The Meaning

When looking at “In The Belly,” what you see inside the eye represents a spiritual perception (inspired by the artists Alex Grey and Marc Chagall).

Swallowing the Earth

There is a dragon (representing the devil) with his mouth around the earth blowing black smoke out of his nostrils. Out of the black smoke comes skulls which expresses the deception and death of human souls.

Freeing the Captives

The Son (on the other side) is in a fiery yellow and orange body with a hatchet which sinks deep into the belly of this savage beast and frees the captive human souls from certain death and destruction.

Faith Set Them Free

If you look closely, you can see them falling out of the dragon’s belly into the same color (yellow) as their Savior, expressing that their faith in Him has set them free.

The Process

This piece was done on poster board with an acrylic medium. The other piece I did on poster board was “Master of the Universe“, but on a flat black one.

What was also interesting in this piece is that I did no sketching at all, and I still like the definition of the animated characters in it.

Green Smoke

What I love about this early spiritual illustration was how well the green paint blended in with the black to give it a very original smokey effect. I could never get this kind of effect on canvas because the poster board has a glossy finish on the outside.

The Veins

I also see the clarity of the veins of the eyeball attached to the outside and fade back into the white glossy finish of the poster board.