Ruckus

Hello Bloggers, it's time to make some noise again with this little one for Illustration Friday. 

The hungry baby birds are making a ruckus in the trees around here- 

Spring has sprung!

Strong

Eau de Aroma

There must be something in the air- Two posts in two weeks. But here I am, trying to sneak another pic in for Illustration Friday on a Thursday afternoon. If we want to stay strong, we have to keep moving, right? That goes for paintbrushes, too. (Swish, swish!)

This little stinker couldn't resist sharing that mini motivational pep talk for anyone who's visiting today, and a quick "scent"-iment as the season officially changes. 

Happy Spring to all! 

Path

I'm not sure if this old sentiment is actually an Irish blessing, but since it's close to St. Patrick's Day, I just gave it a few shamrocks and will stick with it as this week's contribution for Illustration Friday. 

My alternate, unabridged version of this saying adds "...It's just that all the sociopaths and psychopaths along the way create extra- long detours." (OK, maybe that was inappropriate, but that's what was on my mind. "Paths," get it?) A wee bit of mischief always comes naturally- I do have a little Irish ancestry and the leprechauns were calling again! 

Besides, if you're reading this, you're not too far away for me to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

P.S. I'd like to add that this was an experimental effort, a quick mixed media piece. I rarely discuss my process here, but lately I've been changing it up a bit for my own sanity's sake. Experi- "mental," maybe? This began as a really rough thumbnail sketch, hand lettered and then enlarged as a copy, painted over with diluted white acrylic paint (mainly to fade the sketch) and colored with pens on semi- wet paint, building up the color as it was still appearing pretty transparent. The final stage was to go over it with Prismacolor pencils. The paint gave the inexpensive paper a little more "tooth," grabbing the pigment more favorably. I might like to try this technique again using a heavier weight paper and with more concentration on my part. Stay tuned!

Reflection

Looking back, I see reflections of some places, faces and things that I don't recognize anymore. 

The truth is not always as pretty as we want it to be, so we just get fitted with some rose colored glasses and keep moving along as we always do, as long as we're able.

You see, spring is on its way and there is still much beauty to behold...

Hope you're catching a glimpse of that beauty, too.