies almost as much as he wanted to preserve his own people; he said, "We do not desire to be men of blood." However, sadly, Zarahemnah refused his offer of peace. Those who would leave with a promise of peace were allowed to go, those who would not stayed and were destroyed.
(Above right) Kind of a cool sword based on a design I saw on
Prince of Persia lol
Captain Moroni- (Chief Captain of the Nephite Armies, The Book of Mormon)
Okay, so I meant to talk about Zarahemnah above but ended up really telling about Captain Moroni. So, I guess see above :)
Sketchbook page-okay, I'm gonna divy this one up-
-Teancum (Left)- A Nephite captain and legend in his own time, Teancum was famous for slaying the Lamanite kings Amalickiah and Ammoron with his spear. Sadly, he himself was killed in the second attempt
-Kishkumen (Top)- Assassin and founding member of the Gadianton Robbers
-Aztec Jaguar Knight (Bottom)- Not Book of Mormon, but I've been studying the Aztec culture for reference, as many Native American cultures have strong influence from the Book of Mormon peoples.
Scythe and Bowl- Yeah, pretty much self-explanatory. It's fun sometimes to try to imagine what kinds of tools the people used, what foods they ate, the world they lived in. The decorative runes are based on the Reformed-Egyptian characters Joseph copied from the original Book of Mormon plates.
The Creation (Jesus Christ)- There was a really cool painting by Walter Rane of Jesus Christ (then known as Jehovah) creating the world. I loved the style t was so kinetic, is felt like the Creation was an artistic act of pushing and pulling as a sculptor would mold clay, and rhythm as a dancer would put into motion. I wanted to catch a similar sense in these two drawings. I don't know what the actual creation looked like, but it's fun to imagine and to draw.
This was my Bishop (Above) a few Sundays back. I dont' know, normally he's a pretty confident, outgoing guy, but I guess I caught him deep in thought.
Lehi- (The Book of Mormon)
I feel like a lot of times people get one iconic image of a scripture character in their head, and decide
that's how they looked. In reality, we have no idea how most of them looked. That's why oftentimes I like to try new takes on scripture characters, just to kind of break the icon for myself and free up my imagination a bit. Above are a few different takes on Father Lehi, patriarch of the Nephite Nation.
King Benjamin- (The Book of Mormon)
A couple of different takes on King Benjamin. Benjamin was King of the Nephites and could have lived off of their work, but instead chose to labor with his own hands for his support. He understood that his position was not about getting pampered, it was about service. As the Prophet Thomas S. Monson once said, "The mantle of leadership is not the cloak of comfort but the robe of responsibility".
Lamanite Captain- (The Book of Mormon)
A Lamanite captain dual wielding Macuahuitl, or Aztec Glass-Blade Swords. Just kind of goofing around on this one, not entirely satisfied with the armor. I need to do some more research.
The Angel Moroni (Different from Captain Moroni)-(But the same as the Moroni in the photo at the beginning of this post. Confused yet?) General Moroni was one of the Last survivors of the Nephite Nation after it was destroyed in a great and final war with the Lamanites. He was also the one chosen to protect and conclude the record of his people known as the Golden Plates or the Book of Mormon. 1,400 years later the Lord chose Moroni as the messenger to deliver the record to Joseph Smith.
Priest of Amulon-
(Book of Mormon)
The priests under Amulon were the evil cronies of King Noah, who I believe you will find 2 posts back. Amulon and his brethren, so-called "priests", sat under Noah in power and lived lavish lives off of the labors of the people. You know, fancy clothes, fancy houses, and anything else that tickled their fancy. Then one day, the Lamanites invaded and put the city into subjection (fancy
that! I know, lame joke :)). Noah then got his just desserts at the hands of his own men, and the priests had to find a new source of caviar. But just in case you're still rooting for them (why you would, I don't know), no worries. They manage to escape and stir up trouble elsewhere. You can read the rest of the story in the book of Mosiah :)
The 10th Leper- (The New Testament)On Sunday the Prophet Thomas S. Monson spoke, and told the story of the 10 Lepers who came to Jesus asking for healing. 10 were healed, but only one returned to give thanks. Sometimes I think I'm too much like the nine ungrateful lepers, given so much but not thanking God or those others who are kind to me. The way President Monson told the story was so powerful, and made me want to change. This was my attempt to try to capture the look of gratitude on the face of the leper who returned.
The Apostle Boyd K. Packer-
President Packer came to BYU to speak a few weeks ago, which was a great experience. I took this sketch in the Marriot Center.
