I am eager to spend more time drawing the wonderful people here in China who have impacted my life.  In this process, I am also looking to improve my drawing skills.  May have asked me why I do not use color.  I love the challenge of creating the illusion of reality out of a pencil. If you have any suggesetions regarding these drawings and how to improve my skills,  you are more than welcome to provide your input in the comments.  I am eager to see improvement. 

 

I hope to also get many of the people whom I am drawing to write something to accompany their drawings.  Some will write about their testimony of how their lives have changed.  Others will write about their hometown, or something of interest from Mainland China, etc.  Modern China is not what most people outside of the country imagine.  My goal is to reveal modern people and their lives from within China.
---joy neasley

joy-neasley.artistwebsites.com  

Latest drawing from Guangzhou.

More photos for drawing....

Here are a few more photos of a couple who attended a wedding this past weekend.  They were such an adorable couple....

Angels - Pt 4

What do angels look like?  Do they have bodies?  These are questions I have heard many times, especially from curious children. 

     We know that they can take on physical form or appear in physical form.  Heb. 13:2 in the Amplified tells us, “Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood--being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  These angels must take on or appear in physical form for us to not know we are entertaining them.

     Here are a few descriptions of angels who have appeared or taken on physical form in the Bible:

• Mt 28:3  “His appearance was like lightening and his garments as white as snow”
• Lk 24:4-5   “behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside them”
• Mk 16:5-7   “they saw a young man sitting [there] on the right [side], clothed in a [long, stately, sweeping] robe of white,”
• Dan 10:5-6  “a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was [a golden luster] like beryl, his face had theappearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and his  feet like glowing burnished bronze, and the sound of his words was like the noise of a multitude”

     Most of the time we do not see angels in the natural realm.  They are spiritual beings, "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). The Word of God tells us about their spiritual form also.  But I will save this for the next post, along with a few classes of angels. 

more pics and drawings...

Hello, I have a few more pics for reference photos.  The angels is a definite, and the others are maybes.  I will be canning in a few more drawings this next week also.

This little chinese angel was getting a snack at a park  on my way home a few days ago.  She was too cut e to pass up getting a pic.This will definately be one of the drawings.

Angels - Pt. 3

     This picture below could not have had more perfect timing.  While walking home yesterday, I saw this little girl wearing angel wings.  She was so cute, I could not resist asking her parents to let me take a photo.  I will probably include her in my drawing project for this year, The 110 Faces of China.  It goes very well with today’s question, “Do people become angels when they die?” 

     I have heard others say, “He/she earned her wings today and went to heaven.”, “He/she is in heaven now guarding over you as an angel.”, and He/she will be with you as an angel from heaven.”  While those who made these statements had good intentions in trying to console those who have lost loved ones, this is not what the bible tells us.  Let’s look at Hebrews 12:22-23 first.  Here we see “company of angels” and “the spirits of just men made perfect” are two different groups in heaven.  While in the Old Testament, angels are often referred to as “Sons of God”.  They are never referred to in the Word as “Sons of Man”. 

     In Matt. 22:30 Jesus is answering a question posed by the Sadducees.  Jesus says that “in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”  Notice that is says “as the angels of God in heaven”, not that they are angels.  Heb. 2:5 (Amp.) says, “For it was not the angels that God subjected the habitable world of the future, of which we are speaking.”  Two different groups are mentioned in all these verses.  There are more, and I encourage you to research this for yourself. 

     I think it is fitting here to also point out that angels are not cute little cupid looking babies or children.  No one in the bible is recorded reaching out to tickle or pinch the cheek of a cute little baby angel.  Rather, they always appear as adults.  When they are seen in the Word people are recorded falling on their faces in awe.  We will discuss more on their appearance, and maybe, get into the classes of angels in the next post.  ---joy