January 29, 2010
As an update, so far, I have never made it to 10,000 steps a day. The closest I came was about 6,500 and man, that was walking almost all the time. I lost my pedometer at the Desert Ridge 3-D showing of Avatar a couple weeks ago. Had my feet up on the stadium seating railing and the pedometer, which hooked to my belt, must have slipped off and fallen behind the seats. I realized it when I got to the door, went back and looked in vain.

Meanwhile, it's good to know that my quest did have a positive effect on someone:

A Retired Lutheran Pastor Steps Up To Good Health
"Bob—I've reading your blog for a couple of years now. Interesting stuff! I am 72, retired and part of a bunch/gang of Lutheran Pastors who would meet for breakfast at the MINE SHAFT.

"Two questions: What do you think of the Cartwright Family style of dress for the Bonanza TV show, and 2, are you still trying to walk 10,000 steps?

"I told my wife about your goal and she went out, bought me a pedometer at REI. Took me four days just to read the directions and get the thing to work. Now, I'm up to 10,000 steps after three weeks. Thank You!

"I recently spent five days Jeeping/hiking in the Cerbats, especially South of the copper pit. I'm still amazed at how much the early miners must have influenced the West."
—Paul Halvorson

Yes, the Cerbats, north of Kingman, are riddled with mines and mining lore. I just got Jim Hinkley's new book in the mail:

And he's got a great section on the Cerbats. Check them out at www.VoyageurPress.com

Meanwhile, I went home for lunch to check on our new cat (long story, he's in the studio). While I was there, I whipped out a couple patina paintings:

I'm experimenting with a new technique. Kathy made me throw away one of my favorite denim shirts because it has a hole in the elbow. I loved that shirt and didn't want to part with it, so I brought it out to the studio to use as a brush cleaner, but then, with a thick load of paint on a sheet of watercolor paper I thought, "I wonder what would happen if I crinkled up my favorite shirt and pushed it down into that paint?" Pretty sweet effects, if I don't say so myself. Here's another one:

And, another one:

That shirt creates really cool fire effects, no? From there I tried to spit out a couple specific effects:

Apache Crown Dancers whoopin' it up. Plus, a strapped cowboy spurrin' it out of a desert firestorm:

I've got to hide my sources better. This was poached from a Hidalgo movie still of Viggo M. riding his paint through a dust storm and although I drew it freehand, and tried to hide it, that is Viggo big as day!

Did You Copy That?
Speaking of cheating by using photographs for art, I finished reading a new book: Norman Rockwell: Behind The Camera, which takes up this very subject and vividly illustrates Norman's tortured relationship with photography. He says, and I quote:

"The Balopticon [a machine that projects photos on canvas to trace the lines] is an evil, inartistic, habit-forming, lazy and vicious machine! It also is a useful, time-saving, practical and helpful one. I use one often—and am thoroughly ashamed of it. I hide it whenever I hear people coming."
—Norman Rockwell

I'll post the three or four photos he took to create one of my favorite Rockwells: "Breaking Home Ties" (1954).

"Let the next generation paint their own damn pictures."
—Norman Rockwell, when criticized for not properly sealing his paintings with protective varnish