This piece was an assignment to illustrate Aesop’s fable “The Wind and the Sun” wherein the two mighty forces compete, testing their powers on a wayward traveler to see who is more powerful. Their goal is to strip the man of his clothes, and while the wind blows with all its might, the sun simply shines its own rays benevolently. Of course, the sun ultimately wins, proving the moral that kindness effects more than severity.

I decided to weave in my own interpretation of the traveler, giving him a dainty personality with his flower picking basket and red poppies blowing off into the sky. The yellow scarf hints at the sun, foreshadowing its imminent victory.