The inking is complete and I’ve been painting furiously. I taken some vacation time to complete this project. Today I was painting the chipper scene. I posted about that one before.
I couldn’t decide which picture to post, so here’s another.
The Pacific Fisher in mixed media. Pen and ink, and watercolor. This is a spot illustration for the new children’s picture “Timber!”
This is the pen and ink before the watercolor. Which version do you like better?
Sometimes you feel like a nut!
Mary and I were driving into camp last summer and were approaching a little creek. As we rounded a bend in the road, this bear burst out of the blackberry bushes. It ran across the road in front of us and stopped in the blackberries about 30 feet away. I stopped the truck. It stared at us and we stared back. It appeared to be a young bear. It stayed there for a good 3 or 4 minutes while we took pictures. This bear was covered in burrs. unfortunately, that comes with this territory. 
Wild black bears usually run, but this one didn’t. Maybe, being a young bear it was curious. We’ve seen that before, “Curious Young Bear.” We also suspected that it might be a sow and she had a cub that was still below the road. Perhaps, she wasn’t leaving her baby.
Maybe, it was hoping we might stay and pick all those burrs out of it’s fur. After a few minutes of staring at each other, it ambled up the draw in search of a fresh patch of blackberries.
Pen and ink from “Timber”, the cleanup part of the logging operation. The chipper chips the tree tops. Straw mulch to cover the bare soil.
Chipping tops.
Nothing like puppies in the house!
Everyone needs a hug now and then. Tasha and one of her 2-day-old puppies. Too cute.
Keep looking.
The Watchers, Pen and ink.
Mary gave me a new sketchbook for Christmas, so the other day I did a lunch sketch of a sweet, sleeping Bliss.
Me: “Hey Bliss I sketched you while you were snoozing. Take a look.”
Me: “Well, what do you think?”
Bliss: “Sniff, sniff.”
Bliss: “Rarr Rarr Ruff!!!”
Me: “Everyone’s a critic. Maybe next time I’ll let the sleeping dog lie.”
Just a few more of our feathered neighbors at the sawmill.
Great Blue Heron
Mallards
Me and Bliss.
Tree planters from “Timber.” A WIP.
Planting trees in the Gun II Burn in 2001. See more about the Gun II burn in my post “Of Trees and Dogs.”
A freshly planted Douglas-fir seedling.
THE FORESTER ARTIST 