Illustration Friday - Choose

"Choose" - what a challenging theme for IF this week. My first thought was that I wouldn't be posting for this topic, but it wouldn't leave me alone. I kept thinking of all the choices we make every day. As artists, we make millions of choices with the accumulation of the marks we make. What subject? What medium? What support? What color? etc. etc. etc.

As a jewelry designer, it gets even harder to choose. If you don't believe me, just attend a bead show sometime where there are thousands of items to choose.

It occurred to me to take a more literal interpretation of the concept "choose" for an artist. Maybe paint/draw a palette of paint, a box of pastels... Another thought was more abstract - a door, a place you choose to go through or not.

But I decided to use one of my favorite subjects, the bird of paradise. I chose to work with Col-erase pencils, a fairly new choice for me (I got a set for a bargain $1.39 because the packaging was ruined!). Inspired by an artist I found last week, I chose to work on black paper. That was a new experience for me, too. While working on my sketch, I remembered another time I chose to paint a bird of paradise. It was a couple weeks after Dad died and I was feeling so very sad. In a moment of inspiration, I chose to paint instead of sink into that sadness. I wasn't sure what I would do as I headed for my art area, but it just came together for me. I painted that one in bright colors. In fact, the painting isn't done, or maybe it is. Maybe it's as far as it was meant to go. I don't know. But somehow it makes me remember Dad's sense of humor. He was known for his goofy puns. I don't have a photograph now, but I am posting a digitally altered photo that inspired that painting.

So as much as possible, I try to remember to choose to do something uplifting.