Easter chick

I'm not a great fan of Easter chocolate and with no children around, there's very little that makes its way into the house.  However, Easter isn't about chocolate or shouldn't be.  Like most religious holidays, manufacturers have morphed it into a money making enterprise that removes it far from its origins.

I'm far from religious, but Easter to me is a time of rebirth.  Of the land, of nature, animals..everything moves into a new cycle in spring and Easter seems to be the pinnacle that announces it officially.

New life is amazing, whether human, animal or plant.  Here, the new life is a day old chick.  Fragile, but strong and full of potential.  Just like all of us.  The image is one I took a few years ago. I drew a pen and ink piece using the reference and found the image again and thought I'd try another version.

I did this sketch using the end of a palette of acrylic colours on some canvas paper.  The pastel colours seem to suit the little bird.