Artist Interview

Nov 6

Micah Martin from BibleSketches

The team behind The Garden have been fans of BibleSketches art for some time. Micah illustrates Biblical stories in a minimal and often architectural style, bringing the stories of the Bible to life in a truthful and exciting way. Demystifying the accounts of the ancient texts, his creative works offer clarity and encourage Biblical reflection. His works are appreciated by both young and old, curious believers and lifelong Christ followers alike.

Hello Micah thank you for speaking with us today! We would love to hear about your background in art and how you have begun your endeavours with BibleSketches. Can you please tell us when you started drawing? And what kind of training you’ve had?

I've been drawing since I was a child, but I remember drawing especially a lot during middle school and high school - mainly planes and buildings. I studied architecture in college, and that brought a lot of sketching practice, and that's when I started sketching figures of people too.

Do you sketch both on paper and digitally?

Just on paper, and then I scan it and edit as needed in photoshop.

Have you tried any other artistic mediums?

I've done digital stuff, but came back to paper and pen since it better fits the style that I'm aiming for.

What artists do you admire?

There's an artist in London named Luke Adam Hawker who I think is brilliant.

What inspired you to start Bible Sketches?

I just wanted to merge two passions, God's word and sketching! BibleSketches came naturally when one day it dawned on me to draw Bible stories.

How would you describe your vision and mission behind Bible Sketches, and how have you seen it evolve since you started?

It started with sketching, then I started producing theological slides on Instagram carousels. Now it's my family's source of income (selling prints), but I also seek to use it to share gospel content. Soon I will be sharing more about eschatology on my Instagram account.

How do you find people generally respond to your uncompromising and counter cultural posts on Jesus and the Bible?

A usual mix of people who fully support it and some who disagree with my approach but I often don't pay attention too much to online response mainly because it's too time consuming. I just want to follow Christ's example and so the things He said bluntly, I want to say bluntly too. I don't want to sugarcoat truth if Jesus didn't. He was willing to lose followers so I think we should be willing to lose followers too.

If there are negative responses, how do you handle them?

I usually laugh while still trying to take them lovingly & seriously -- it's mainly because I take social media so lightly. I don't consider it a real form of communication. I know people can get heated and respond behind a screen differently than in real life. The gospel conversations I have in real life have shown me that while people can vehemently disagree, they will most often try to be somewhat courteous about it. Thus, I can't let social media affect me more than it should. Moreover, I am very busy! There's not enough time to mitigate every bad response.

On the flip side, if people become curious about the Gospel- what resources have you found helpful to point them to know God more?

I would point them to some of my slide presentations about the gospel but also good Bible teachers, R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Voddie Bauchaum, John Piper, etc.

How do you personally grow in your walk with Christ daily and how would you encourage a new believer to grow in their knowledge of God and the Bible?

Read the Bible and pray. Know your Bible as best you can, then you will know God better. And let suffering have it's result in your life, God will use it to grow you.

If there is one thing that you want viewers to be left with after seeing your work or visiting your Instagram page, what would it be?

Jesus is all that matters.

Where can people follow you and buy your art?

Instagram: @BibleSketches and @shopBibleSketches and our Etsy is https://biblesketches.etsy.com and our website is https://biblesketches.shop/

Thank you so much for your time Micah! May God continue to inspire and work through your art.