Calligram

This piece evolved from the Bob Marley quote "Light up the darkness." I like the sentiment of the quote, but this quote is not in the public domain. A search online through the King James Bible, yielded: Thou wilt light my candle: For the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness." Psalm 18:28

I did the Bob Marley quote in my sketch book using a black on black technique which looked better in my head than it did on paper. I still wanted a dark background, but switched to Ziller's Winter White acrylic ink for writing the verse. The quote was written out in several different layouts. The one I liked best was a calligram, words written to form a shape, a candle. A gold leafing pen was used to draw the flame before the background paints and plastic wrap was applied. The leafing pen acts as a resist, that is ink or paint won't adhere to it's surface.A wash made from Twinrocker's Sparkle Gold and Super Sparkle, with a drop or two of gum arabic (for a binder) was applied to create the halo of the candle flame. The effect doesn't show up well in the photograph.

Did you know the only Bible that is in the public domain is the King James version?