When I started painting these Seussian beasts, ages ago (oh geez, 1987?), they were always accompanied by dogs.  I’m not sure why I left off the dogs for a while, but they are back.  Because dogs are the coolest.  And I wouldn’t really be interested in a land with purple skies and crazy, long-necked beasts without dogs.  I do know one dog-averse person (I don’t really understand it), so at least one person wouldn’t be interested in the dogs.  And I’m sure cat people might like some cats to appear.  I think perhaps there will be some cats.  But these things take time.

I like the bright skies partially covered in bright clouds.  This is not a difficult digital-coloring trick.  You have to start somewhere, however.

Sneeble tried to start a conversation with the strange dog. He said he was friends with Cyrus, a dog who liked to roll in the dirt beside the river. Did he know Cyrus?  The strange dog said, no, he did not know Cyrus, why would he know Cyrus? And anyway, did Sneeble happen to have any snacks?

Sneeble said he figured dogs knew other dogs.  He offered berries from the stripey grasses, but the strange dog turned up his nose.  Sneeble looked past the strange dog into the distance, in the hopes that a better conversationalist would appear.

Cyrus was not paying attention and almost walked right into the painted beast.  Pardon me, he said.  I am Cyrus.  The painted beast replied with two snorts, a sort of whinny and a shake of her hair.  This was a language Cyrus had never really mastered.  He was pretty sure the painted beast was not going to eat him.  Or spit on him.  Or something else distasteful.

He waited a few moments to see if anything else would happen.

Jolly and Kitten Nap in the Great Blue Cloud

Originally, they had set out on a Grand Adventure.  Their intended destination?  A crystal clear lake in the middle of an expired volcano.  But they did not get very far before Jolly said, how about a nap?  And Kitten said, yes, I think so!  So they took a slight detour to the outskirts of the Great Blue Cloud, and there they napped.

Mr. and Mr. Difficult in Purple Cloud

Jeeves and Farley have made many appearances in relatively few days on this site.  It’s that or listen to them complain.  They are world-class complainers.  I mean that in the nicest way, of course.

I can’t decide whether this whole adding-color-digitally thing is cheating.   In my defense I did not go straight to digital.  I fooled around with color in acrylics over the years.  Beasts and such, mainly.

Jillian is a thoughtful tyke and her sitter a terrific teller of tales, from memory. I believe this pic shows Jillian stealing a nap just after chapters one through six of “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster. Outstanding book. Seriously.

Fed Mr. & Mr. Difficult mushroom omelets while I fiddled with the color. It made me hungry.

Not sure about this one. Poor Jeeves appears to have 1. a sunburnt face, or 2. a chemically burnt face. Too dark and too red is my conclusion.

FYI:  Lest I be accused of animal abuse, Jeeves has neither a sunburn nor a chemical burn. He is in perfect health – although he ate way too many Katjes Saure Johannis-beeren before lunch.