Chakra Balance: a Hydrant Story

 

Sometimes the story changes even as I’m telling it. I thought the striking contrast between the traffic circle tree and the Japanese maple behind it was the main interest in my sketch, and the hydrant would be a fuzzy foreground compositional element. But as I became increasingly interested in the hydrant’s shadows and rustiness, it took center stage.

This sketch has another story, too: I used all seven colors of my chakra palette. I don’t know if that meant my chakras were ideally balanced, but when it’s sunny and 75 degrees, I can’t ask for more. And sometimes it takes a rusty fire hydrant to make me see that.