Here’s the inked art for #Inktober today!

Here’s part of the Swampy’s Florida post:
Swampy says Happy World Octopus Day!
More about the legend of the St Augustine Monster:  http://swampysflorida.com/?p=11318

This is the finished color art for an upcoming Swampy’s Florida product. There’s a bit more to this, but I’m leaving that for the Swampy’s Florida page. Look for it there.

This is just a small sample of a twenty foot wide mural I’m starting on. This part is of a stream with a cypress tree. In the stream is a bear and bunny making there way along. The mural also includes a Cracker-style home, a Florida panther cooking and, of course, an alligator – playing a banjo. I’ll add updates as I go along.

Drew for a number of hours for my friend Lisa Saupp’s family event along Lake Weir in Ocklawaha, Florida. An unusual event for me to do these days since I pretty much don’t draw at events with young people. I made an exception in that Lisa is a great friend and a HUGE help recently for my Swampy’s Florida and helping me do more in protecting Florida’s natural areas and saving taxpayer money.

(Gonna try to get back to more regular postings of art, if I can not have weeks like the past one! 🙂 )

On the #drawing board today: Signed and drew in lots and lots of Swampy’s Florida books today at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park for “Speak Up Homosassa Springs”. Here are a couple photos from teh event.

The young fellow was funny. I asked him about what he likes and found him very articulate. So as he spoke of how he would like to wash things, I asked what he would like to wash. A car. How will you be sure the cars get washed? Will you be a manager? Yes. And on it went. He’s a thinking youngster and hope he stays that way!

A brief hour and a half stop at a local coffee spot found me getting the above artwork done plus more. Rough sketches of baby gators, a sketch for a mural and a cartoon illustration for Swampy’s Florida. I also penciled and inked three editorial cartoons.

Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

‘Last Seen Wearing’ by Colin Dexter is a very good book of Inspector Morse that unravels the efforts it can actually take to get to the conclusion of a mystery. For that matter, the trouble to get to answers in life. False and hopeful conclusions. Deadends. Confusion. One of the most realistic in plotting of a fictional mystery I’ve read.

This book is not for those looking for a straightforward mystery with w twist or two. It will greatly frustrate those. It could be said Dexter went too far with the many bad leads to then present it to the readers out there. With that thought, I trimmed the star level. A writer should have that more in consideration when constructing a tale.

The real fun here is following Morse as he tries to figure it all out. Dexter does a tremendous job of building the character.

A note about other comments about the book I read on Goodreads and the televised version: The original book is from the 1970s without the typical censorship you find in today’s books about how people really are and think. The real contrast to time periods comes in the teleplay of the tv episode in which characters are spun into stereotypes of mean, powerful developers, sexual confusion and the like. The sensationalism of the episode is disturbing. I guess Dexter accepted it all.

Bottom line: I recommend the book – not the televised version.

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Camped out in a coffee spot this evening and knocked out all this in two and a half hours. Have to wonder why I don’t do this more often. Since January when I blacklisted the coffee spot I had been going to, I’ve rarely stopped anywhere to chug-a-lug artwork out. Pressing needs are likely to get me back to coffee spots, or something like it. Sure to post more of the above and upcoming soon. Check out Swampy’s Florida each day in the next few weeks to see color versions of the bulk of the art above.

The Neon Flamingo by W.R. Philbrick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The biggest plus to this book by Philbrick is his ability to capture the feel and look of the Keys with words. This is the second of the Stash series I’ve read and I’d say he captured the location better than other books set in the area, including James Hall’s Thorn series.

Otherwise the story is pretty straightforward with a mystery lingering of the main character, Stash, in search of a kid. Lots of layabouts in the story. Everyone was portrayed as having no ambition to do much of anything. Even a couple rich central characters were stripped of any future. It all gets a bit depressing and the story stumbles from layabout to layabout. Soon, it’s hard to care about what happened to the kid as even the Stash character seems to lose interest.

Again it’s the narrative of the location that is the highlight. Philbrick accurately describes natural areas, fishing docks, boats, seedy areas of the Keys, etc.

The story is of little energy, but the setting is great. Therefore…

Bottom line: i recommend the book.

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I was part of the symposium about our Florida springs Tuesday night, named ‘Sacred Springs’. I was setup in the front of the auditorium and illustrated each speaker as they did their presentations to the audience. There were nine speakers this time and I couldn’t finish them all at the event. In the next couple weeks I’ll share some of the watercolor paintings I worked on. I didn’t get to finish as many as in other symposiums due to the limited time and the amount of speakers. I’ll be going back to finish the paintings.

‘Sacred Springs’ was a gathering of experts of our Florida springs. Speakers included Johm Moran, Dr. Robert Knight, of the Springs Institute; Guy Warwick, the Felburn Foundation; Jim Stevenson, Wakulla Springs Alliance; Doug Ray, Ocala Star-Banner & Gainesville Sun; Ryan Smart, Florida Conservation Coalition; Karen Ahlers, Florida Defenders of the Environment and Whitey Markle, Suwanee-St. Johns Sierra Club & Florida troubadour.

A surprise audience member was former Governor Buddy MacKay.