A pretty simple Illo for Publisher’s Weekly. A writer (Pete Croatto) working at a bookstore tells how he found peace in the simple job of selling books:
“I’ve been snapped at, lectured to and dismissed, all of which could happen in an hour”.
Even after being threatened with violence, and talked down to, he found helping readers rewarding.
I am doing more opaque color on my digital paintings now. I used to give color a much more watercolor type treatment, but I am feeling nostalgic for the satisfying opacity of oils. Time to go back into the lab with my neglected copy of Painter and see what develops.
You can see more of my work for Publisher’s Weekly here.

The baiji, a freshwater dolphin known as the “goddess of the Yangtze” is extinct, scientists said this week. The latest search of the river produced no sightings of the species, which lived in the Yangtze for 20 million years. The demise is blamed on overfishing, and the construction of the Three Rivers Dam, the largest hydroelectric river dam in the world, and 5 times the size of the Hoover.

Seafaring geezer seen aboard the S.S. John W. Brown in Boston. There was also a dogfight.

This was taken while flying at about 5000 feet over Denver Glacier in Skagway, Alaska, on the way to a dog sled camp. I’m not a huge fan of planes. And, unfortunately, while we were winding down our time in Alaska we heard about a number of local disasters. But, flying in a helicopter is like riding in an elevator. Definitely, the best experience of my whole trip.

We had 10 straight days of perfect weather. Which is why we had a viewing distance from this helicopter of approximately 100 miles. Unheard of in Alaska, where the locals in Ketchikan measure their annual rainfall in feet (13 on average!) instead of inches.

This is an illustration for the Riverfront Times in St. Louis which highlights three upcoming events: a viewing of Troll 2 (rated worst movie ever by IMDB), a charity foodball game and a sumo and sake event. Click image for a larger version.

Two watercolor sketches done recently. The first is from Watch Hill and the second from Pimlico Pond in Sandwich, MA. Click on either image for larger versions of each.

I spent last week up in Bluff Point, NY on Keuka Lake in the magnificent Finger Lakes region. I am always amazed at the amount of amazing geography in New York State. The Finger Lakes region is a particularly stunning area, with it’s incredible gorges, and steep bluffs nestled between the majestic lakes.
This is a small gouache sketch I did looking east across the vineyards on John Hall Road, just off Skyline Drive.
Click on the above image for a larger version.