Two by Two

Tonight marks my second night in a row of drawing pages. After Easter I decided that I would have to draw at least two pages a day to meet my deadline for my SIP (Senior Integration Project). Obviously, that's not going to happen because life is unpredictable. Take yesterday for instance. I was going to do all of my homework and go to Art Criticism, but then Courbet went into labor and everything else stopped. (By the way, she had four lovely kittens: Alan Rickman, Kat Von D, Coraline/Morpheus, and Anton/Svetlana.) Right now I am working on my first page and I have three panels complete and five more to go. Fun times.

Now, for the sharing of the day. I finished Diana Wynne Jones's Eight Days of Luke today. I liked it, though it's not my favorite. My favorite Jones book might be Fire and Hemlock or House of Many Ways or Howl's Moving Castle. Speaking of, one of my favorite movies is Hayao Miyazaki's adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle--beautiful, funny, moving, plus Christian Bale is one of the voices. :D Anyways. That's all for today. FYI: I'm listening to "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters--I forgot how much I like this song.

The Good Prince

I firmly believe that there are no coincidences. Take today for example. Today is Good Friday, a day that commemorates Jesus's death and sacrifice. Good Friday looks towards Easter, the resurrection, the Gospel truth that we can be freed from death and sin. It's a beautiful story, a true story.
Most people know about Jesus, but you might not have heard of Ambrose, also know as Flycatcher or the Frog Prince. Now, this may be an English major thing, but when I read I am constantly on the lookout for archetypes, and it is no surprise that the fairy tales or fables that surround us are full of archetypes. One famous archetype that gets brought up a lot in my Covenant literature classes is the Christ figure. Well, in my opinion, Ambrose the King of Haven (in the graphic novel Fables: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham) is a Christ Figure. He is pure, in body and heart, and he forms his peaceful kingdom on this purity. Ambrose's kingdom is in the heart of the evil Adversary's territory, but Ambrose is determined to wage a bloodless war against the Adversary--and he succeeds. So, this pure king sets out with his message of love and forgiveness and faces evil head on. Sound like someone? But it gets better. Ambrose goes forward, surrenders himself to death in order to preserve his kingdom. He does not die, but he is willing to, and in the end, salvation begins to work its way into the Adversary's lands as more people hear the good news about Ambrose's kingdom (Haven) and set out to join him.
Sounds like a Christ figure to me. I don't know if Willingham wrote the story with any intention of such a parallel, but there you go. Even if you're not a Christian, The Good Prince is still a good read (as is the rest of the Fables series) and Mark Buckingham continues in his excellence as an illustrator.
Good Friday and The Good Prince equals a Good Day.