This portrait of Christ has been taking shape slowly in my studio, but the expression on His face actually began with an idea from my dad.
The expression started with my dad
My dad had talked to me about wanting to see paintings of Christ with an expression that carried more of the reality of the life He lived.
Christ was loving and compassionate, but His mortal life was also incredibly hard. He was rejected, challenged, betrayed, surrounded by wickedness and opposition, and He knew there were people who wanted to kill Him.
My dad wondered what all of that might actually show in Christ’s face — and I completely understood what he meant.
So that became the direction for this painting.
I didn’t want a big smile to be the only thing telling you Christ is loving. I wanted Him to feel powerful, steady, wise, and completely aware of what was happening around Him, while still having something in His expression that says He knows you and cares for you.
I want Him to feel powerful without feeling unreachable — strong and almighty, but still full of compassion.
Why He is looking into the distance
I also intentionally painted Him looking beyond us instead of directly at the viewer.
I wanted it to feel less like Christ posing for a portrait and more like we are seeing Him in the middle of His story.
Maybe He is looking toward the people He came to teach — including those who would reject Him. Maybe He is seeing the opposition around Him. Or maybe He is thinking about everything He knows is still ahead.
I like that the painting doesn’t completely answer that question.
He knew difficult things were coming, and He still moved forward. To me, there is enormous strength in that.
Power and compassion together
That balance has probably been the hardest part to paint.
If I push His expression too far, He looks angry. If I soften Him too much, I lose the strength behind my dad’s original idea.
I want Him to feel almighty without feeling distant. Serious without being cold. Powerful, but with something in His eyes that still says He knows you and loves you.
Not Christ posing for a portrait. Christ in the middle of His story.
Made in the middle of real life
And while I’m trying to figure all of that out on the canvas, real life is happening around me.
One of my favorite things about painting from home is that my studio is rarely still. Sometimes I’m working on Christ while my daughter is painting beside me, talking to me, or dancing around the room.
There are interruptions, brushes everywhere, unfinished ideas, and plenty of mess, but I love that these paintings are being made right in the middle of our everyday family life.
Still on the easel
This one isn’t finished yet.
I’m still working through the clothing, light, color, edges, and probably more small changes to His face before I finally leave it alone.
But I’m getting closer to what my dad first described — a Christ whose face carries the reality of what He faced, the power to face it, and the love that remained through all of it.
For now, He’s still on the easel. I’ll keep sharing the process as it gets closer to finished.