©2008 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli
This piece was born of a sketch I did one Sunday afternoon in March. I just felt like drawing so I drew this girl. Once I had the girl, I wanted to do something a bit more interesting so I came up with the idea of tree branch antlers. Perhaps to represent the girl's connection with nature. I added the bird to the sketch later, in photoshop. It seems natural to put a bird wherever there is a branch. Originally the bird was on a branch to the right of the girl, but it seemed a little less predictable to put it on her head.
I'd wanted to paint it since I finished the sketch but only recently found the time. I really wanted to keep the colour scheme simple and I thought about colour choices for several days before putting paint to paper. I've done a few paintings where I've left the person's flesh white and I like that effect. I thought it might reinforce her connection to nature if the colours of the nature around her (the pink of the bird and the green of the leaves) were also the only colours on the girl (her cheeks and shirt). I also wanted to try a colour combo I hadn't used before. I like how the simplistic colours turned out. Sometimes it's hard for me to know when to stop adding colour.
