The Athesit Priest
www.theatheistpriest.com
When I first began working on the art and illustrations for Marshal's book The Atheist Priest, it was my desire to help tell the story of each chapter in pictorial form. I picked a simple scene or image from each of the thirteen chapters that I felt was significant to the story line of the novel and complemented the quotes on the front page of each chapter. I then laid them onto paper in black and white charcoal sketches.
There were three chapters which I felt deserved a special illustration. These three chapters : Frenzied, The Pearl, and The Scandelous Rose, set apart almost as though they were mile stones are represented by abstract drawings. They are set in an ambient and poetic atmosphere. Although they do hold with the theme of the remainder of the book's illustrations they have a somewhat different feel to evoke a stronger emotional connection with the reader.
These drawings were my attempt to portray the contrast between the rigorously structured theology and dogma of the Church and the free flowing charm and wit of nature and wisdom. Each charcoal and graphite sketch holds a teetering balance between the straight premeditated lines representative of the synthetic structure and order of theology and the soft flowing curves which represent nature's organic determination and man's free will.
The character of the atheist priest himself had for me become a conduit by which these two diametrically opposed forces may merge and coexist, and thus, I wanted the drawings of him to do the very same thing. I wanted to show the priest as a faceless figure, an "everyman " to symbolize the universal aspect of his character, and to strengthen the mysterious feel of his persona.
The development of the painting used on the cover of the book was a bit more of an intuitive process. I must admit that it began rather clumsily only to become the work of art it is now. You clearly see the figure of a male nude with his hand upon his head, seemingly in contemplation, set in the foreground. Swiftly painted swooping strokes swish across his body, whose contours are defined by, yet simultaneously parts of his form blend in with the abstraction of a turbulent myriad of colorful striations and their shadows in the background. It was my hope to visualize man's struggle to find a peaceful part of himself within the chaotic landscape of modern urban life.
Working on this book has been a wonderful experience for me, by which I've come to better understand the depths of the talent of those around me, as well as my own.
I hope that you and all the readers will enjoy this very timely story and it's art as much as I enjoyed reading and working on it.
- Christian Bryant
www.theatheistpriest.com
When I first began working on the art and illustrations for Marshal's book The Atheist Priest, it was my desire to help tell the story of each chapter in pictorial form. I picked a simple scene or image from each of the thirteen chapters that I felt was significant to the story line of the novel and complemented the quotes on the front page of each chapter. I then laid them onto paper in black and white charcoal sketches.
There were three chapters which I felt deserved a special illustration. These three chapters : Frenzied, The Pearl, and The Scandelous Rose, set apart almost as though they were mile stones are represented by abstract drawings. They are set in an ambient and poetic atmosphere. Although they do hold with the theme of the remainder of the book's illustrations they have a somewhat different feel to evoke a stronger emotional connection with the reader.
These drawings were my attempt to portray the contrast between the rigorously structured theology and dogma of the Church and the free flowing charm and wit of nature and wisdom. Each charcoal and graphite sketch holds a teetering balance between the straight premeditated lines representative of the synthetic structure and order of theology and the soft flowing curves which represent nature's organic determination and man's free will.
The character of the atheist priest himself had for me become a conduit by which these two diametrically opposed forces may merge and coexist, and thus, I wanted the drawings of him to do the very same thing. I wanted to show the priest as a faceless figure, an "everyman " to symbolize the universal aspect of his character, and to strengthen the mysterious feel of his persona.
The development of the painting used on the cover of the book was a bit more of an intuitive process. I must admit that it began rather clumsily only to become the work of art it is now. You clearly see the figure of a male nude with his hand upon his head, seemingly in contemplation, set in the foreground. Swiftly painted swooping strokes swish across his body, whose contours are defined by, yet simultaneously parts of his form blend in with the abstraction of a turbulent myriad of colorful striations and their shadows in the background. It was my hope to visualize man's struggle to find a peaceful part of himself within the chaotic landscape of modern urban life.
Working on this book has been a wonderful experience for me, by which I've come to better understand the depths of the talent of those around me, as well as my own.
I hope that you and all the readers will enjoy this very timely story and it's art as much as I enjoyed reading and working on it.
- Christian Bryant
www.theatheistpriest.com