A Black Sheep and a Broken Drought

It’s not actually been a year, but it has certainly felt like it since I had made a new artwork. The drought broke on February 14th when I received a request from fellow creative and poet Alexandra Pierotti to draw my own version of a Christian meme that can often be found circulating on social media sites in one form or another for a personal project of her own. She has kindly given me permission to share this with you, for which I am truly grateful 🙏

First attempt. Too much detail.
~ Vincent Cavanagh © 2026

Attempt to trace over also ended up
with excessive details.
~ Vincent Cavanagh © 2026

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​I had three false starts, which would begin okay and then, after a point, I’d go and add too much detail that pushed it beyond legibility. All before my brain had time to react to what I was doing. Recalling a previous (unpublished) “doodle”, something finally clicked for me. What I needed to do was cartoon, not illustrate like it was going to be a submission to a scientific journal or something.

Inking in progress.
~ Vincent Cavanagh © 2026

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After finishing inking the linework and scanning the page into the computer, next came adding the colour. I had a rough idea in mind, before I started, for what most of the colours should be, but the background and Jesus’ tunic were harder pin down. Nothing I tried quite meshed properly, throwing the colour harmony out of balance, and restricting the perceived options I had for the colour of Jesus’ tunic.

The happy accident.
~ Vincent Cavanagh © 2026

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Then as I was halfway through testing a yellow background for the right half of the picture, before removing the yellow from the left side, there was the answer I’d been fumbling about for over the past hour or more. I put it down solely to divine prompting. And after that thankful event the rest of the artistic jigsaw fell into place.

The completed artwork.
~ Vincent Cavanagh © 2026

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You can find Alexandra Pierotti’s poetry on her blog at Poetry For Wellmindedness. Her latest works of poetry can be found on Facebook.


Vincent Cavanagh
18 February 2026