Monday, July 9, 2012

IF … Suspend

©2012 Mardi Speth • All Rights Reserved • Watercolor & Ink
   Yippee … let's eat! 
    Lunchtime is the perfect opportunity to practice our Cirque du Soleil act.
    Sometimes there's even a bonus to our precarious positionings. If we end up
    nose-diving, my fur becomes a lovely shade of pink for at least a week.
    (Peet, however, is of a different opinion, as he believes the color brings
    his manhood into serious question).
                                  Peet, more to the left and … whoa …"
                            "Peet, more to the left and lower! Whoa …"
                                 "Peet, more to the left and lower! Whoa …"
                                      "Peet, more to the left and lower! Whoa …
Posted by at

34 comments:

  1. Richard EwingJuly 9, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    Nice work with the lazy zig-zag of your visual path; it parallels the bouncy back-and-forth we know they've been dangling with.
    Looks like Buttercup has had some raspberry accidents before as is evidenced by her raspberry tutu...Peet will never live down a pink tail, and he seems well aware of the dangers looming.

    Interesting how he matches the flower, and she the berries, probably says something about their personalities.

    .

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    Replies
    1. Mardi SpethJuly 9, 2012 at 10:26 PM

      Thank you, Richard. Actually, a friend helped me with the composition, and it's infinitely better than my original concept. If I'm lucky, next week's word prompt will provide me the creative license for using pink.
      Lots and lots of pink.
      Oh, poor Peet.

      Delete
  2. fados do larJuly 9, 2012 at 11:04 AM

    The reward definitely worth all the suspension effort. :)
    Your works are so beautiful and delicate. I'm dazzled whenever i step in your blog.
    Thank you for sharing :)

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  3. Nancy AJuly 9, 2012 at 12:14 PM

    Love your skilled hand with watercolor.
    Very nice!

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  4. renateJuly 9, 2012 at 1:57 PM

    Hello Mardi:)You always make me laugh with the beautiful story's that comes with your beautiful drawings. Great art!

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  5. S. D. BrowneJuly 9, 2012 at 2:06 PM

    Great composition, great colors...just great!!

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  6. Cindy D.July 9, 2012 at 2:51 PM

    Wow, the action and suspense! The serious look on Peet's "I refuse to be pinkified" face. Really neat how you've framed the plants each partly outside of the frame to indicate the larger world (and berry patch) beyond. Love the sunflower. And overall adorable, of course!

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    Replies
    1. Mardi SpethJuly 10, 2012 at 8:34 AM

      Peet is definitely the reluctant participant when it comes to raspberry plucking. However, when it comes to hunting for carrots, Peet takes the lead. Thank you, Cindy!

      Delete
  7. c.dingmanJuly 9, 2012 at 3:08 PM

    Wonderful action and text. Such fun to visit this blog.

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  8. Elizabeth Rose StantonJuly 9, 2012 at 7:42 PM

    Mardi, your work is always so much fun! I love the arc of the sunflower...and Peet and Buttercup look so very determined! Love it (as usual)! :)

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  9. Sarah MellingJuly 9, 2012 at 9:53 PM

    This is a really wonderful piece, so full of movement. And, of course, I love that it has a "botanical" theme as well! I like how you created a thumbnail of sorts for the IF page...i"ll have to figure out how to do that...I miss them!

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    Replies
    1. Mardi SpethJuly 10, 2012 at 10:04 AM

      Thank you, Sarah! I'm not sure about the new IF website format either. I think it's unclear that people need to click the enlargement to get to the blog. The enlargement does take away the surprise, and I think it will diminish traffic to the blog. Anyway, I thought I'd try 'my way' for a while and see what we shall see.

      Delete
    2. LuTiJuly 10, 2012 at 10:52 AM

      and the scrolling ( and loading the older entries ) is very very slow on the new IF site ...:(

      Delete
    3. Ted BlackmanJuly 11, 2012 at 3:04 PM

      I asked Penelope at IF about this, that we no longer will get traffic automatically to our blog, but she said the same thing; double clicking will send them there. But who will do that after seeing the piece? And most dont even know about the double click. She said the plus is that you art is more easily shared in social media. That doesnt really benefit our blogs, though.

      Delete
    4. Mardi SpethJuly 11, 2012 at 3:42 PM

      Maybe if a whole bunch of us complain?

      Delete
  10. Koosje KoeneJuly 9, 2012 at 11:46 PM

    This is great! I sure hope that petal Pete is holding onto, will hold....

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  11. Stephen MacquignonJuly 10, 2012 at 2:47 AM

    I love it!

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  12. Mary HallJuly 10, 2012 at 5:15 AM

    Lovely!!

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  13. AlisonJuly 10, 2012 at 6:45 AM

    I always love your work for Illustration Friday and this one is up to your usual very high standard.

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  14. LuTiJuly 10, 2012 at 11:01 AM

    I see (almost) the swinging movements of mouse and the slight vibration of the bending (Sun)flower stem ...

    nicely done

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  15. UnknownJuly 10, 2012 at 12:09 PM

    simply beautiful!:)

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  16. crazyladyJuly 10, 2012 at 9:26 PM

    I found this particularly amusing, since I drew something very similar with my IF entry! http://almiart.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-stretch.html

    I love the rabbit's face!

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    Replies
    1. Mardi SpethJuly 11, 2012 at 9:43 AM

      Haha! It's interesting how creative minds circumvent the same perimeters. Your mouse's pose is VERY similar to my first pencil comp, which I ended up changing.

      Delete
  17. Claire WildishJuly 11, 2012 at 5:01 AM

    This is so much fun! I love your characters they are totally gorgeous.

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  18. Bill JaynesJuly 11, 2012 at 5:51 AM

    So much fun, I want some of the berries for my morning yogurt, too.

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  19. RitaJuly 11, 2012 at 7:25 AM

    Oh this is so cute! I have missed your last few posts but just looked back through them...I really love your sweet style. Such happy work. I'm following you now so I can keep up! :)

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  20. Mardi SpethJuly 11, 2012 at 7:48 AM

    I'm tickled pink by so many nice comments! Thank you all for stopping by and taking the time to leave a remark. You make my day!

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  21. Ted BlackmanJuly 11, 2012 at 3:12 PM

    Very good story telling here, Mardi. Sorry it took me so long to notice.

    But your shade of pink fur reminded me of the time when I was a kid, when I tried to dye our siamese cat red. She came out pink, which wasn't the hue I was going for at all. But she was the talk of the feline community for a week, anyway.

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  22. k.h.whitakerJuly 11, 2012 at 8:17 PM

    So cute, I love the rabbit's expression. Just beautiful :D

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  23. Richard EwingJuly 11, 2012 at 9:31 PM

    WOW
    30 comments already!
    you must have really hit a chord with this one...

    .

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  24. Creations By MitJuly 12, 2012 at 8:48 AM

    Another winner, Mardi!! Such charming characters - no one can resist them!!

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  25. Alice AndreiniJuly 12, 2012 at 12:15 PM

    Sweet illustration. it has a nice bouncy energy to it.I love the Tutu!

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  26. UnknownJuly 12, 2012 at 11:39 PM

    Love it! Gorgeous illo and beautifully done. They look so determined too. Mmm... rasberries... :)

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  27. AtelierBrigitteJuly 18, 2012 at 12:22 PM

    Aaaah, so this is how it started... fun story and perfect fit for IF!

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