Impression Evergreen

Value and color studies for the romance novel cover An aspiring writer asked me if I would be interested in illustrating a book cover. He said he had just finished writing a novel and was working on getting it published. My first thought was I don't have time . I'm a production artist for a printing company by day but my nights are reserved for more fine artistic pursuits. I guess you could call me a "Sunday Painter". Time is precious but I was curious. I asked him what the book was about. He enthusiastically exclaimed, "It's a Romance Novel!" There was a division between the two sides of my brain and they were battling it out. The logical, left side said, "You can't do it! It's too difficult! Don't leave your comfort zone!" The cool, right side responded, "Chill, bro. We got this. Dude, try something exciting and new. It'll be fun." After the dust cleared, I guess surfer guy won because I accepted the commis

Fall color on Rabbit Ears Pass I've been helping out with my 11 year old son's soccer team for six years now and it's been a lot of fun. Soccer is a great sport because it's a player's game. Once the whistle blows the action is non-stop with little or no interference from the coaches. The players are free to make their own decisions concerning positioning and ball movement. As the boys have grown older, my duties have evolved from tying shoes and wiping noses to shagging balls and picking up cones. Sometimes at practice, if the numbers aren't right, I have to jump into a drill and if I'm lucky I might even get to play in a scrimmage. I think the boys accept me like a teammate, I know I've grown very attached to them. We recently traveled up over Rabbit Ears Pass and down into Steamboat for a league game. It was a tough first half as our team constructed some good buildups and took great shots, they just couldn't finish. There were near misses,

Full Moon over Epcot It was a normal day, up early, off to work, pickup kids from school, soccer practice and supper. But that night was different, my wife announced those five famous words "We're going to Disney World." Wait...what? I know what you're thinking, so was I. How cliche, a family of four on the obligatory pilgrimage to the Mecca of amusement parks. What about snorkeling with penguins in Antarctica or that photography workshop in the Galapagos or studying the Old Masters at the grande museums in Europe? Not Disney World, the symbol for everything that goes against what I believe in. As a humble artist living in the Colorado mountains, I cherish simplicity, peace, morality and spiritualism. Disney World is about complication, confrontation, decadence and materialism. I'm a sensitive soul searching for answers to life's great mysteries, not a seasoned tourist on a frenzied quest for fun. Try and explain that to my two boys who were dancing hys

The Awesome Walrus Guest post by Theo Miller It was the frosty winter of 2006 and snow was falling from the Northeast. A sudden flash of light came from behind me, then everything went black. When I awoke, I thought I was back home, but there was no wind, frost or even snow on the ground. When I turned around, I realized what happened to the snow... There was a 25 foot tall, glass window and people were watching me. There were little kids, old kids, smelly kids and teenagers taunting me. The parents were on their phones not aware that kids were dangling themselves over the wall, almost falling into my habitat. It looked like I was going to have the same day for the rest of my life. One day a child got pushed into my enclosure. I brought him to the glass wall and showed his mom. I climbed a rock and gave him to his mother. That was the right thing to do until I realized I was out of my pen. Now the chase was on! The Zoo Crew chased me to the San Diego beach. I used my swimm