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Seven new illustrated stories have been added to the
King Saul section of the
The Brick Testament website:
Philistines Try to Keep Weapons Out of Hands of Israelites
Saul Rejected for Seeking God’s Favor
Slaughter of the Philistines
Jonathan Is Cursed
War on All Sides
God Commands Amalekite Genocide
Saul Rejected for Incomplete Genocide
(NOTE: For anyone unfamiliar with The Brick Testament or the Bible, please take
note of the content warnings for the stories before viewing, as some may find
the content extremely disturbing.)
Enjoy,
-The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith
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Here are some comments, or rather mostly a proof reading report...
Philistines Try to Keep Weapons Out of Hands of Israelites
Uhm, you should do a control count on that math exercise about thirds of
shekels...
Slaughter of the Philistines
1 Samuel 14:20-21: Hmm, so shall we interpret those funky Philistine hairpieces
as hats or wigs or something...? In any case it’s a pretty funny detail.
Jonathan Is Cursed
What’s that gray wall in the background of the forest, and why is it there?
War on
All Sides
The headline in the story itself says “Slaughter of the Ammonites”.
Kings of Zobah: that’s a funny little extremely literal interpretation there.
I found another little error elsewhere in the BT:
In the Judges story “Slaughter of the Ammonites” (not to be confused with the
homonymic Saul story) there is a scene which says “But the king of the Ammorites
didn’t listen...” You have misspelled Ammonites there as “Ammorites”, which
makes it a bit confusing since it’s in the story where the king of the Ammonites
has ben bad to the Israelites who lived in the land of the Amorites, and this
Ammonite king accuses the Israelites of taking his land, but they answer that
they didn’t take the land of the Ammonites but the land of the Amorites. It
seems that the verse number is wrong too; it should be Judges 11:28.
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Martin Nilsson wrote:
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Here are some comments, or rather mostly a proof reading report...
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Always appreciated!
Ouch. Math was never my best subject. Fixed now though. I think. Let’s see:
2/3 + 2/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 2.
Maybe the Philistine was just trying to take advantage of an Israelite whose
ability to add fractions is as poor as my own!
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Slaughter of the Philistines
1 Samuel 14:20-21: Hmm, so shall we interpret those funky Philistine
hairpieces as hats or wigs or something...? In any case it’s a pretty funny
detail.
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They are meant to be headdresses of some sort. They are based on some ancient
Egyptian reliefs depicting what are thought to be Philistines:
I don’t think anyone knows whether they incorporate the Philistines’ actual hair
in combination with a fancy headband, or whether it’s just a sort of “hat”
independent of their hair. And of course, we can’t know what color or colors
they were.
For The Brick Testament, at least in the case of these Israelites who were
mercenaries for the Philistines, I guess I’m taking the position that they were
“hats” put on over their actual hair.
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Jonathan Is Cursed
What’s that gray wall in the background of the forest, and why is it there?
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I am using a raised
baseplate there. I guess I envisioned the gray as rock covered by some green
vegetation. I didn’t think it was particularly out of place for a forest.
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War
on All Sides
The headline in the story itself says “Slaughter of the Ammonites”.
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Whoops. Fixed now.
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Kings of Zobah: that’s a funny little extremely literal interpretation there.
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I suppose. Though I imagine it wasn’t so uncommon for the actual kings to be
fighting amongst their own troops in those times, just as I depict Saul on the
front lines of these battles. I was originally going to just have two kings and
two or three non-king troops with them, but yeah, I thought it was sort of funny
to show a bunch of crowned warriors grouped together in combat. :)
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I found another little error elsewhere in the BT:
In the Judges story “Slaughter of the Ammonites” (not to be confused with the
homonymic Saul story)
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Actually, in Judges it’s
Massacre of the Ammonites and in King Saul it’s
Slaughter of the Ammonites. The distinction I draw is that I’ll use
“slaughter” to described a extremely severe military defeat where there are very
great losses on one side and apparently few or none on the other, and “massacre”
when civilians, women, and children are killed in significant number (whether or
not in addition to a military slaughter).
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there is a scene which says “But the king of the
Ammorites didn’t listen...” You have misspelled Ammonites there as
“Ammorites”, which makes it a bit confusing since it’s in the story where the
king of the Ammonites has ben bad to the Israelites who lived in the land of
the Amorites, and this Ammonite king accuses the Israelites of taking his
land, but they answer that they didn’t take the land of the Ammonites but the
land of the Amorites. It seems that the verse number is wrong too; it should
be Judges 11:28.
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Wow, thanks for that one! I knew I’d confuse the Amorites and Ammonites when it
counts. Corrected now.
Thanks very much for these!
-Brendan
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Not only
In lugnet.build.ancient, Brendan Powell Smith wrote:
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Martin Nilsson wrote:
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Here are some comments, or rather mostly a proof reading report...
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Always appreciated!
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Not only are you an outstanding artist; you are also quite humble in your
response to criticism. I don’t know that I could have answered that post
without a touch of cynicism.
I had thought at one time your minifig interpretation of the various
factions/nations was just creative. I caught a Discovery Channel special on the
the subject a few weeks ago and gained a new appreciation for your work. I
hadn’t realized you researched details like that for your builds (the Philistine
hair pieces weren’t lost on me, at least).
Outstanding work; I’m always excited to see your new installments.
Felix
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Felix Greco wrote:
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Not only are you an outstanding artist; you are also quite humble in your
response to criticism. I don’t know that I could have answered that post
without a touch of cynicism.
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Well, typo reports (and pointing out math mistakes) are just plain helpful.
Those are always nice to get.
I didn’t think anything Martin wrote was particularly harsh, and it’s always
easier to take criticism from someone you know has an overall favorable opinion
toward the thing they’re criticizing. In fact, that’s generally where the most
helpful criticism and suggestions for improvement come from.
Even if I don’t think a comment or suggestion is on target, I usually don’t mind
explaining why and letting people know why I did something the way I did.
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I had thought at one time your minifig interpretation of the various
factions/nations was just creative. I caught a Discovery Channel special on
the the subject a few weeks ago and gained a new appreciation for your work.
I hadn’t realized you researched details like that for your builds (the
Philistine hair pieces weren’t lost on me, at least).
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There’s still a great deal that’s pure creative license, but necessarily so,
since there’s just not much known about these other ancient nations. I am quite
interested in the historical settings of these Bible stories, so I have done a
fair amount of reading about what we can know about this region in the time
period from 1000 BCE to 100 CE from archeology and non-Biblical writings. I’m
no expert, and I’m sure I take a few unwarranted liberties here and there due to
my own ignorance (and/or the desire to keep things visually interesting), but I
make an effort to have my illustrations informed by knowledge of the time
period.
It’s trickier when what’s in the Bible contradicts what we can know (or at
least, what seems extremely probable or improbable) from non-Biblical sources,
but in those cases I defer to the Bible since that’s the book I’m illustrating.
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Outstanding work; I’m always excited to see your new installments.
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Thanks, Felix!
Hoping to get one more set of stories in before the Christmas break. :)
-Brendan
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Felix Greco wrote:
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Brendan Powell Smith wrote:
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Martin Nilsson wrote:
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Here are some comments, or rather mostly a proof reading report...
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Always appreciated!
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Not only are you an outstanding artist; you are also quite humble in your
response to criticism. I don’t know that I could have answered that post
without a touch of cynicism.
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Yeah, I agree. It’s simply that couldn’t come up with very much specific points
to comment on regarding the Lego constructions themselves this time -- they’re
pretty flawless, which is what I should have said, of course, it’s only that I’m
a bit spoiled by now -- we’ve sort of have come to expect great quality from
BPS. (I threw in two “that’s pretty funny” in the post though -- those were
certainly meant in a positive way.) And then there are of course a lot of things
I spontaneously feel like saying about the biblical content in there, but those
things have been been discussed for eternity already by wiser men already, and
tend to lead to eternal discussions/flamewars in lugnet.off-topic.debate here
anyway.
And I knew from before that he has a wish to keep the BT error-free so that it
shall not be as easy for its detractors to dismiss it simply due to the fact
that small glitches can be pointed out in it here and there.
Luckily for all of us, the Reverend took my answer in the right way.
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Brendan,
You already know how much I love your work, so I won’t bore you with yet another
“you’re awesome” post from me. All I wanted to say is, “Dude, you have a ton of
minifigs”.
Thanx for all that you do, and when is the next book?
Scott
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Scott Costello wrote:
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You already know how much I love your work, so I won’t bore you with yet
another “you’re awesome” post from me.
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I yawn at the very idea. ;)
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All I wanted to say is, “Dude, you have a ton of minifigs”.
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True. But I doubt I’d even make the top ten among LUGNET members.
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Thanx for all that you do, and when is the next book?
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You’re welcome. Glad you’re still enjoying the site.
I’m not sure when a next book might come out in the US. While the Genesis book
was quite successful, the Christmas book did not quite perform as well as my
publisher would have hoped, and the Ten Commandments book’s sales have been
rather slow (looking back, I wish they had released that one in advance of
Christmas like the first two instead of rushing it out for a Spring 2005
release). So unless sales pick up, it’s possible my US publisher may pass on a
4th installment. That leaves me free to shop around a 4th BT book to other
publishers, but I’ve been too busy building new stories recently to tend to the
business side of things (which I’ve never found much fun anyhow).
Interestingly though, several other parts of the world will be seeing Brick
Testament books published in the coming year or so. A Danish version of Story
of Christmas and The Ten Commandments is on the way, as well as a Swedish
version of Ten Commandments. A Hungarian Ten Commandments may soon follow
(don’t ask why they’re starting with Ten Commandments instead of Genesis,
because I have no idea!). And deals are possibly forthcoming for Brazil and
Switzerland as well. And just last week I was contacted by a publisher in
Indonesia(!). It boggles my mind to think a book I created might be published
in ten languages!
If there’s any truly new Brick Testament books on the way, I will certainly
let you guys know in advance. In the meantime, be sure
buy 12 copies of each of my books for everyone
on your holiday shopping list. :)
-Brendan
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Brendan Powell Smith wrote:
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Scott Costello wrote:
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You already know how much I love your work, so I won’t bore you with yet
another “you’re awesome” post from me.
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I yawn at the very idea. ;)
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Never stopped me! Blah blah blah awesome installment blah blah hilarious blah
blah nice use of short depth of field blah blah blah blah...
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All I wanted to say is, “Dude, you have a ton of minifigs”.
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True. But I doubt I’d even make the top ten among LUGNET members.
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Especially since all your minifigs seem to keep hacking each other into little
pieces and inviting the wrath of God down upon themselves.
Which reminds me, “Dude, you have a ton of red 1x1 tiles!”
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I’m not sure when a next book might come out in the US. While the Genesis
book was quite successful, the Christmas book did not quite perform as well
as my publisher would have hoped, and the Ten Commandments book’s sales have
been rather slow (looking back, I wish they had released that one in advance
of Christmas like the first two instead of rushing it out for a Spring 2005
release). So unless sales pick up, it’s possible my US publisher may pass on
a 4th installment. That leaves me free to shop around a 4th BT book to other
publishers, but I’ve been too busy building new stories recently to tend to
the business side of things (which I’ve never found much fun anyhow).
Interestingly though, several other parts of the world will be seeing Brick
Testament books published in the coming year or so. A Danish version of
Story of Christmas and The Ten Commandments is on the way, as well as a
Swedish version of Ten Commandments. A Hungarian Ten Commandments may
soon follow (don’t ask why they’re starting with Ten Commandments instead
of Genesis, because I have no idea!). And deals are possibly forthcoming
for Brazil and Switzerland as well. And just last week I was contacted by a
publisher in Indonesia(!). It boggles my mind to think a book I created
might be published in ten languages!
If there’s any truly new Brick Testament books on the way, I will certainly
let you guys know in advance. In the meantime, be sure
buy 12 copies of each of my books for
everyone on your holiday shopping list. :)
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I picked up a copy of Genesis awhile back when I saw it in my local bookstore.
(There’s something compelling about a book with nudity right out there on the
front cover, I guess.) But somehow I missed the release of the other two books.
Off to the bookstore...
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Hey,
More Saully goodness.
Philistines Try to Keep Weapons Out of Hands of Israelites - I like how you
varied the heights on Saul’s family. The tiled floor is nice in that scene, but
the small square gaps are annoying. Plus there are four 1x1 plates in the very
front that are slightly askew. I’m sure the minifigs would always be tripping
over those. I do really like the blacksmith shop. The quoting George Bush at
the end seems heavy handed.
Saul Rejected for Seeking God’s Favor - Lots of great big army scenes in this,
but my favorite picture is the people hiding - particularly the well for some
reason. Ooh, trans fishies! I like Saul’s sacrifice scene a lot - the balance
is good between the altar, the flame, the bones and the blood on the ground.
Slaughter of the Philistines - Jonathan’s armor bearer reminds me of Patsy from
the Holy Grail. Was that intentional? In the “complete accordance with your
heart”, I wish there had been some way to use clickit hearts rather than the
drawn-in hearts. Probably my favorite pic in this story is
this one, with the guy looking at his severed hand in confusion.
Jonathan is cursed - I really like the forest scenes. The use of soft focus is
really good at making it look like the forest stretches on and on. Nice
honey-on-a-stick solution, but for some reason the croissants look more like a
brain on the ground than a bee hive to me. In
this
pic the detached arm doesn’t quite work.
War on all sides - Great battle pics all around. I’m not a huge fan of the
tire-heads, but the action is all great - particularly the severed amonite head
and the killing of three philitines with one sword-thrust.
God Commands Amalekite Genocide - I see a couple more places where Saul would
trip on his floor. Lots of ABS violence here. The scene of Saul and his army
marching into town and the “No, not the children” scene are particularly well
done.
Saul Rejected for Incomplete Genocide - I love the “what is that bleating and
mooing I hear?” scene. I imagine Saul saying “Cattle? What cattle?” Saul’s
such a weasel. The scene where he kneels is nice.
Anyway, all good stuff. Isn’t Saul getting a headache after all this killing?
Time for David to make an appearance.
Bruce
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Bruce Hietbrink wrote:
I can’t believe I missed the opportunity to title my post about the first set of
Saul stories “Saul About the Benjaminites”. That would have been awesome. My
girlfriend came up with that one a week too late.
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Philistines Try to Keep Weapons Out of Hands of Israelites - I like how you
varied the heights on Saul’s family. The tiled floor is nice in that scene,
but the small square gaps are annoying. Plus there are four 1x1 plates in
the very front that are slightly askew.
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Well, Saul’s just starting out as king and he can’t afford the the highest
quality floor installers just yet. But I understand that he’s hired someone to
fix those askew tiles in between this and the next set of stories. :)
The little gaps are little weird, but I can put up with them aesthetically for
allowing me to tile with the light gray highlight color. I think from most
angles they look more like little dark squares as part of the tile pattern
rather than “holes”. But yeah, sometimes they do just look like holes.
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The quoting George Bush at the end seems heavy handed.
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I suppose. It’s hard for me to restrain myself from overt empathizing with the
non-Israelite nations in the Bible. Especially the Philistines, since even
their culture’s name has come down to us as a slur whose meaning is especially
ironic since a reading of the Bible stories strongly suggests it is the
Israelites themselves who are themselves far more “philistine”. Using the
amalgam of Bushisms put in the mouth of the Philistine leader was an attempt to
get the viewer to empathize with the Philistines much more than any sort of
criticism of Bush or his policies.
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Saul Rejected for Seeking God’s Favor - Lots of great big army scenes in
this, but my favorite picture is the people hiding - particularly the well
for some reason.
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A fairly simple well, but my attempts to make it fancier all seemed to get in
the way of showing off the other hiding people. Not sure if it’s just a very
shallow well, or if maybe they’re standing on the shoulders of people lower down
in the shaft of the well. :)
Yeah, I was very happy to see those fish pieces released in other colors. Got a
few on Bricklink a few weeks back.
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I like Saul’s sacrifice scene a lot -
the balance is good between the altar, the flame, the bones and the blood on
the ground.
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Thanks, yeah, I think that’s probably one of the better animal sacrifice shots
so far.
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Slaughter of the Philistines - Jonathan’s armor bearer reminds me of Patsy
from the Holy Grail. Was that intentional?
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Heh, no, not intentional. Much as I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
it’s been years since I’ve watched it, and I had to look up who Patsy even was!
But looking at screen shots, I see the resemblance. :) Maybe it was
subconscious.
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In the “complete accordance with
your heart”, I wish there had been some way to use clickit hearts rather than
the drawn-in hearts.
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Hadn’t even thought of Clickit hearts, but that’s a nice idea. I suppose I
could have just superimposed them in Photoshop, but sad to say, I have yet to
acquire any Clickits.
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Probably my favorite pic in this story is
this one, with the guy looking at his severed hand in confusion.
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I like that one (though the hero shot of Jonathan’s attack--with his sword
gleaming--is my fav). I just happened to pick up an already-made Philistine
solider who, for whatever reason, was missing a hand, and his head was turned
toward his stump as if contemplating how on earth that could have happened. So
I just placed him in the scene.
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Jonathan is cursed - I really like the forest scenes. The use of soft focus
is really good at making it look like the forest stretches on and on.
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Soft focus is helpful that way. I also threw a lot of green in the sky in the
background to give it something of a forest canopy feel. There’s a number of
palm trees back there which would look out of place if you could tell what they
are instead of just being blobs of green.
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Nice honey-on-a-stick solution, but for some reason the
croissants look more like a brain on the ground than a bee hive to me.
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Any better ideas for a hive? That’s the second time I’ve used the croissants
(Samson also came across honey) for lack of a better idea.
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In
this pic the detached arm doesn’t quite work.
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Yeah it doesn’t quite look right. But I wasn’t sure people would get what was
going on with the ephod if I didn’t show him reaching inside. It’s weird that
the Bible seems to assume the reader is already familiar with what the heck the
ephod is for and why the Israelites would draw lots to determine God’s will
(instead of, say, talking with him directly which is the far more common form of
communication with God in the rest of the Bible).
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Saul Rejected for Incomplete Genocide - I love the “what is that bleating and
mooing I hear?” scene. I imagine Saul saying “Cattle? What cattle?” Saul’s
such a weasel.
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Really? Does Saul come off as a weasel? I never thought so in my reading of
these stories, and I certainly didn’t mean to portray him that way in my
illustrations. Seems like he’s doing the best he knows how but that the game is
rigged against him. Of course, anyone who would actually carry out a genocide
(even if commanded by a god) is far worse than a weasel in my book, but I never
thought of Saul as particularly weaselish.
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Anyway, all good stuff. Isn’t Saul getting a headache after all this
killing?
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Not a headache per se, but he is about to be tormented by an evil spirit that
Yahweh sends upon him.
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Time for David to make an appearance.
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Working on it right now. :)
-Brendan
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Brendan Powell Smith wrote:
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In lugnet.build.ancient, Bruce Hietbrink wrote:
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Nice honey-on-a-stick solution, but for some reason the
croissants look more like a brain on the ground than a bee hive to me.
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Any better ideas for a hive? That’s the second time I’ve used the croissants
(Samson also came across honey) for lack of a better idea.
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A yellow worm screw?
Marc Nelson Jr.
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