Harts Pass No. 389

Spring is nice, but I feel like it IS a bit of a mixed bag. For those of us that love skiing, it's warm and sunny and thrilling in its own way when we can ski just a wee bit longer into the "shoulder season." At the same time however, it is spring after all, and the skiing can just as easily suck eggs. On the other side of the equation - for those winter haters that are desperate for sun and warm - spring is enticingly fickle. It feels warm and alluring... but it can just as equally suck eggs. And thusly, the "discontent." 

From the idea development department, "Now is the winter of our discontent" is the opening line from Shakespeare's Richard III (1592), and it actually translates with a little more context into something like: the time of unhappiness in past.  So I guess, but saying that spring is a season of discontent and dashed expectations, I'm probably using it incorrectly. Alas, so it goes. Interpret as you see fit!

Harts Pass No. 388

The first week of spring -- and the snow is slowly but surely starting to peel back from warmer patches of dirt and the occasional rock or bitter brush poking through. Still below freezing over night, so we'll hold on to a solid morning crust and a remaining 4-6 inches for at least another week or two!

Harts Pass No. 387

A beautiful sunrise here in the north cascades on Tuesday morning. It's still looking a LOT like winter, but time outside is getting warmer and a "shimmer" is starting to shine in that late afternoon sun. Onward and upward!

Harts Pass No. 386

As the comic says, a heartfelt 'thank you' to Congressman Newhouse for his endorsement of the Methow Headwater's Campaign and its tireless work to protect both the local and statewide watersheds. Official approval is now in the hands of the Department of the Interior and the Deparment of Agriculture, but the supportive letter from Newhouse and the ongoing work of many people has this effort headed in a good direction #toospecialtomine #protectthemethow #nomazamamine

Harts Pass No. 385

Click the comic to read the fine print, but amazingly enough the first experiments with photovoltaic energy conversion were taking place in 1839!!! Solar electricity and the wild west. Totally simpatico.

Harts Pass No. 384

Coaching track in north central Washington... we'll be really luck if we see our track by April 1st!

Harts Pass No. 383

A little early on the Harts Pass post this week, but happy winter olympic Valentine's Day!

Harts Pass No. 382

Groundhogs and marmots. Pretty much the same thing. And they probably taste very similar!

Hourly Comic Day 2018

Thursday, February 1st was my novice attempt at the annual Hourly Comic Day. Happy with the way I was headed... but also needed to throw in the towel after lunch :) Next year I'll clear out the schedule to accommodate a little extra drawing, but it was fun while it lasted!

On the drawing table...

In the final throws of two recent illustration projects - two board books for Little Bigfoot (Sasquatch) Books - and I'm excited to share just a peek at some of the art :)

IF I WERE A BEAR, and IF I WERE A BIRD both publish this fall. BEAR is pretty much done and BIRD will be next week. Then off and running on something new!

Harts Pass No. 381

It was super sunny when I drew this. And it was stunning. I promise!

Harts Pass No. 380

The normalization of incompetence and disfunction -- when working with relatively familiar and predictable materials in order to accomplish relatively standard and straight forward objectives. THAT is the nature of our current political leaders and process. It shouldn't be like this, and grown men and women who cannot figure out bipartisan and productive ways to operate should be given no further chances to represent the American people. And if they want to argue that power doesn't corrupt - and that those in power aren't being politically greedy when actually faced with an very evenly divided electorate - then they need to put up or shut up and try to get some productive and healthy moderate legislation accomplished. Stop swinging the needle so far to either the right or the left and try to keep the real American dream in some sort of perspective. As the comic says, "the world is watching, let's try not to screw this up!"

Harts Pass No. 379

Small drawings. Great ideas. This quote is just one small part of Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail. In isolation, this sentiment is FAR less impactful than the whole -- but I was looking to boil down just one small and positive idea for the day.

Harts Pass No. 378

I wrote this comic on Monday and it's all set up to post on Thursday morning. That's a long ways off for accurate weather predictions, but they do have snow in the forecast. Winter thus far has certainly been adequate but more is definitely better :) As of Wednesday afternoon they are predicting 2-4 inches tonight and then another 6-10 on Thursday afternoon. This goes live on Thursday AM. Did the snow dancing help?

Harts Pass No. 377

Too. Many. Things... GRRR!

Harts Pass No. 376

While it's been hard for me to get excited about TOO much in the grand scheme of things this past year... I sill find relish and solace in a lot of little things a little closer to home. A fine line then regarding complacency and action but sometimes a little joy is necessary. Nearly a foot of snow in the last 24 hours is a good thing all around. At least in my book. Happy New Year!

Harts Pass No. 375 -- Happy Holidays!

So my family and I happily went to STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI on Monday afternoon in Wenatchee. As per usual I also had a comic due on Tuesday. So... something about wolverine kids wielding candy canes like light sabers - a marmot that vaguely resembles a porg - and definitely some commentary on this whole malarky about one holiday wish being somehow better than another. I mean give me a break. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Felice Navidad, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Yalda... the list goes on. The idea is that you warmly greet another human being with some potential respect for their own particular cultural heritage and also some greater appreciation that we are NOT all necessarily Christian or required to live by a certain set of religious traditions. And so the Star Wars theme of a determined resistance against imperial forces has also somehow made its way into my Christmas comic for 2017. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Harts Pass No. 374

It's true, I think, that the anticipation of a recipient opening their gift is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. And for the most part with this comic, I just really wanted to figure out a way to use that drawing of the "too big" hat pulled down over Kit's head :) Merry week before Christmas!

Harts Pass No. 373

PS While this comic is not exactly based on real life events, thrifty dad types who rarely visit the doctor's office BEWARE!

PPS And given the way that our country is being run of late, "crystal clear vision, but zero depth perception" might also carry weight as a political subtext...

Bear Witness Comics No. 5

If my Polar Bear Post Card Project was about optimism for something good -- the now more than ever critical plea for President Obama to have protected ANWR from oil exploration -- then the point of these Bear Witness strips is definitely to shed further light on things that are not. 

Sometimes my opinions might be one side of a perfectly healthy debate or a varied take on political opinion, but in certain other cases flat out WRONG things are happening -- and we need to hold voters and (even more so) self-interested politicians accountable. 

I've set up a separate website for these comics, so feel free share this as much as you'd like or to check in at www.bearwitnessscomics.com, but even though I'm primarily a children's book illustrator I also plan to post them here on my illustration site. 

Surely the political bent here is a little beyond the average primary or secondary elementary school student, but my intention here if nothing else is to use my art to express an opinion and to stand up for things that I believe in. Even those of you with differing political options have to appreciate and respect the value of that discourse in our society. 

We can do better. We need to do better. Back room political deals and partisan tax reform packages that affect the ENTIRE country but only benefit the few? I don't care if that the way that things are done. That is not the way to do this. GRRR!