That’s Paradise Ridge, not Paradise the town, which we know burned a couple of years ago (or was it last year? It’s all a smoky blur).
Trail Guy and I spent a good chunk of a morning talking about what to take, making piles, filling boxes. All the while, we had no intention of evacuating unless the fire gave us no choice.
What are these relics? Is that ash? Are there any treats? Tucker wants to know.
After getting our piles somewhat in order (oh dear, I have way too many sweaters – how am I supposed to decide which ones to leave behind, possibly to never see again??), I went out to the studio to get some work done. Having an emergency doesn’t give me license to create emergencies for my customers.
This drawing might be a little bit too hard for me. Many details are hidden in shadow, and there is a horse. (At least his tongue is inside his mouth). It is good to tackle the hardest part first.
There might be a problem with his feet, so I moved onto the things that I can do with one hand tied behind my back and half my brain occupied with wildfires (and sweaters).
Working from the laptop screen definitely has its advantages. I can embiggen the photos and even lighten the shadows to understand what the various black blobs are.I drew most of the afternoon while listening to helicopters overhead, a welcome sound after they were silent throughout the smoky and worrisome morning.
And this is how it looked at the end of the day.
This is a commissioned pencil drawing of a cabin in Montana for a repeat customer who is a joy to work with and for.
In case you were wondering about the reference to the horse’s tongue, here you go.