Amor Fati

This is a remake of this piece [link] that I did some years ago. While the first version looked pretty nice, I wasn't entirely satisfied. My objective was to illustrate a heart-like quality to this image, with the branches of the trees appearing as veins. While the old image is perfectly good, I think I succeeded here with my main objective, many years later.

This is a hare devouring the bitter strings of the heart. Mandrake plants bloom at her feet, and a tiny blackbird gazes out from a hole in one of the twisted trees.

Scratchboard and watercolor, 12x16 inches but the version here has been clipped a little. In the original, the image is borderless and extends the entire surface of the panel. 180-200 hours(!)

edit: Hmm I'm not really sure why this looks as dark as it does here on DA, but on my tumblr it looks better. Go and see! [link]