And He Clothed Them

This charcoal drawing captures the first couple (Genesis 3:8-13) right after they have been seduced by the devil and God clothes them because they feel shame. The Fall of Man can be traced to this point in scripture.

In my rendition, God has just asked Adam, “Where are you?” Adam answers, “The woman you put here with me gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” while Eve protests, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” So we have Adam blaming God and the woman that he had just so delighted in. Eve is blaming the serpent who convinced her that God didn’t really mean what He said about the tree. In the foreground are two dead animals that God skinned to provide clothing to cover their newly experienced sense of shame. Eve, countenancing death for the first time, is horrified by this sight and seeks to cover her face. Adam points accusingly at Eve while wagging his tongue at God above. Neither took responsibility for their bad choices. In the background stands the avenging Angel who guards the entrance back into the Garden of Eden.The tree next to him signals that a shred of hope, which involves a tree, still exists.

I usually start a composition with soft vine charcoal which gives a warm black that can be easily erased and moved around—some call works in this medium “paintings” for just this reason. Then, after establishing my general composition, I go on to lay in the big areas of color with fast drying acrylic paint. Then I go on to oil paint in tube or stick form as my final medium because oils maintain their body and luscious color. Acrylics tend to flatten out as they dry and lose some color intensity though they have many other advantages.

But sometimes, and usually when it’s an intense subject, much like a photographer who opts for black and white film, I will stay with the vine charcoal, alternating it with compressed charcoal which gives a hard cold black, until the work is finished. That was the case here. Adding color would give another dimension but also take away from the rawness of expression that using only black, white and shades of gray gives.