August 18, 2009
Under the gun. Need to finish the big Looming Billy painting this week and I've got Jeff Hildebrandt coming in tomorrow and Thursday for a taping of new True West Moments to run on the Westerns Channel.

No real consensus on which design is better on the Looming Billy. in addition to the posts on this site, I got this off line from our Art Director:

"I like #2, although there sure is a lot of crotch. I like the cemetery and building from number one. Number 3 has no redeeming qualities."
—Dan Harshberger

Speaking of Dan The Man, he really nailed our Exits Exit DVD cover design. We have been arguing and conceptualizing about what would capture our video in a simple, direct way, yet grab the Kingman market (it's going to be for sale at the hospital and museum, etc.) On our trip to Kingman last week Dan asked me if I had any photos of the Hualapais and I told him that yes I had a couple taken from Coyote Pass in the early 1980s, with the Hualapais blanketed in snow. I scanned them and Abby sent it down to Dan and here is his design, layout and copy:

Video and booklet should be ready to ship in about four weeks. Lots of old Kingman photos and film. We all pooled our resources. Going to be a collector's item (if you collect gee-gaws of decrepit Kingman guys).

Woke up at 1:30 this morning mulling my approach on the Capturing Billy the Kid Country painting. Dreamed about it—I'm trapped in a bad design and making mud.

Got up this morning and executed a couple storm sketches (below) with an idea of using something like this for the background. I really want the ominous sky, but the cover needs to be type friendly as well. That is the key.

I feel kind of trapped, without a clear way out of this. Gee, I wonder what ol' Degas has to say about this?

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things."
—Edgar Degas