I have chosen the painting take up the cross by Lars Justinen to represent

a perspective on the journey. The purpose behind this painting is to show

that no matter how hard things get or how much pain we go through what
Jesus went through was worse.
In this painting there are 2 journeys, physical journey which is the act of
travelling from a departure point to a destination and the spiritual journey
which can be defined by: a journey that you commence to learn about
yourself and your place in the world. The physical journey is Jesus walking
along the dirt path and up the mountain. The journey is made difficult
because of the large mountain, the heavy cross and that Jesus is not
wearing any shoes. But the spiritual journey is the determination that
Jesus shows by carrying that cross all the way up the mountain. He must
do it to fulfil the wishes of his father and get back to where he belongs
with god in the light.
Some of the visual techniques that Lars Justinen used were Colour,
Symbolism, Vectors, Juxtaposition and contrast. In the foreground of the
picture you can see Jesus and one of the obstacles, the cross and in the
background you can see another obstacle the mountain and his objective.
The vectors techniques that Justinen used were the single path that was
only wide enough for one person. And the reading path draws our eyes to
Jesus. Combining these two together we can see that Jesus is alone in this
journey and there is no one to help him.
Lars Justinen Uses colour to his advantage. He uses lighter colours at the
bottom where is flat so the journey is relatively easy. As we move up the
mountain the colour becomes darker representing the more difficult part
of the journey. And when we reach the top it is the lightest part
representing that the journey is complete. Also Justinen uses many red
colours throughout his artwork. The red colour can symbolise strong
emotions and can also represent life and vitality. The red colour
symbolises Jesuss passion to save our lives by completing his journey.
Not only does the red symbolise Jesuss passion. The cross symbolises
difficulty but the lone figure and lone path symbolises difficulty again.
Because there is no one to help Jesus in his journey he is alone. The artist
uses Contrast between the soft grass at the bottom and the hard rock on
the mountain show that the difficulty of the journey has stepped up a
level. The journey was not as easy as it was before. Juxtaposition was
used by Justinen. He placed the cross next to Jesus to show that the
obstacles in his journeys are massive but he is determined to complete his
journey.

Now I want to leave you with this.

Every Journey starts with the first step the jouney will find giant
mountains and deep rivers, but if we are determined and keep stepping
forward there is nothing that we cant achieve.