modern biblical artists

One of the things I enjoy about putting up my kids' devotionals is finding illustrations to go along with each story. A web site that has helped me immeasurably with this is Biblical Art on the WWW.

I actually have this page bookmarked. It lists the books / main epochs of the Old Testament. Clicking on any topic takes you to a page of the topic broken down into the events or stories of that time, each of which leads to a page of thumbnails. Clicking on any one of those takes you to a link of where the illustration is found on the Internet. It was through that site I found a thumbnail of this wonderful illustration of David, celebrating as he brought the ark into Jerusalem.


Many of these illustrations are in the public domain. This one, however, is not, as Darlene Slavujac is very much alive. However, this painting so captures the joy and energetic worship of the story, I decided to contact the artist and ask for permission to use it on Bible Drive-thru.

Ms. Slavujac graciously gave her permission. Thus a larger view of her painting is on yesterday's post. She also told me a little about the painting. Her husband (who has since died) was the model for David. She is the one playing the harp. This post is illustrated with her painting of the child Samuel and Eli. On her site are many other paintings and works for sale. (I'm thinking - Christmas gift possibilities...)

Another working artist I found through the Biblical Art On the WWW site is Diana Shimon. Here is her rendering of Elisha leaving his oxen and running after Elijah, with thumbnails linking more or her Children's Illustrated Bible pictures here. Graham Kennedy of The Bible Illustration Blog interviewed this Soviet emigre to Israel recently. That interview is here.

I love these new Bible story illustrations. Many of them are rich with details that suggest the artist has spent time soaking in the Scriptures and researching the biblical culture in which the stories are rooted. If I had another lifetime, I would be an artist and paint Bible story pictures like Darlene Slavujac or Diana Shimon.

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More: Check out this complete Gospel of John illustrated cartoon style by Keith Neely.