Sunrise and sunset in Death Valley from a recent road trip.

Eastern Sierras above the Buttermilks. Day Two from a recent road trip.

The scenery around Bishop is so amazing you can literally just step outside of your car and paint. So that’s what I did. My son seemed more excited by the climbing opportunities just behind us.

Eastern Sierras above Convict Lake. From a recent road trip. 

My precarious perch – an uprooted tree. I’m guessing the wind knocked it down, since it nearly did the same to me. Also, I never measure with my brush (or stick my tongue out whilst doing so), but I thought for the sake of posterity, or a make-believe biography, this is the ideal hero shot. 

Miriam Makeba’s life journey was an amazing and inspiring tale. Though previously unfamiliar with her and her life’s work, I quickly learned in my research about her brilliant musical career, her fight against apartheid and segregation, even living a life in exile from her homeland before her triumphant return to South Africa. Throughout it all she remained upbeat and resilient.

Perhaps a much less thrilling journey, and on a much smaller scale as far any humanitarian fronts are concerned, was the process of making this illustration. That said, it did go through a bit of iteration so I thought you’d enjoy taking a look along with some behind-the-scenes caption commentary. 

Thanks for looking and happy birthday, Mama Africa!

A detail of my Gorey drawings for his Google Doodle today, flaws’n’all… Lookit that big ol’ ink smear!