Colored-marker drawing of a blue cartoon rattlesnake recoiling from a black boot about to step on it. The snake moves through yellow grass in front of a red sky. At the bottom of the image the word “authority” is written in brown block letters. “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”--Luke 10:19, KJV.

Click to enlarge.

It’s time for the second installment of my trilogy of themed automatic drawings, and I can now reveal that the theme is serpents! When I was working on this drawing, another snake appeared pretty quickly, this one reminiscent of Kaa / Sir Hiss from Disney’s Jungle Book and Robin Hood movies. I also had what could easily be turned into a leg and foot, ready to tread on the snake, as suggested in the “Don’t tread on me” Gadsden flag. This in turn reminded me of Jesus’s statement to his disciples in Luke 10:19 (KJV), “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” I’m probably not the first person to make this connection, but there’s an interesting tension between Jesus saying his disciples have the power to tread on serpents and the American revolutionaries comparing themselves to serpents that shouldn’t be tread on.

Colored marker drawing of a boot about to step on the head of a snake. While the boot and head are fully detailed and finished, the rest of the drawing is a tangle of differently colored and overlapping lines. Coils of the snake are suggested and lead back to a rattle; at the bottom, block letters read, “Luke 10:19.” This references the Biblical quote, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (KJV).

Click to enlarge.

I’ve also included a photo of the drawing before it was completed to show my process. I just draw and doodle in different colors, letting the lines and shapes build up until something emerges from the chaos. While at this point I had slightly developed the snake’s coils, they were already suggested by my preexisting scribbles. Making those sorts of discoveries is my favorite part of the process, pulling something out of nothing. You can also see that I originally wrote “Luke 10:19” at the bottom, which I changed to “authority” in the final version. This comes from the New International Version of the passage, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

Reflecting further on the two images, I prefer the drawing in “Crawl” but “Tread” has a more interesting concept. However, I view these drawings as rough drafts, so it will be fun to see how they can be developed further. Come back later today to see the final installment of the trilogy!