October is the month when artists post a lot of stuff usually drawn with ink. I do my own thing, like many do. Times are crazy. We could use a little wisdom (or a lot, actually). The book of Proverbs illustrates wisdom and folly personified as two allegorical women. Of course, these are understood to be allegorical and not representing actual women. This is a creative literary device used to help communicate the message of Proverbs. It turns out that’s also a fun and unique way to depict Proverbs in graphical form.
So, if that’s the idea, how should Wisdom and Folly be drawn? Proverbs presents Wisdom as the ideal and Folly as the opposite of that ideal. Wisdom leads to life and prosperity; Folly leads to death and ruin. Wisdom needed to be perfect in appearance (or as close as skill could manage), her hair never out of place, always adorned with jewelry (including pearls….pearls of wisdom), etc. She needed to reflect the heaven in some way. Her robes are white, her hair is blonde (golden), she wears a crown—even her eyes are blue like the sky. And behind here is shining light. Folly is quite the opposite. She wears no jewelry, her robes are grungy and brown, her hair is dark and unkempt—she even has a cowlick to help sell that. There’s something sinister about her.
The differences are further accentuated by favoring different background colors for each. Wisdom’s backgrounds tend to be blue, like the sky, whereas Folly’s are red—the color of danger. There are exceptions to this, but having an overall color scheme helps communicate the piece.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (PROVERBS 1:7a)
Wisdom shows up visual in pieces where a person is being wise or instructed to be wise, and Folly shows up in those place where a person is being foolish. Anyway, as these are posted on social media (social media links in the top-right) please remember that this is intended to be fun, and it is also intended to get you into the Bible. If this comic inspires you to read Proverbs, it has done its job well. If it motivates you to seek the Lord and ask Him for wisdom, it has done its job even better.