Douglas-fir Cone in pen and ink. I was having a bit of fun with my dot pen!

Douglas-fir Cone in pen and ink. I was having a bit of fun with my dot pen!
I timed my process on this piece.
I was ask once on a webinar how long did it take to do a pen and ink. I wasn’t sure. I rarely take time to complete a piece in one sitting. The process for me is usually broken down into segments done when I have time to draw. This time I wrote down my time as I completed different segments. Here’s how it broke out.
The final time was 6 hours and 15 minutes. It was done over approximately 10 sessions averaging 37 minutes each. I drew during lunch breaks, while waiting a doctor appointments, sitting at road construction and in the evening at home. It was not efficient and I probably could have done it in 4 hours without interuption. I draw when I can.
Douglas Squirrels, (Tamiasciurus douglasii) are small squirrels. They’re smaller than gray squirrels and larger than chipmunks. John Muir described them thus, “He is, without exception, the wildest animal I ever saw,—a fiery, sputtering little bolt of life, luxuriating in quick oxygen and the woods’ best juices.” I think of them as the security alarm of the forest. When one is disturbed it sounds it’s loud chirping alarm and it doesn’t care whether it’s alarming on a person, deer or bear. Once they start, they won’t stop until you leave.
During the last few weeks I’ve had a Siggy and Sailor come to work with me while the weather was cooler. Mostly, it’s been too hot, but we’ve had a few nice days.
This was Saturday afternoon. What started out beautiful turned to spitting snow on us. It was over a hundred degrees just three days before in the valley. I feel like I’m in Montana! 🥶
Later it turned better!
On Sunday we did the same thing.
This fire season in California has been epic in the worst possible way. Not only did we have the state’s largest recorded wildfire, the Ranch Fire, but we’ve had the most destructive fire, the Camp Fire. During any prior year the Carr fire would have been the most destructive fire in California, but this year has been exceptionally bad for wildfires.
I was out checking in on one of our salvage logging contractors on the Carr Fire last week. The timber salvage operations are well under way. Click on the gallery of images to read about it.
Since I wrote this post the rains began in earnest. Our fire season has come to brutal end.
I was out in the Carr Fire burn area today. It’s quite devastating to see the thousands of burned acres of forest. This fire destroyed over 1600 structures, but it also killed millions of trees. We are faced with an epic fire salvage operation that will take years to complete. That will be followed by an equally epic reforestation program
With all the fires burning in California there has been a lot of discussion about logging to reduce forest fuel. Doing so makes our forests more fire resilient. There is fear among many people that logging of any kind will destroy our forest. The truth is the the fires are destroying our forests. This is a short video of such a logging operation from last year on the Lassen National Forest. The Forest Service prepared this project. Our company bought and logged the timber sale. The result is a healthier more resilient forest.
This pen and ink was inspired when I was headed to a logging job near Trinity Lake in Northern California. It appeared in the children’s book Timber In The Working Forest, by Mary A Livingston and illustrated by yours truly.