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Nehemiah 2:1-3 (ANIV)
Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem
1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live for ever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified in the Bible narrative. Daytime.

LIGHTING NOTES:
This scene takes place in the throne room of the king (Artaxerxes). Diffuse sunlight from above illuminates the scene.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This is quite an unusual picture; We can see Nehemiah’s hands carrying a golden goblet of red wine to king Artaxerxes. Nehemiah’s expression of sadness can clearly be seen reflected in the deep red wine. Marble flagstones can be seen below Nehemiah’s hands.

Here’s the rough pencil sketch I drew for this scene.

Nehemiah 02 – Cupbearer to the king – Scene 01 – Reflection of sadness – greyscale

Notice that I had originally intended to show the hands of Nehemiah as seen from king Artaxerxes point of view. But I realised that Nehemiah’s face would be upsidedown in that orientation, and it might be difficult to determine his expression, so I reversed the drawing, which certainly makes it easier to see the sadness on Nehemiah’s face, reflected in the deep red wine he is serving the king.