Have you made your chalk debut yet? A wealth of material for effective chalk talks may be found among the drawings in the Sabbath School Worker. For an effective character-building talk, you might adapt the drawing by R.M.E. (Robert M. Eldridge), found in the July, 1934, Worker, page 216. Of course you will have the essentials outlined on your paper beforehand. Let the listeners suggest the materials and tools needed to build a stone structure—cement, water, sand, level, trowel, etc. As a tool or material is suggested, draw it and dwell upon it, driving home your lessons. You may give a superb sermon on character building, and it will soon be forgotten. But illustrate it with these simple drawings, however crude your art may be, and the youth will retain it for years to come.
Some may be eager to try something a little more difficult—perhaps a drawing to synchronize with a regular sermon or Bible study on the prophecies. Suppose we take a lesson on illustrating Daniel 2 with chalk. The same plan may be followed with other prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, and certain doctrinal sermons.
For this illustration it might be better to use a larger sheet than the 24" x 36" size recommended for easel use, tacking it to the wall or a large blackboard. The drawing of the great image and the illustrations at the side, characteristic of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, Rome, and Europe, have been greatly simplified for chalk use. In demonstrating with chalk in the presence of a congregation, one must necessarily sacrifice much detail and quality to gain speed.
Some may be saying that even then it doesn't look so very simple. But by preparing the whole thing lightly in pencil beforehand, by means of the enlarged squares as outlined in a previous lesson, it really does become simple. And remember, your drawing always looks a great deal better to the people in your audience than it does to you. They are not art critics, and their minds are taken up with the points you are making, rather than with the skill and quality of the drawing itself.
You, of course, have your own individual way of presenting Daniel 2. I believe that the suggestions for illustrating can be fitted into your sermon outline without need of any real changes. Following are suggestions for one way of bringing in the drawings. Step I might be drawn in beforehand, but kept covered with another sheet of paper until the time comes to display it. Then when you reach that point in your sermon or study at which you quote, "Thou, 0 king, sawest, and behold a great image," uncover the outline of the great image, which will be immediately recognized as such. From that moment on there will be no wandering minds, for you now approach your little chalk stand, and every eye will follow you.
If you wish to make it still more effective, I would suggest that you have the image part outlined in some kind of heavy pencil or wax crayon which will show up but will not rub off. Then, with powdered chalk and a swab of cotton, you can bring out the colors of the image. Just before filling in the outlines of the head of gold, rub in yellow chalk dust with a small circular motion. With a little practice this can be applied with a smooth, even finish. Use light gray chalk for the silver, orange for the brass, black for the iron, and brown for the clay. This could not be done if the image were first outlined with the black chalk, which would rub and smear.
I would do the drawing of the head and each succeeding part while dealing with the interpretation of the image, rather than while giving the initial description. As you draw, you can show how Babylon was truly a golden kingdom. And as you tell briefly of the origin and history of Babylon, you can be drawing the tower of Babel to the right if you wish to embellish the prophetic outline. This part depends on the skill of the speaker.
Continue each step in a similar manner, taking the kingdoms one at a time. Be sure that you do not block your drawing so that your audience cannot see what you are doing. Stand at the side as you work, and be careful of your voice, for you are not facing those whom you are addressing. One usually needs to raise his voice a little, in order that all may catch each word.
The scene for Medo-Persia is the famous Behistun Rock, in Persia, which gave scholars the key to the ancient Assyrian and Babylon languages, even as the Rosetta Stone gave the key to the ancient Egyptian language. It consists of a record of the acts and the genealogies of Darius I, inscribed on the high, smooth limestone cliff of the mountainside. It is written in cuneiform in the Persian, Susian, and Babylonian languages. This was chiseled into this 1,700-foot cliff about 500 B.C., and was deciphered in 1835-45 by the great scholar, Sir Henry Rawlinson.
One readily recognizes the Acropolis at Athens with its ruins, and the Colosseum of Rome. The Eiffel Tower of Paris is chosen to typify the ten kindoms, or modern Europe, because it is as widely recognized as anything we might select. The great stone out of the mountain is drawn for the climax.
