Was on a walk with my friend Jill this afternoon, when we noticed about six Steller's jays hollering at something in a cluster of spruce and alder. After craning around a bit, we spotted a small, round-eared animal, the first wild marten I've ever seen. On the way home, I tried to hold the spring-steel body, rounded ears, downy fur in mind until I could get to my sketchbook. This page of memory sketches is the result.
10/09/2011
09/05/2011
Latest Project: Whales!
I've been working on text and illustrations for a new children's picture book about humpback whales--and not doing much nature drawing--so I thought I'd post an image from the book. My illustration pace has been glacially slow, but I'm hoping the book will be printed by the end of the year... or at the very least by next spring, in time for the whales' return to our Southeast Alaskan waters...
07/26/2011
Island Naturalists, Part 2
...And here's the second page of sketches commemorating the July naturalist kayak jaunt. This time: the view from sea level.
07/24/2011
Island Naturalists
Spent a blissful three days puttering around Benjamin and North Islands with two naturalist friends. Kayaking and exploring conditions couldn't have been better: warm, sunny days with glassy water, cooler breezy evenings, lovely sunsets, few biting insects. Most importantly, we were surrounded by a paradise of nature puzzles and treasures to discover. Here's a first page of sketches; I'm planning a second page of memory sketches and notes and plan to post it soon.
UPDATE: looks like our mystery orchid is Malaxis (Hammerbya) paludosa, bog adder's-mouth orchid.
07/13/2011
View from the Mountain
Went up Mount Roberts today--the view is gorgeous though a little surreal: because I went up on the tram I didn't have that feeling of pain-earned and endorphin-fueled accomplishment one usually gets from climbing 1000 feet up that steep trail.
I had sketchbook and a variety of supplies; I wanted to do a very fast watercolor sketch (10 min) of the view down Gastineau Channel. Decided to play with the metallic watercolors, which I hadn't done in a while. I like the earthiness of them.
When it came time to add the human elements in the lower left (bridge, harbor, town), I totally lost interest...Ah well.
