September 26, 2006 Bonus Blog
Here's a response to the question about whether cow dung has ever appeared in a Western:

Lifting Tails Redux (Redux:Doo Doo)
"Bob, in RIDE WITH THE DEVIL, there is a scene (I think it is when William Clarke Quantrill's command links up with Black John's raiders), one of the horses does, in fact, lift his tail and drop a generous load of horse hockey.  All in the interest of historical accuracy, I'm sure."
— Gary Roberts

"From what I have gathered, most towns and cities in the Old West paid someone to clean up the horse droppings because not to do so could bring flies, disease, etc. In the movies, it's the Craft Service Man (Person) who has that job. I knew one who would see a horse lifting its tail and race over to put his scoop under the horse's rear end, catching the stuff before it hit the ground.

"Also, in reference to Heaven's Gate: Remembering first that greats like John Ford would shoot a vista shot from the side of a road where the equipment could be parked (The She Wore a Yellow Ribbon trek scenes with troopers, wagon, and storm were shot beside the road that runs through Monument Valley) - Michael Cimino, director of HG, took his crew miles inland from the only road, clearing the way as they went, to have them build a town set that had the very same vista backdrop as seen from the main road where they had started. This is called creativity?"
—Steve Lodge

Here's two studies I did on Sunday of a high desert daybreak scene (poached from an ad for Daybreak Ranch). Each has little virtues: the boulder in the first is less defined, but just as evocative, while the background in the second is less defined but just as sweet. This image is of the high desert area north of Cordes Junction and east of Big Bug Creek:



I also have been working on dust storms and their aftermath. That led to this scene, which is a study for The Top Secret Project:



Just had a meeting with several local merchants regarding our Cave Creek Wild West Days coming in November. We are working on an ad that would represent all of our interests and I did a sketch showing a cavalry guidon galloping out at the viewer with the American flag flying. Faith from Big Bronco blanched at the soldier and said, "Do we have to have a soldier? I don't like war." This led to the following response from our friend up at Cowboy Legacy in Carefree:

"I love war. War pays my mortgage."
—Bill Welch, Cowboy Legacy Gallery