A Christian Perspective on Art and Failure: How God Uses Our Abandoned Projects to Draw Us Into Purpose

Most artists will tell you that highlights and shadows can make or break a piece. As viewers of art—whether we’ve studied it or not—our brains can tell when the shadows and highlights aren’t quite right. We see them every day, on every object that light touches. But just because we see them daily doesn’t mean we can replicate them.

To replicate them—at least without the help of computer lighting calculations—most artists have to spend a significant amount of time practicing the reproduction of proper lighting elements.

I recently produced a T-shirt design that depicts a bag of frozen food. I had a lot of trouble rendering the highlights and shadows on that wrinkly bag. I can confirm: believable highlights and shadows take practice to produce—and a lot more practice to reproduce efficiently. Practice I haven’t exactly been doing.

It looks best at 10 MPH.

When I decided to change careers, I felt confident that I was being obedient to the Lord's will for my life. I was reassured of that decision by the very struggle I had with the highlights and shadows on that bag.

I know what you’re probably thinking: "But Jacob, failing doesn’t usually mean you're doing it right."

Let me explain.

About a year ago, I got a wild hair and decided to take up drawing. It’s something I always wanted to do after college but never got around to. I found a program called Draw-A-Box, which is designed to teach aspiring artists how to think in shapes and develop the technical skills to draw from both reference and imagination. The program is well-organized, offers feedback and critiques of assignments, and doesn’t cost anything to complete.

I jumped on it. The program is solid and absolutely helps aspiring artists improve.And if you're thinking I didn’t stick with it... you'd be absolutely right.

The biggest complaint about Draw-A-Box is that it’s boring. Drawing a box—or any simple shape—is the first step in building complex forms. As the name implies, the program has you drawing a lot of boxes... and circles too! These simple forms are fundamental to drawing—but when you're practicing them, they feel dull.

I'm pretty sure I gave it a full week before I conveniently "forgot" to do my drawing practice.

Looking back, I feel confident that if I had stuck with my boxes and circles, I wouldn’t have struggled as much with those darn shadows and highlights. That realization, oddly enough, felt like a small confirmation that I’m actually moving in step with the Lord’s will.

It’s easier to see the Lord’s hand when we look back. Sometimes we see missed opportunities, failed chances, or even botched attempts. But when those moments arise, we can’t let the enemy twist them into discouragement.

It would be easy to see quitting my drawing practice as another failure in a long list. But the way the Lord would have me see it is as confirmation that He is working in my life—and a reminder that I should start practicing now. Sure, I wasn’t prepared to create those shadows and highlights efficiently. And no, the result isn’t as polished as it could’ve been. But they did get created—and they look mostly believable.

The whole point of this story is that even when we miss the mark, the Lord can make up the difference.

I can’t say I recognized my motivation at the time as being from the Lord. I wonder—if I had—would that have made me more resilient? Only our Father in Heaven knows for sure, but I believe it probably was His influence.

What I do know is that spending time daily in the Word and in prayer has deepened my relationship with the Lord. It's helped me understand that He is both our Loving Father and the Holy Creator of the Universe, who is to be Feared.

So it stands to reason that if I also spend time every day working to improve my drawing—and all the elements that make a piece work—I’ll become a better artist who understands where the shadows and highlights are supposed to go.

Have you ever looked back at a “failure” and seen God’s hand in it later? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!