Sunday, May 26, 2013

Holy Trinity


Profitentes Unitatem
Veneremur Trinitatem
Pari reverentia,
Tres Personas asserentes
Personali differentes
A se differentia.

Haec dicutur relative,
Quum sint unum substantive,
Non tria principia.
Sive dicas tres vel tria,
Simplex tamen est usia,
Non triplex essentia.

Simplex esse, simplex posse,
Simplex velle, simplex nosse,
Cuncta simplicia.
Non unius quam duarum
Sive trium Personarum
Minor efficacia.

Pater, Proles, Sacrum Flamen,
Deus unus: sed hi tamen
Habent quaedam propria.
Una virtus, unum numen,
Unus splendor, unum lumen,
Hoc una quod alia.

Patri Proles est aequalis,
Nec hoc tollit personalis
Amborum distinctio.
Patri compar Filioque,
Spiritalis ab utroque
Procedit connexio.

No humana ratione
Capi possunt hae Personae,
Nec harum discretio.
Non hic ordo temporalis,
Non hic situs, aut localis
Rerum circumscriptio.

Nil in Deo praeter Deum,
Nulla causa praeter eum
Qui causat causalia.
Effectiva vel formalis
Causa Deus, et finalis,
Sed numquam materia

Digne loqui de Personis
Vim transcendit rationis,
Excedit ingenia.
Quid sit gigni, quid processus,
Me nescire sum professus:
Sed fide non dubia.

Qui sic credit, ne festinet,
Et a via non declinet
Insolerter regia.
Servet fidem, formet mores,
Non declinet ad errores
Quos damnat Ecclesia.

Nos in fide gloriemur,
Nos in una modulemur
Fidei constantia:
Trinae sit laus Unitati,
Sit et simplae Trinitati
Coaeterna gloria! Amen.

Happy Trinity Sunday! The above is by Adam of St. Victor. I thought I had translated it, but it turns out only little bits, and it's no good to chop it up, and my translation wouldn't have done justice to its awesomeness anyway. So if you know Latin, enjoy.

With Trinity Sunday's page above, I really tried to avoid some theological pitfalls--not errors as long as you interpret right, but images that could be misinterpreted to support error--that pictures of the Trinity are often susceptible to. Of course I couldn't get everything, because it's not possible to express the Trinity anywhere near fully. If you did, the expression would be It, because that's kinda what the Word is... anyway.

One thing was I definitely wanted the manhood of the Son to stand out and be different from the Others. So I didn't want the Father to look human. A basically human-like face, but strange eyes and a body that, rather than being a human body, spreads out as the ordering principle of being. (expressed in a curved grid) The Holy Spirit... I'm not a huge fan of the plain dove image, (I know He used that appearance yes, but only once and I dunno, the way its used especially in commercial religious art really seems to reduce Him to me,) but since I wanted to emphasize His and the Father's non-humaness, yeah. I did stylize, so its not a picture of a realistic naturalistic dove anyway. And the positioning is to emphasize unity, because whenever you draw the Trinity you have to draw three entities, and that can't help but lean towards Tritheism. And the Holy Ghost's place as link; He "proceeds connectingly." (There, you get a little bit of translation!)

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Minnesota, as said below. I'll try still to update here; that's inspiration city! (Partly because it's not a city.)

Monday, May 20, 2013

Scraps from the past


In preparation for the summer Minnesota trip, I'm transferring all the photos from my digital camera's card to my computer, to have a clean slate. Here are just a couple from the past year I thought were neat.


Lemon meringue pie, with lemons from our tree.


Galveston.

Once I leave, a week from today, I'll have internet access only at the public library. But unlike past years, I'll try to keep this place updated not too infrequently. And the coloring book continues apace. 

There should be lots more photos once I get up north!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Some non-saint coloring pages



I was commissioned to do two coloring pages for an elementary Art class to learn light-source-based shading with, one girl-directed and one boy-directed, though of course they could choose either one.

So for the girls, I guess they like princesses, but I don't like Disney, so time for good old Nintendo! For the boys, I figured the kids always seem to like Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, and of course I like Blue Beetle, so there you go!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Saint Rita coloring page



Sign up for coloring pages for every single saint's day here!

Happy Mothers' Day! Saint Rita persuaded her sons not to join in a murderous vendetta. That's good parenting.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

English Martyrs coloring page


This is one of the pages in the May set for the Liturgical Calendar Coloring Book. There are two days in the year for English Martyrs, (at least on the Ordinariate calendar) and this one is for the lesser-known group of 85 martyrs beatified by Bl. John Paul II.

The ones I included are:
Back row: Bl. Nicholas Horner, who lost a leg to infection in prison; Bl. Robert Bickerdike, whose capital crime was giving a cup of ale to a Catholic priest; Bl. William Gibson, a Scottish nobleman; and Bl. Robert Nutter, who holds a scavenger's daughter, an instrument he was tortured with.
Front row: Bl. William Carter, a printer; Bl. Thomas Bullaker, a priest; and Bl. Henry Heath, a Franciscan priest.

The names of all 85 martyrs are here.

When you color it, be sure to give William Gibson this tartan! :D


Monday, May 6, 2013

Beyond


My fancomic plans have extended, and now include a Batman Beyond story. The design process for this was interesting. For one thing, I want it still to be a Gothic Lolita setting, but as years pass, we start getting away from straight Victorian-influenced fashion, and adding more of the punk and other Japanese alt fashion styles. And then figuring out the mechanics of the suit: the wing structure gives it a slight steampunk vibe, and the visibility of the jetpack boots is necessary for a planned plot point and also has some design influence from the long fall boots in Portal. I think it looks pretty cool.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Vicar girl


A character of mine; the Rev'd Bettina Caretree, Anglican clergywoman and superhero senshi! I have an idea of doing a comic someday combining the story ideas of English country vicar and Japanese magical girl. Very silly and fun.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May pages! and Visitation coloring page


I just sent out the May coloring pages! Man oh man this set was intense. A lot of emotion, a lot of mystic ecstasies, a lot of theology. Included:

Saint Joseph the Worker
Saint Athanasius
Saints Philip and James
English Martyrs (the 85 Blesseds, but alas I couldn't draw them all)
Saint Damien of Molokai
Saint Pancras
Our Lady of Fatima
Saint Matthias
Saint Isidore the Farmer
Saint John I
Saints Dunstan, Ethelwold, and Oswald (tormenting the Devil; this is a fun one!)
Saint Bernardine of Siena
Saint Cristobal Magallanes and companions (Mexican martyrs; St. Cristobal was played by Peter O'Toole in For Greater Glory)
Saint Rita of Cascia
Saint Bede
Saint Philip Neri
Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (above)
Ascension of the Lord
Pentecost
Holy Trinity

If you'd like to receive coloring pages of each saint's day every month, sign up here. As said, I already sent out this set, but if you ask I can start you with it.