This is a drawing from my favorite book from the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew. Here Polly is desperately thirsty and she comes to stream. She is about to approach it and drink gratefully, but there is a gigantic lion there and so she fears to come forward. But the thirst is maddening and she doesn't know what to do. Then the lion says, "If you are thirsty, drink." She decides to trust the lion because of the feeling he gives her; it is a feeling she remembers and trusts. And that - to me - is such a wonderful example of faith. Acting based on that feeling you trust even though you do not have perfect knowledge. 

I emphasised the courage she had to trust this lion in this illustration by having her back to him as she drank - perhaps fearing that he might spring on her from behind, yet still moving forward with the trust she had decided to adopt. 

This original illustration was done entirely with colored pencil and took years to finish as I kept getting so tired of layer after layer of pressing pretty hard on that illustration board to get a smooth finish. I am so glad that I did eventually have the stamina and patience to finish this work.