Harts Pass no. 749, 750, & 751!

Kind of an inside joke with this one - but for quite a few years now I’ve enjoyed riffing on the “lingo” of the JRH kids in particular. About the time of this classes middle school experience, “Gucci” was a thing that they would say. I suggested that “Gucci fire” would be even better, and I’ve been a strong advocate of that fact ever since :)

And then there is last week’s final anticipation of ALL of the time and opportunity that summer bring… It’s like 9 weeks of time and it will disappear in a heartbeat!

As I sit here this morning, however, 900+ miles away from home, it feels like the summer is getting off to a very productive start :)

Summer on!

A BOOK!

 

School is coming to a close, and LAST summer I was excited to be illustrating a brand new board book in the If I Were... series by Shelley Gill. THIS is the official cover and a few weeks back I also received an official printed copy of the book. I was still illustrating this project through the fall and sharing the progress with my students at school, so it was really fun to show them the final result.

It looks great, you can pre-order it now, and its release date is September 2nd. Stay tuned for more info as the summer wanders, and I'll be sharing some downloadable coloring book pages and a how-to-draw a fox video at some point later in July :)

PS Just a few of the cover development sketches shared below. I always love the sketching and discovering phase - and that includes thinking about color options as compared to the other books when you are working in a series. Thanks for reading!

Harts Pass no. 748

The end is SO close... you can almost reach out and grab it :) The late-May musings of a cartoonist/art teacher. Onward and upward to June 14th!

PS It's really not that bad, actually. While I don't exactly relish the pent up energy and "sense of the end" that is building among the student body... I DO kinda like 'em for all of their goofy earnestness. LOTS of plans for things to do this summer -- and I will relish that time no doubt -- but I'll look forward to the start of classes again in August. 

Harts Pass no. 747

I wrote/drew this comic on the plane ride back from my daughter’s college graduation. It was amazing, inspiring, and exhausting all at once :) On the major plus side - and I will just choose to believe that this can be true wherever you went to school and whomever you went through it with, the best part of it was seeing your kid just a little bit older… but VASTLY more independent and connected to a whole other world of peers and adults - professors, deans, parents of friends - friends. Witnessing those relationships fostered over the last four year in concert with all of the many countless hours spent working and socializing and dreaming and planning and changing dreams and plans — those are the many small things that amount to a whole heck of a lot when it comes to the next steps in life and the progress from here - onward and upward (or maybe sometimes back a step or two to pivot and adjust. Assess. Read the situation. Think on your feet. Apply what you know. Learn what you still need to know. SUPER proud of the kiddo and all that she has done and is doing. GRRR!!!

Harts Pass no. 746

A final call to action on the threats to the Endangered Species Act. As the author of this comic, I truly did spend several hours reading 100+ comments on this proposed change, and NONE of them were in its favor. Our comments will have very little bearing on what this so called administration chooses to do, but you can add the gutting of the ESA to your growing list of how they are “making America so super great again.” It is laughable… but also so deadly serious. No politicians in the position to affect change seems to be pushing back. The courts are the final guard rail and bogging things down with lawsuits and legal challenge seems to be the only option. Not very positive. Not any sort of “progress” but for the time being at least mitigating damage and holding steady is the only kind of “win.” Maybe at some future point in history we can look forward to some more positive and productive change.

Harts Pass no. 745

This IS an excellent time of year. SO much color with all of the new growth and the the flowers and the stark contrast of bright blue skies with snowcapped mountains in the distance… And this year has been particularly AMAZING regarding those flowers! For pretty much everyone you meet, the arrowleaf this year - and now the lupine - are in bloom larger and brighter and longer than almost anyone can remember. Impending summer? With your HOT, dry, wildfire potential? You can DEFINITELY wait!

Harts Pass no. 744

This week's comic was was also posted (along with the thoughts written below) as a comment on proposed definition changes to the Endangered Species Act:

I will say in a nutshell that it is very worth revisiting the origins of the ESA and the even slightly earlier start of said programs and protections under the Nixon administration. The bald eagle, a symbol of our nation and a representative icon of both our truest freedoms and strengths, was at one time suffering greatly from a proliferation of DDT in our pesticides and fertilizers. Egg shell were too thin and mortality rates were high. This vaunted species, native to America, was being killed off and "harmed" in irreparable ways that were not intended nor intentionally targeted. Via this proposed new kind of wordsmithing RE the "best meaning" of the language with respect to "take" vs "harm," such a change would argue that we should have just let that eagle die. This is clearly NOT what happened, and in fact the adjustment to our use of certain chemicals (again not obviously meant to target the eagle) did in fact save that animal and result in its removal from the endangered species list. When the research shows that certain species are suffering and struggling to survive as a result of human impacts... then ignoring such research amounts to an intentional "take." If you don't change what you do in order to mitigate the documented "harm," then intention and a willful ignorance of consequence is equated to "taking" and/or targeting the life and viability of that species. Harming a species home or its food source or its ability to move or adapt to change is tantamount to targeting. The two words are inseparable and the retention of both adds deeper meaning and important nuance to the act.

If you would like to make your own voice(s) heard, comments on the proposed rule must be submitted by Monday, May 19, via (Docket No. FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0034) or by mail to the address listed in the Federal Register notice.

Harts Pass no. 743

"Happy Earth Day!" ...although as Melanie's expression shows, it is hard to see that reflected in any of our current governmental actions. Protecting and conserving a precious resource is NOT about extraction or energy dominance. It is making a mockery of serious things to say that our safety as a nation cannot also be accomplished without developing every last mineral resource in our country. "Harm" as a term being bandied about in a re-imagining of the Endangered Species act most DEFINITELY relates to preserving a life-sustaining habitat and not just whether or not you are actively hunting or trapping or seeking to "take" a species. Think about that this Earth Day. Think about a future beyond your own singular life and time of existence on this planet.

Harts Pass no. 742

Word play :) A not uncommon idea that is fun to use in the comics format. Principled. Principal. As luck would have it, the publication of this comic falls on the very exact day of our own excellent high school principal's birthday. This kind of job always had its challenges, but being a classroom teacher myself, I know first hand that post-pandemic academics, pervasive cell phone use, funding shortages, and ALL of the myriad things have only made it harder. Maintaining your principles under a constant barrage of shifting circumstance and change is no small task. Thanks very much to those who do, and an extra thanks (and appreciation) for getting to work with one of those people.

 

Harts Pass no. 741

An easy ask for the second Wednesday in April, this comic combines a bit of seasonal change, the “April is Poetry month” theme, and the haiku comic format. I don’t often spend quite this much time with the greyscale scenery, but when I do give myself the time and space it’s usually a satisfying challenge. And for some added value here: syncopated - a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm. There seems to be a LOT of that out going on out there…