I’m not as much of a gardener as I’d like to be, but I have a few pots of Pacific bleeding heart that I like to see bloom every year. Still, someday I’d like to have a house with a garden, and maybe fill the yard with some native wildflowers as well. In the meantime there are always seed catalogs to daydream over, and native plant sales to wander for inspiration.

Species portrayed: chocolate lily (Fritillaria camschatcensis), Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum), pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa), Cascades blueberry (vaccinium deliciosum), western blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), deer fern (Struthiopteris spicant)

You should mark this date on your calendar, because this is officially the first piece of fanart I’ve ever drawn, Lord of the Rings or otherwise. No, really. While I’ve appreciated other artists’ works, I think I’ve always felt a little intimidated by the concept of going outside of my comfort zone (natural history.) But I was re-watching the movies recently, and thinking about the enormity of climate change and other ecological disasters, and this ended up being the result. 

For those who aren’t big LotR nerds, the Earth-on-fire in the center of the Eye of Sauron should be a pretty obvious in its symbolism. And yeah, we’re looking out over the plains of Mordor, though of course the quote comes from much earlier in the storyline, before anyone can actually see it. So the background looks pretty terrifying and overwhelming. But look at the foreground, where Frodo and Gandalf sit. The log is inscribed with “estel”, the Quenya (high elvish) for “hope”, and against it leans Anduril, the sword of Aragorn that was forged from the shards of Narsil, which itself was the sword that cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. And then to the right, the gentle but persistent light of Eärendil’s star, which was given to Frodo by Galadriel and which gave him light at a time of great darkness. 

The quote is from early in the journey to return the One Ring to the Crack of Doom–its place of origin–to be destroyed. I think of these words quite often when I am feeling discouraged about the ecological state of the planet, both as a whole system and as individual places and habitats. In all the billions of years of life here, I happened to be born into this moment as a human being, on the precipice of great destruction. Yet I maintain hope, because with hope comes creativity and the strength to continue; it is all too tempting to fall prey to nihilism and despair. My hope is not untempered by realism, of course, but it is the guiding light that keeps me going, that if there is any chance to improve things even in the smallest way, then I am driven to do whatever I can to make that happen. 

May you find hope and strength as well.

I do some volunteering in my area with the Junior Duck Stamp program. I thought since it’s the perfect time to get kids involved in it that I’d make a comic to spread the word! I wish I’d known about it when I was a kid, because this would have been right up my alley. Still, it’s fun getting to be a part of the effort now. If you don’t want to type out that entire link, you can just navigate to it by clicking http://www.fws.gov/birds/education/junior-duck-stamp-conservation-program.php

I’m still getting the hang of the settings on my new scanner, so bear with me as the image quality may shift and change over the next few weeks. At least the colors are better!

Species portrayed: Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), northern shoveler duck (Spatula clypeata), plains bison (Bison bison bison), northern pintail duck (Anas acuta), harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus), green winged teal (Anas carolinensis), trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator), nene (Branta sandvicensis), surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), Canada goose (Branta canadensis), tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus), brant goose (Branta bernicla), fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)

It’s time for another nature-themed word find! If you’re in need of a break, why not take a few minutes to figure this puzzle out? Also I know “tectonic plates” is two words, but due to space I wanted to make very sure that people knew they were looking for the entire term, not the two words in separate places. 

I’ve been busy getting to know my Epson scanner, with rather a learning curve involved. I just realized I can take away the bluish tinge by adjusting the white balance, but I decided a bit of blue was appropriate. If you’re a teacher or other such person who wants to print a few of these out for students and you want a nice, white version, contact me at dkcissel(at)wyntkan(dot)com.

It’s getting to be the cozy time of year, where all I want is to be wrapped up in nice warm blankets on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book. Unfortunately the need to make an income doesn’t allow me to do that 24/7, unlike my friends the bears who are going to snooze the whole winter through. Of course, where I am on the Washington coast the winters are so mild that the black bears often get up in the middle of winter for a quick snack, so no one’s trash is safe!

Anyway, I wish you all a good winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and may all in the Southern half of the world be well as things heat up for the next few months.

Incidentally, I finally got my new-to-me Epson scanner hooked up. This is the first comic that I scanned in with it–the colors quality and detail are so much better! And no more weird gray line in the margins! This is gonna be a game-changer for sure.

Species portrayed: Brown bear (Ursus arctos)

For a lot of people, a bunch of trees in a place counts as a “forest”. Yet those of us who have a more ecological eye can take a look at those trees and figure out whether they’re an established forest, or whether they’re in a younger stage of succession, just by looking at the age of the trees and the various species of living being represented. Other ecosystems may be a bit more challenging to assess, but they have their own chains of succession as well. And as I explained in my comic on old growth forests, not all species can live in a younger, recovering ecosystem. So consider this comic a very basic introduction to the idea that there’s more to a given habitat than what immediately meets the eye!

Also, I had a lot of fun drawing new ecosystems I’ve never tried before! I’m especially proud of my portrait of Loowit (Mt. St. Helens.) 

Species portrayed: Plains zebra (Equus quagga), yellow-billed oxpecker (Buphagus africanus), acacia tree (Acacia sp.) big bluestem grass (Andropogon gerardii), common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata), wild lupine (Lupinus perennis), arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa), mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli), noble fir (Abies procera), beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), mesquite (Prosopis sp.), paloverde (Parkinsonia sp.), paintbrush (Castilleja sp.), northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides), northern red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), green brittle star (Ophiarachna incrassata), assorted corals

One of my goals with this comic is to get people outside more. What that looks like, though, varies from person to person. Not everyone is able to get up and do a new trail every week, or try something new to them like horseback riding or kayaking. The 52 Nature Awareness Challenge was created by Disabled Hikers, a resource site for people with disabilities, chronic illnesses and other conditions that can limit mobility. You can find out more about the challenge here. I also think the rest of the site has a lot of good resources, and not just for disabled people. I found it eye-opening and it showed me how many ways I often make the assumption that others can go to the same places and see the same things I do. I am not disabled, but I have friends who are, and I’m happy to see there’s a resource to help them enjoy the great outdoors as well as educate everyone about accessibility and nature.

Species portrayed: frigid bumblebee (Bombus frigidus), domesticated aster (Asteraceae sp.)

I know I’ve been pretty plant-heavy in my comics lately. They’re just such a wonderful and fascinating kingdom of beings! I love how some trees just don’t seem to bother so much with boundaries and will happily grow together. That may give us mammals the heebie-jeebies to think about, but it’s one of the things that I think makes plants really cool. 

Species portrayed: sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)