Illustration Friday - Spotted & Inspire Me Thursday - Vernal Equinox
Spring has arrived in New England - finally! Daffodils are blooming, the trees have wonderful little green and red buds all along their branches, and the birds are making nests and starting families. All is well in nature...
I chose to illustrate the Scarlet Ibis for both the Illustration Friday and Inspire Me Thursday challenges. This beautiful bird is one of the thirty-three ibis species, an ancient group with fossil records that date back 60 million years and historical references that date back 5,000 years. The ibis was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, and the Latin name ibis has Greek origins meaning "religious worship, sacred bird." The Scarlet Ibis is a tropical species known for its elaborate courtship rituals ( most certainly an avian rite of Spring) and the lovely spotted eggs it lays.
(micron pen, acrylic, and collage on canvas paper)
posted by carla at 9:04 AM
71 Comments:
Wow! Your Ibis is stunning in red against the blue sky. The perspective works really well in this illustration and the landscape you've created is dreamlike. I enjoy when you do collages and this one really pops with texture. Those eggs look real!
oh I very much like the richness of this!
Fantastic work Carla. Nature as inspiration is always an excellent choice!
Ah, yes, the Ibis. One of my favourite rainforest birds! Great job on the topic (I always love your work) and the lesson!
Beautiful illo Carla, the colors are amazing! Wonderful piece :-)
This is absolutely beautiful!! I think it is greate you were able to incorporate both challenges into one!
I love the composition, and te colors yu cose...and, the simplicity of the tree! Awesome job!
Carla, this is really stunning. Love the red bird against the blue sky. There is such texture and contrast. Really pleasing piece.
Beautiful, spring is here too, lovely composition!
I clicked, and clicked again to get the full enlargement. In my mind, I ran my hand over the branches and the leaves! It's a wonderful piece.
i like the tree and the grass, too and looking at those egss and your scarlet ibis-looks so perfect and real to me.
Beautiful, love the vivid colours.
Daffodils are out here too, they're great. I too have been involved in elaborate courtship rituals, but will not elaborate on this. Rich and wonderful illustration. I like the way you can change styles, and in this especially how you've handled the grass and trees, then more especially the nest which is so snug and can imagine chicks hatching in an animation.
What a striking image. It's very bold and vibrant. Lots of energy.
i always love what you do. true talent
I was going to ask if this was collage - it's beautiful. Gotta love those colors, too! And great story .. an educating visit as always - bravo!
Perfect for both! And different than your usual style. I love your diversity! Color combinations are stunning!
Oh I love this! The weathered blue and green in the background with that gorgeously beaked bird - adore. So vivid and beautiful. And I love the eggs and nest.
What a beauty!
Great colors, the eggs are beautiful! Brandi
i learn so much from you Carla! I love this bird and it's beautiful spotted eggs! Your posts always leave me wanting more...
This is very different from your usual style, and I think it looks great! Superb mixed media use, and the colours, esp the red, are simply stunning.
Love the red against the blue and how the greens blend.
Wonderful collage and bit of historical facts on the ibis.
Oh, this is so vibrant! I love the Scarlet Ibis...so beautiful.
Also I really liked your monochromatic for inspiration thursday. I might have to try it:)
very pretty Carla - I really love the horses too! been a little bogged down with work and such and have been terrible at visiting lately...
This is really nice. It has a feel of those pretty pretty posters that one sees in cafes?
I wasn't thinking, so I'm glad Cindy mentioned clicking twice to see the full enlargement. I hope everyone does so they can fully appreciate it. Nice!!
The composition is so strong. Ibis in her scarlet, she looks proud of her spotted little eggs in the nest. As strong as the form and colors are of everything else, the focus stays on her and her eggs. You've captured her essence, strong and exotic, no wonder the species has survived sixty million years, makes me kinda tired to think about all that time. Beautiful!
cool use of mix media! i esp love the info about ancient Egyptians and Greek!
The nest and eggs are wonderful --very fragile and precious looking.
Love the use of collage in this piece - great colours too!
i love this painting carla and the ones of the horses below. simply beautiful. they express so much richness of the landscape as well as the subject matter. i can't wait to see what you do next.
and YES! spring has finally sprung!
What a fabulous bird. I love the collage, nicely done. And yes, spring is here, hurray!!!!!
Yes, enlarged it's even more beautiful. Wonderful composition and colors.
Beautiful work, so much texture!
This is amazing!!!! I am in love with the Crimson bird. It just made my eyes pop. wonderful use of textures and colors.
Supurb Carla, really impressive.
a.
This is beautiful!! The bird is elegant and graceful!!
This has a very fresh feel to it. Love the red.
The eggs and the face of the Ibis are enchanting. The eggs have such a realistic quality to them. Their texture against the crafty collage and line drawing around them makes them seem sacred--or as if there's something supernatural about them. I suppose spring is a little supernatural, eh? Life springing from winter?
The texture in the eggs is especially ... and now as I'm writing this, I see that Roz just above is singling out the same thing... Truly, though, I had to zoom in (my DSL is so slow tonight, it's acting like an old 28K modem) and check them out up close. Thanks for the info on the ibis, too.
Beautiful image, Carla, as usual. The red you created for the bird is so rich and exquisite.
The ibis family are an interesting bunch. Two of my favourites are the extinct former "white dodo" of Réunion island, which turned out to be a flightless white ibis, and the beautiful Japanese crested ibis (just recently extinct there, but a tiny population of 30-40 hangs on in China).
The collage approach in your picture is particularly effective in capturing the shapes and contrasts of colour and texture. The distribution of pigment around the shapes actually furthers the effect. I love the feeling of 3D texture this picture evokes and your handling of this well-chosen subject!
I just get blown away every time I come here! BEAUTIFUL!!!!
I have been meaning to thank you for your caring comments to my blog. THANK YOU!!!
Glad to read you got inspired by Spring. Very interesting story of Ibis birds and a beautifully coloured painting with strong strokes.
Wow, a wonderful surprise of colors with lovely textures. Wonderful illustration.
Carla, the large view is so awesome! I love the birds head and legs and of course it's color! I think it is great that you are using different materials to explore. I want to see more:)
So stunning Carla! Very different from your usual style (as is your horses) I love seeing this side of you! The red bird is amazing and the textures so earthy!
Oh, Carla. This is truly stunning. And, as usual, your background notes are so interesting. Thanks!
Beautiful sacred bird! Great techniques you are using here. Cheers!
What can I say more after all those comments! Maybe only that I love it! And the horses painting are really WOW! Do you know "the Nabis"? French painters like Vuillard and Bonnard and Maurice Denis? Your paintings of horses are a little in the same style! Very very very niiiiice! :)
delightful!
Carla this is so beautiful, lovely composition and the ibis (one of my favourite birds) is stunning! I like the grass at the bottom, Egyptian art style :D
What a gorgeous bird!
Carla,
I love this image! I love the bird and the texture of the background!
Nice! I like the look of the mixed media in this. Looks great!
www.wynlen.no
I just saw some show recently with a Scarlet Ibis, and was googling them for illustration refernce the other week, but haven't created anything yet.
This is a nice colorful painting. I especially like the speckled eggs.
You are our Spring!
Awesome interpretation. I like this style.
So different from what I´ve seen from you. Strong and beautiful colours, so full of spring and life!
Breathtaking work, Carla! I love it. *smile*
Oh, and I posted that recipe for you too. *grin*
Wonderful work girl, such a beautiful bird!
The ibis is a beautiful bird and you captured it so well. I love your combination of acrylic and collage. the leaves and grass blades work perfectly in your composition. Interesting techique. It inspires me to try something similar.
This is gorgeous Carla WOW !!!! Thanks for your lovely comment :)
Hey Carla,
Thank you for your comment on my 'Vernal Equinox' challenge! I did'nt like it very much and was disappointed I did'nt do better..you comment totally perked me up!
:)
Btw, Love the eggs in this pic...
Wow. Fantastic. Love the textures.
This is a beautiful tribute to spring. Your work is always full of emotion and your poetic additions are so meaningful.
wonderful art!
this a great spring scene, beautiful colors
and the general mood is totally reached
I liked 100%
Prettybird!
Justin
That's one very impressive Mama. I like that you used collage here.
Carla just wanted to say this is a great composition! The textures and colors work really nice. All your work on your blog is great! But this one really stuck out to me. To me it’s just very bold and strong!! Good Job.
Muy buen color, muy poético.
Saludos.
Marco Antonio Sepúlveda
Great use of color. The Ibis is one of my favorite birds.
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