December 11, 2008
Working on a big oil painting for the new Billy the Kid Museum in Ruidoso, which is nice because it dovetails directly with my efforts on El Kid. Here is a study for Pat Garrett:



He was a buffalo hunter before he came to the Fort Sumner area, so I think it's very probable he had a big, ol' buffalo coat. The hat is based on the photo of Garrett taken in Roswell several years after killing the Kid.

Also working on a rendering of Blackjack Ketchum riding along with his big ol' tapaderos. I have excellent reference of this from Richard Ignarski. This is for next issue's Classic Gunfight.

When I flew to Georgia last week (hard to believe I've been back for a week already) I picked up a USA Today and noticed an article on a best selling book based on Six Word Memoirs (Not Quite What I Was Planning, Harper, $16.95). How do you sum up your life in six words? Here are a couple good ones from the book:

"Well, I thought it was funny."
—Stephen Colbert

"Liars, hysterectomy didn't improve sex life!"
—Joan Rivers

"On the playground, alone. 1970, today."
—Charles Warren

"Never really finished anything, except cake."
—Carletta Perkins

So, since I was on a long flight, I noodled a few for myself:

"Small town boy goes home, eventually."

"Sipped from many cups, drank none."

"Hat Nazi belittled many fine hats."

"Son of alcoholic breaks with tradition."

And one for Kathy:

"Attention deficit disorder drains spouse's patience."

"If you leave yourself open to your thoughts and feelings, you can trust them. They have a story to tell. They are the truest biography of who you are."
—Richard Avedon