June 29, 2009
As promised, here is a sampling of the patina based washes I worked on this weekend, starting with a steep trail in the Sierra Madres (literally "mother mountains"). Need to add a single file of riders, probably Rurales, or bandidos (led by one Doroteo Villa):

This is a set piece for the General Crook foray into Mexico: a thousand men and hundreds of pack mules climbing up the narrow trails:

It needs a bunch of mules, climbing the switchbacks and troopers prodding them on. Here's a nice start of a painting I call "Three Ominous Clouds."

So, why so ominous? Well, if we add a dust storm and a mule rider, pondering that very idea. . .

Or, these clouds, or, flying fish clouds, if you prefer:

Or, this nice start of post-fire sky:

Or, this steep ridge, that the Kid is going to traverse:

There's plenty more, but enough for one day.

Just got a message from "Allen" saying the Wall Street Journal published my letter praising Allen Barra's John Dillinger piece (see link from two days ago). Although he didn't leave a last name (he talked to Lynda and I was in a meeting) I assume it's either Allen Barra or Allen Fossenkemper.

8-Page-Mickey
Robert Ray printed out a handful of mini-Mickey-graphic-novels. Send me a self-addressed-stamped-envelope (bigger than a number 10) and if you're one of the first dozen, you'll get one of these nifty, little boogers, totally free.

Here's a taste (page 4 and 5):

"It is a lesson which all history teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, and not in circumstances."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson