It’s that time of the year again, when I find myself drenched and dripping in sweat just moments after stepping out of the shower. When the earth is parched and I can almost hear it screaming out for rain. When I look up at the sky and am immediately blinded by the bright, bright rays of the sun, bouncing off the clouds. When the days seem to get longer and it’s still too hot to be playing outside after 5pm. When the laundry dries to a crisp if I leave it out for too long.
It’s that time of the year again.
It was the scorching heat that inspired this month’s wallpaper design; it reminded me of some cacti and succulent doodles that I’d done a few years ago. I did it back in 2017, when I was following a line drawing tutorial by Peggy Dean, of the Pigeon Letters. When it came to giving the doodles some colour, I thought to myself, these are supposed to be green. Maybe a pop of red here and a bit of yellow there. But mostly green.
How boring.
I took out my paintbox and looked at the neatly arranged little squares of gorgeous rainbow colours, glistening like jewels in a treasure chest. I had to use them. I had to use them all.
And so I did.
I painted them green and blue and purple, transforming them into plants you imagine you’d find in the underwater garden of a mermaid. Some I painted in red and orange and emerald green; the colours of a lush tropical rainforest. Others I clothed in pinks and purples, with a touch of indigo, and they became almost spring-like; the kind of spring you’d see if Mother Nature had turned up the contrast and saturation.
I had fun doing it, but then I moved on to my next practice session, my next tutorial, and left the whimsical succulents sitting quietly in my sketchbook. I almost forgot I had them, had it not been for the confluence of the weather and the search for ideas for this month’s wallpaper.
So now they’re here; resurrected, given a new lease of life. Waiting to adorn your phones and iPads and computer screens.
I can’t offer you a tall glass of ice-cold water to beat the heat, but I can give you a collection of whimsical, pretty little desert plants to cool the eyes. :-)
Enjoy!
* As always, these are for personal use only.
Prickly Plants
iPad: Pro 11” // Pro 12.9” // Others
Laptop: MacBook Pro 13” // MacBook Pro 13” with calendar // MacBook Pro 15” // MacBook Pro 15” with calendar
Desktop: iMac 27” // iMac 27” with calendar