This article is from
Creation 40(2):32–35, April 2018

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Creation for Kids

God’s amazing artistic masterpieces

by Erin Hughes and Lita Sanders (nee Cosner)

Published in Creation 40(2):32–35, 2018

Words to learn:

Pigment: A chemical that reflects light in a way that gives it the appearance of a particular colour.
Iridescent: Having a shimmering appearance due to light reflected differently when viewed from different angles.
Camouflage: A colouring or pattern that helps an animal ‘blend in’ to its surroundings.

When an artist paints a picture, every stroke of the brush has a purpose. And when we look at that painting, we can tell that it is designed. Art is when you use your skills and imagination to make something beautiful or interesting. For example, you can draw a picture, or make a sculpture. A paint factory explosion wouldn’t produce the famous painting called the Mona Lisa (shown here).

Some people say that the artwork that we see in nature is the result of mindless processes. Yet we know that living things have an artistic design that shows they are created (somebody made it), not evolved (they just came together by chance.)

COLOURS

An artist will invest a lot of money to buy the right paints. The production of quality paint itself is a complicated and carefully designed process of mixing pigments and other chemicals. Poor quality paint will never give the depth of colour needed to create a true masterpiece. But the most amazing colours are found right in nature.

Some butterflies have a brilliant iridescent blue on their wings that you can’t copy with paint, because the colour doesn’t come from a pigment. There is a microscopic structure on the scales that cover the butterfly’s wings. This structure interferes with light (changes the way light behaves when it meets it) to produce the clear, bright blue appearance. A similar structure on the black scales of some butterflies means that more of the light is absorbed, making the black look darker.

Patterns

Colour by itself can be beautiful, but colours arranged in a pattern together are even prettier. One of the most impressive artistic masterpieces in nature is the peacock tail. Its striking design has several important parts. First, there are the ‘eye spots’—spaced out evenly across the tail. The peacock can spread out his tail like a fan to display this spectacular masterpiece. He can also make it vibrate. As with the butterfly example above, the colours are produced by tiny structures in the feathers.

Camouflage

Some animals can change colour to blend in with different backgrounds, which helps them hide from predators or capture a meal. The chameleon has a pattern which provides camouflage, and it can change the colours in this pattern in response to heat, light, and even mood! Its skin has a see-through outer layer, then layers of red and yellow pigments in specialized cells. Beneath that are layers which reflect blue and white light. Beneath that are more cells with a dark brown pigment. These various cells expand or contract to create changes in colour.

Cuttlefish can change colour even faster than chameleons, in only a few seconds. Their skin has light-sensitive proteins that can ‘see’ the surrounding colours and change to match the background—even though the cuttlefish itself is colourblind. So how would it know what colour to change into? Only intelligent design could create abilities this complex, and that points to God!

Copying God’s masterpieces

Scientists are inspired by God’s designs in nature to make better materials such as camouflage for military vehicles that changes with the surrounding environment. Artists are experimenting to create colours using a combination of pigment and structure. And engineers are inspired by cuttlefish to create new types of TV screens that are almost as vivid as real life.

Let’s talk about it!

God’s word tells us that the flowers He created are a very beautiful art form.

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28–29).

King Solomon had the finest, most beautifully coloured clothing human hands could make, but it paled in comparison to the flowers God created on Day 3 of Creation Week! This passage of Scripture goes on to tell us that people are so much more important to Him than flowers that only last a few days. This is why it is important for Christians to share the good news of how our Creator, God, in the form of His son, Jesus, died for us so that we could live with Him forever and be saved from the consequences of our sin.

Jesus Christ is the Word that spoke all things into existence, the Master Artist. The Bible tells us:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) Jesus Christ is also the only way to be saved from sin and death, and the only way to be accepted into Heaven. By sharing what you have learned today about God’s amazing artistry with your friends and neighbours, you will also be able to share who Jesus is, our Creator and Saviour!