When Animals Mean A Little More....

A friend recently asked me to do a painting, which she planned to give to her mom as a gift.  There were several themes that she wanted included, all of which had strong symbolic meaning within her family. A dragonfly, lady bug, grasshopper, and black lab--along with playing cards.

I tried having each animal represent the design on the back of a deck of cards, where the four card sets are overlaid. The corners have the seasons passing by, starting with spring in the upper left and traveling clockwise.

You can see a little bit about how developed and the final product if you read on.

The pencil drawing and first cut of color.

















This is the final product--it's a little skewed due to the reflections at the time I took the photo.  My friend told me that her mom was quite pleased.  I'm so happy to hear that!