Apostle Philip character design sheet

This is my character sheet, or design specification, for the apostle Philip, which is a different person to Philip the Evangelist. The purpose of this sheet is to keep a record of the attributes or characteristics of my drawing, so that I can draw a similar-looking cartoon in all future scenes including Philip.

I first drew my version of Philip in March 2009, very early on in the history of Bible Cartoons. Those early pictures were for stories found in John’s gospel.

By formalising my ideas on a character design sheet in this way I would have a simple and accessible design reference point, which would remind me of what I had drawn in previous cartoons. By referring to this sheet every time I drew a scene including Philip I hoped I would be able to draw and colour him to match previous cartoons, ensuring great similarity and therefore continuity between Bible Cartoons featuring Philip, even if these cartoons were drawn months or even years apart.

Without this character sheet to refer to I might very well accidentally draw a scene where the Philip character is quite different from previous drawings, which would be a problem if someone views and/or buys several Bible Cartoons and the same person looks quite different in each scene! There is a very real danger of this happening since my abilities and style gradually change and evolve over time, especially as I learn new art techniques and want to incorporate new ideas into my Bible Cartons. By referring to the character sheet I can be confident that I will draw a similar-looking person, even if my artistic skills have undergone change and development over time.

Personal History
Fil´ip; Greek Philippos, “lover of horses”.
Philip was of the city of Bethsaida, in Galilee (John 1:44; John 12:21), but of his family we have no information. Little is recorded of Philip in the Scriptures.

Andrew and Peter spoke to Philip about Jesus as the long-expected Savior, for he unhesitatingly complied with the Master’s request to follow Him (John 1:41-43).
The first act of Philip was to invite Bartholomew/Nathanael to “come and see” Jesus, saying, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45-47).