Been going back and forth with these birds. Finally put some ink on them during a Silver Springs Advisory Committee meeting this morning in Ocala. There happened to be am Audubon Society leader there who i got to consult with about the birds. She approved. I’ll stop going back and forth with them. This inked version stays.

Was at Ocali Days today helping man the Marion County Museum of History booth. The event continues through Sunday at Silver Springs State Park.

After the event I hit the swamp hiking trail in the park and made my way to the connecting Silver River. I made a video, which I will feature separately. As I finished the video Scott Mitchell, Silver River Museum Director, was coming up with a group to take a boat ride on the Silver River to the head springs of the river.

After teh boat ride we all jumped in a trailer to be taken back to the main park. It was late, we traveled slow and discovered deer along the way. i decided to put ink pen to paper and whipped out these nearly contour drawings of various deer we saw. Drawing while the vehicle and the deer were in motion was a challenge!!!

This is part of  larger Happy Birthday card for an old friend. Penciled and inked it while at the annual Ocali Country Days today while tending our Marion County Museum of History and Archaeological booth at Silver Springs State Park.

Here’s #4 of my #DailyInks challenge. I inked this drawing of a fellow on a Segway for a large map project i’m working on. Actually, the drawing of the fellow is based on the person who brought me into the job and rides a Segway himself, Lari Thaw.

As I inked it I realized that the drawing was revealing the influence of a favorite cartoonist of mine, Roy Doty. Way back in elementary school i started noticing his work in advertisements and book cover. Roy illustrated the covers of the books by Jack Douglas, one of my favorite humorists.

Since becoming a member of the National Cartoonists Society I’ve got to meet and to know Roy Doty, who is now 91. I’ve heard many a story. My favorites being when he was often a guest of Ernie Kovacs on his variety program and doing cartoon improv, something i love to do and basically what i do when drawing caricatures.

This is a page I inked today as a coloring page give away at the big Ocali Days event starting Wednesday. It was a last minute project, that took a half dozen layouts or so to work out. Inking was the easy part. This is the finished piece already at the printer.

The focus is the city of Dunnellon in western Marion County, Florida, that I’m working on a coloring book for.

This is for an involved cartoon map I’m working on. It’ll get digitally colored along the way.

A Facebook post by fellow cartoonist john Sanford has convinced me to try and continue with something I missed in October – Inktober. Everyday of the month post an inked piece of art. I was on the road so much it was impossible to start. Since this new version of #DailyInks basically started yesterday – by one person, no less – I thought I could jump in and see how far I can take it….hopefully past Thursday!

The first is one of a series of cartoon kitties I drew for a friend who is out to help save homeless kitties.

Most will likely be part of a project I’m already working on. Many may be caricatures. Not sure if I will always post an explanation of the art involved, but will when I can.

Did a series of courtroom illustrations for my friend Sally Baptiste today. I’ll now take the art and further work on the illustrations. Sally now has art of the courtroom scene of her winning her case today.

Here’s the newest Swampy’s Florida print- ‘Sea Turtle Christmas Surprise’.

Here are the pencils and preparatory art for the watercolor I’m about to add to this artwork. It is a photograph and not a scan of the work. Didn’t have a scanner with me.

This is for a set of Christmas cards and prints available soon. The setting is Key Biscayne, Florida. That’s the Biscayne lighthouse in the background. The size is 11″ x 14″.

I’ll post the finished watercolor version soon.

I attended a Silver Springs park update on Wednesday and learned more about the merging of the iconic Florida attraction, Silver Springs, into the state park system. The grand reopening will be October 1st and the park’s whole name will be Silver River State Park. The cost to get into the two merged sites: $8. Wild Waters will still be a separate area from the overall park. Drainage is changing significantly and that might be most noticeable in the massive changes in the parking lot. By the way, parking returns to the early days of Silver Springs by being free.