THE GUARDIAN OF THE IROKO TREE: CARTOON PORTRAIT.

Hello friends @sketchbook community. Its your humble girl again. I am always delighted to share my artwork here in this awesome community. I hope you all had a splendid day? Always wishing you all a day full of amazing surprises, happiness, good health and offcourse lots of love.❤️

Today I bring you a cartoon portrait of the guardian of the Iroko tree.

The story behind this portrait is quite intriguing.
She possesses a unique power to guard the town and the members of the community. She was given her powers from the gods of the land through her ancestral heritage.

Her bold sparkling eyes carries the very warmth of the earth while her flowing broad hair carries strong energy from the spirit gods. She is wearing a crown-like flower on her head, which represents the bonding with nature itself. The flower she is holding represents the rays of nature and spirit energy that emanates from the flower to detect danger forces both nearby dangers and farther ones.

On one fateful season, the Harmattan Winds, blew the village with an unusual dry and unbearable weather. The wind was fierce and merciless, it made the village streams dry up fast, the crops wilted and the sacred Iroko Tree began to loose its vibrant leaves. The members of the community were terrified, they have never seen such a horrific Harmattan season this wild.😱

Panic spread throughout the land. Hunter could not find anything to catch, farmers saw their crops drying out. The women, who fetched water from the river, only found cracked earth. The situation was getting out of hand, something needs to be done fast otherwise, the worst might happen. This situation only happened in the past, if the spirits of the land is angered. "Could it have been the case." The village elders thought.🤔

On seeing the terrifying situation, the spirit girl acted swiftly, She immediately knelt down before the sacred Iroko Tree and placed her little hands infront of its trunk and asked quietly and respectfully.
" oh great Iroko tree, please tell me what the problem is?"
Immediately, it revealed that the people have been taking natures gift without showing appreciation. They cut trees without replacing them by planting new ones, hunting animals unnecessarily beyond what they actually needed and the women and children have even polluted the rivers and streams. Therefore, the spirits withdrew their blessings from the members of the community and the village itself.

The villagers were sorry, Together, they decided to honor the land again. They planted new trees, critically cleaned up the streams and rivers and performed the **festival of appreciation, **this was a long forgotten tradition where men, women, the old and young, along with their children sang songs of gratitude, drummed and danced under the moonlight with happiness and great enthusiasm, to thank the spirits.

The guardian of the Iroko tree danced to the music played by the villagers and immediately her hair started to glow. suddenly, the sacred tree regained its strength. And behold! a warm gentle rain began to fall from the sky, soaking the already dried earth back to life, making the streams and rivers bubbled back to life.

Henceforth, the people of the community never took nature for granted. They cared for the land and the land in return continued to prosper and flourish them. The spirit girl continue to guard the village uptil this day.

HERE ARE THE MATERIALS I USED FOR MY HUMBLE DRAWINGS: