Here’s the color version of the artwork shown earlier this week. I just finished coloring this after a very long day today.

I was out for the opening of a new bridge for hiking over the Withlacoochee River here in Florida. The path to the bridge was supposed to be a hiking trail, but ended up being a roadway for emergency vehicles and bicyclists. I have photos and wrote about it here.

Haven’t done this in a while. The Illustration Friday word is ‘Wilderness’. I did two. The first I drew was the raccoon below romping through a Florida forest.

Then I decided to sketch a scene from the Second Seminole War from about 1839. Here a few of Jesup’s men in the thick oak forest spy a few Seminoles as the indians make their way along the Withlacoochee River.

I sketched both at the meeting mentioned on the 18th. Later I realized the Seminole scene would have more than likely been reversed with the Seminoles spying on the Army soldiers making their way out in the open across the river. The soldiers would also more than likely have been crossing the river without a boat or canoe.