Recent Drawings – Birds, Beetles, and a Doe

I have been busy with work for the last couple months, but here are a few ink drawings from previous months, and a female mule deer I just drew in the last week. I had submitted the Broad-tailed Hummingbird to the Red Cedar Review a while back, and they just published it at the end …

Art Note Cards available

For the last year or so, I have intended to publish a gallery of my artwork that I offer on printed note cards. Recently, I got a request from a previous customer for more cards and they wanted to somehow browse my selection. This motivated me to "go cyber" with selling note cards that have …

Scribbling in Florida

On another short business trip recently, I scribbled up some loose portraits of Sktchy muses. This was for relaxation and although I aimed for a likeness, it was all freehand and didn't worry too much about how they turned out. I am including the reference photos here to show you how far I missed the …

Lacto-Fermentation in the Kitchen

Lactic acid fermentation is "a metabolic process by which glucose or other six-carbon sugars are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid in solution." Or in this context... Lacto-fermentation is a method of food processing. It uses good bacteria, fungi, or yeasts to give food a different aroma, flavor, or …

Scribbling in Virginia

Here are several ink portraits - mostly freehand scribbles - I drew during a recent work trip to Virginia. See gallery below. These are based on Sktchy app muse photos on my iPhone screen. Some drawn waiting for flights, some on the plane, in the hotel room or during dinner. These drawings were started with …

Art Portfolio in Deep Wild

This month, I was honored to have the Deep Wild Journal publish a portfolio of my ink drawings of wildlife. Cover art by Julia Buckwalter "The mission of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry is to publish the best work we can find in celebration of and in defense of places where there are no …

Iphthiminus Beetle

People have been known to quote Charles Darwin saying, "God must have loved beetles, because he made so many of them." That may sound credible, but I did a little research. The actual origin morphed from a statement by the geneticist and evolutionary biologist, John B. S. Haldane (1892-1964), who stated in one of his …

Tribute to a Corvid

I have had a love-hate relationship with a few things in my life. I will not expound on all of them, but the Steller's Jay falls into that category. This bird is very prosperous around our home in the foothills above Lyons, Colorado. It's cousin, the Blue Jay makes occasional appearances, but we are in …

Salmon Artwork

Mid-April dreaming of salmon fishing… Last August, during a fishing trip to Alaska, I drew these two salmon species freehand with ink in my 9” x 12” sketchbook. "Salmon Study 1" (ink on paper) More recently from the comfort of our home in Colorado, I drew the same two salmon species, but much more carefully …

Ravenhead

The online magazine, Magpie Zine, recently published my pen and ink drawing, Ravenhead, as Cover Art. Follow this link to the magazine, and this link to my page of the magazine which has a few of my comments. Here it is as drawn (without the background), ink on paper with a dip pen. This was …

Psalm 52

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?    Why do you boast all day long,    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?You who practice deceit,    your tongue plots destruction;    it is like a sharpened razor.You love evil rather than good,    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.You love every harmful word,    you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to …

Gary Ratliff

Gary Ratliff is a crusty old millwright. His crews have provided labor for my combustion turbine overhauls in Colorado for the last twenty-five years. I have sat at the negotiating table across from this hard-ass more times than I care to remember. But he has always been honest and straight-forward, and if something goes wrong, …

MLK Day – Interesting Juxtaposition

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr January 20: It seems very ironic that a man with white skin and very little content of character is inaugurated as President of the United States …

Hugh O’Flaherty

Hugh O'Flaherty, ink on paper(click to enlarge) Irish Catholic priest Hugh O’Flaherty (1898-1963) risked his life countless times during World War II in clandestine operations to hide Allied soldiers and Jews throughout German-occupied Italy. He is credited for saving the lives of 6500 people from the Nazis. This hero was nicknamed “the Scarlet Pimpernel of …

42-Word Stories

I recently had two 42-word stories (with 42-character titles) published in the 42 STORIES ANTHOLOGY. See this link to learn more. This was a project organized by "BAM Writes" that began in 2018, and after many fits and starts, it finally went to print. See this link to Amazon where you can buy it if …

The Cat Sat

My short essay + ink drawing was just published in a literary magazine called "In Parentheses." This includes a memoir episode from my childhood in 1967. Click the image below and zoom in if you need to enlarge it to read more easily. I am curious if anyone else has had a similar experience. If …

Viktor Frankl

Psychologist and holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, authored several books including the concise “Man’s Search for Meaning,” published in 1959. I read this book many years ago, and although it is a very thoughtful and compelling work, some claim that his personal stories were exaggerated. Have any of my readers read this classic? Viktor Frankl (ink) …

Recent Illustrations

Click image to enlarge and arrow through gallery if you like. Black Bear Fleshy Hawthorn The Cat Sat on the Mat Ravenhead

Flow of Ink

Here are three freehand ink scribble portraits based on #Sktchy reference photos from my phone screen. I am sharing these, not because they are great drawings or even good likenesses, but to illustrate my recent focus on the process rather than the result. Yes, I am enjoying scribbling with ink even more than usual lately. …

Four Freight Trains – 32 Staples

I glance at the orange nurse call button several times. I sense the pain killer they injected was wearing off. I had resolved to avoid the dreaded label of “high-maintenance patient,” but the pain is escalating and I was told to stay on top of it to make it easier to manage. The knee incision …