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Hi Everyone!

Baby Bear is asking for your help voting for his book, Achoo! Why Pollen Counts.  You see, he can't vote himself - but you can!  EVERY vote counts.

Achoo! Why Pollen Counts is a 2015 Foreword Review INDIEFAB Finalist.  You vote for the Readers' Choice by saying, Achoo! is my #INDIEFABFAVE in the comment section here: https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com/books/achoo-why-pollen-counts/ 

You can use you Facebook account, or create a Foreword Review account to leave your comment.  It is very simple - and would mean the absolute World to Baby Bear and all his forest friends!  Please also help spread the word and help me make this go viral.  Voting ends May 20, 2016.

A HEARTFELT THANK YOU from: Baby Bear, Valerie Vole, Momma Bear, Sandy Spiderling, Zoe Zebra Butterfly, Honey Bee, Lili Ladybug, Sammy Snow Owl, and Shennen.

www.achoowhypollencounts.com

Last October, before the Gray Wildlife Park could close, I called and arranged for a Photographer’s Pass.  This, they assured me, would allow me behind the scenes to see the black bears, up close and personal.

I wasn’t exactly prepared for how “up close and personal” it was!

And I was thrilled!

Red sniffing a piece of apple, one of his favorite treats

The Black Bears have an amazing habitat, where viewers stand up high to look down on them as they wander, sleep, or even take a swim. The bears, in fact all the animals at the park, were injured or were raised to be human dependent and can no longer be released back into the wild. Instead, the game wardens care for them, and in return, the animals help to educate the public on wildlife awareness and conservation.

When the apples are gone, he licks the hand of Jade.

By getting the behind the scenes pass, I hoped I’d really be able to see them, hear their footsteps and their snuffling . . . .

. . . or watch them try to open a gate, hoping for one more piece of apple!

Look at the size of that paw!

Jade was a fabulous guide, listening to my reasons for being in the park, letting me ask questions and even helping me brainstorm a scene in Book 4!   Below, she’s trying to get Red to stand up, so I could “feel” the sheer size of him.

Here are Red (Left) and Susie (Right) together. They are both Black Bears, although Red’s fur does have a reddish tint to it. (Hence his name!)

Some might mistake him for a grizzly because of that tint to his fur, but Black Bears have a white muzzle. Which gives him away.

Both bears were “bulked up”, having gained weight for their hibernation. I’m looking forward to seeing them in the Spring when they wake up.  I think a season pass might be in order this summer!

Hello, dear readers! Today I have a mishmash of a post to share with you, so I hope you’ll bear with me. (Ha.)

I have been on a bit of a quest lately to loosen up my technique. If you also struggle with this, know that you are not alone. It takes an enormous amount of practice to get the “quick and effortless” look instead of the “catastrophic disaster” look, so we watercolorists often get very tight and controlled in order to compensate. Of course, there are many different ways to work with watercolor and some artists do the “controlled” thing extremely well, but if you’re looking to loosen up, here are a few techniques I’ve stolen from other artists over the years that I’ve found helpful:

• Using brushes that are much larger than I find comfortable
• Minimizing the number of washes. The entire background of this image was one big, wet wash, not twenty-seven separate washes detailing every single leaf and bush
• Using a lot more water and paint than seems reasonable; enough that I often end up having rivulets of liquid draining off the paper
• Getting to know the paint. Many colors lighten in value or lose saturation when they dry, so it needs to be even darker than you think when you paint it on
• Waiting for a wet-on-wet wash to completely dry before moving on to add details
• Varying textures. I used some dry brush technique in the trees to simulate pine needles
• Painting lots of really bad paintings that will never, ever see the light of day. I plan to burn these so that no one can accidentally find them when I die
• Working as fast as I possibly can
• Occasionally closing my eyes. (Just kidding! Or not…?)

I hope those help someone out there just as they helped me!

In other news, copies of The Story I’ll Tell are here, so I can also do that second giveaway that I promised you several weeks ago.

The post office didn't do the best job ever on this one

Fortunately, the books are unscathed!

Leave a comment below if you’d like a chance to win a signed book! I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday.

Post by Chloe

Nick Bear is a professional artist with a passion for illustration. His style is bold, colourful and often full of character and humour. This has made him popular among game production companies and his illustrations have featured in some of the world’s most popular games such as Plants vs Zombies 2 and Bejeweled Blitz. If you would like to see more of Nick Bear’s graphic illustrations, please visit his portfolio.

A very small and sweet story unfolded as I drew these.

Cute bear character head, 3D sculpting exercise.

More images: metinseven.com

Being an illustrator is great fun.  Why?  Because you can use your imagination to go places you’ve never been and do things you’ve never done. For instance, I have always wanted a log cabin up in the mountains.  As a teen, I used to imagine having a studio up a flight of wooden steps to a big room. It would have rafter ceilings and a window seat for me to look out of.  It would be warm and cozy and I could sit and do my art all day long near a roaring fire in the wood stove.

When I began thinking of places for my character Burl the bear to live in, I made it just like “I” wanted it!  Warm and inviting!  When you walk through the doorway of my story, you will find a home that lives in my imagination. It will be a place that I love and I will revisit it many times as the story progresses. I must be passionate about what I draw or it becomes listless and boring. This process is what makes a story believable.

My experience tells me that children notice the tiniest of details.  I did a school visit after Peepsqueak was published by Harper Collins Publisher.  I read the book to the children and then we talked.  Through out the story there was another story going on in the book. It was a little tiny mouse who appeared on many of the pages.  The children did not miss it. They even commented on the mouse as I read to them.  I let them in on a little secret.  I named the mouse Elliot.  When I told them his name they all squealed with delight and pointed to the cutest little boy in their classroom who was named Elliot!   He was beaming.  Suddenly he became part of the story. He was so happy!

These are the things that make a story magical in the eyes of children and adults alike.  Its also why I continue creating images.  I love seeing characters develop.   I love finding their voices. .. what they are like… what they like to do.  It does not stop when I leave the studio.  I think about them all the time, until I finally know how they would react in any given situation. That way they become very believable creations and loved by all.

Stay posted,  Burl and Briley are growing on my heart daily.  I can hardly wait to illustrate the books that are in my mind!

What is SkADaMo? Check it out here.

VOTER FLOOD