Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame.
Each to his passion; what’s in a name?
Helen Hunt Jackson

An update about the Ripple Sketch Project:

Hi Everyone at Illustration Friday!

It’s Kelly Light from the “Ripple” blog. I wanted to stop back and say a huge “THANKS!” to all of the Illustration Friday contributors who came to Ripple and donated their talent and time to help the Gulf Oil Spill animal victims. In one week Ripple went from having 100 cards to having 600 cards. We went from raising $1,000.00 to help clean oiled animals to more than $5,000.00 (as of 6/22). That figure keeps growing and the art keeps coming everyday. Artist from all over the globe showed up to throw their pebbles in. The messages they shared were of care and concern, anger and frustration and even hope for an end to this catastrophe. From across the United States the message was clear — whether near a beach or not — we need to do what we can to help. Small sketches, small donations that add up not only in dollars but in heart.

As a result of Ripple, I get personal updates from a woman cleaning birds in Florida with the IBRRC (one of the non profits Ripple helps). She said it takes 3 bottles of Dawn Dish Detergent to wash one bird. One $10 sketch card buys three bottles. So we have raised enough money to clean roughly 570 birds. I made a deal with myself to run this blog as long as the oil spills. I want the oil to stop now. But as long as it’s flowing I’ll be here and will welcome any new art submissions.

Thanks again to Penelope and Brianna for the support, the huge hook up – and the inspiration!

-Kelly

Some of the pieces I made are still available if you’re interested in donating to the cause!

This is so tempting/marvelous/perfect, I can’t even begin to describe it…

I had a lot of fun with this week’s Illustration Friday topic. Staring at the word ‘paisley’ my mind was stuck on polyester and corduroy fabrics from the 1970s…but I kept doodling. It didn’t take long before I snapped out of the time warp and came up with paisley shapes sort of spelling out the word ‘paisley.’

From my sketch book, I headed to my computer and drew the following:

Then I lost the lines and filled in the design with black to create a silhouette.

Presto! I saw some silly little birds…

and some koi in a reflection pool.

Then I moved the ‘letters’ to create a more natural looking view of the pool.

I’m feeling some of those pesky cobwebs loosing their grip…thanks so much for the great topic, Mindy!

Well, Friday’s topic for IF (ripple) really got me into watercolor again. I decided to go ahead and create an entire series of mini paintings for Ripple Sketches to support the rescue efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

Happily, I can report that the first painting has already sold to a donor…let’s keep our fingers crossed that the next five go just as quickly!

If you’re wondering about the subjects of these paintings, the first four are all found in the Gulf, the last two (the fish) are from my imagination – although I’ll bet you can find fish that look pretty similar in salty water somewhere!

I Will Fly Again: One | 3″ x 4″ | Watercolor, Pen and India Ink on Watercolor Paper – SOLD

I Will Fly Again: Two | 3″ x 4″ | Watercolor, Pen and India Ink on Watercolor Paper – SOLD

I Will Fly Again: Three | 3″ x 4″ | Watercolor, Pen and India Ink on Watercolor Paper

I Will Swim Again: One | 3″ x 4″ | Watercolor, Pen and India Ink on Watercolor Paper

I Will Swim Again: Two | 3″ x 4″ | Watercolor, Pen and India Ink on Watercolor Paper

I Will Swim Again: Three | 3″ x 4″ | Watercolor, Pen and India Ink on Watercolor Paper