The Mexicali Stud

March 18, 2011

Went out to the first day of Festival of the West yesterday and met some great people. Always fun to see the fanatic and the faithful. Ran into Jeff Hildebrandt of the Westerns Channel. Here's an inside peek at the Starz-Encore empire. I believe they have some 17 cable channels and the Westerns Channel pulls 31 million views, which is about three million more than their other, more heavily promoted channels. I run into people almost every day who tell me they watch the Westerns Channel more than any other station (and their wives usually roll their eyes as they say this, verifying their dedicated infatuation).

Got up this morning and grabbed a study out of my Failure Pile, adding a vaquero rider on a stallion strutting across the tundra:

This is going to be a sequence for a new Graphic Cinema story to be called "The Mexicali Stud."

Failure Pile Examples
When I say I grabbed a study out of the Failure Pile, I'm referring to scenes like this, which I did last night when I got home from work:

What I try to do, is stay loose, push wet brushes around, adding complimentary colors and not try to make it into something. This is very relaxing and I very much enjoy the exercise. The goal: no expectation of any kind.

Here's an example of a Failure Pile piece that is in the second phase of development:

This started as a blob of shapes, similar to the first piece. In the second phase of my attack, i started to see the clouds and land mass and bent the paint in that direction. The dust in the right, center area was an afterthought, created by swabbing a water soaked brush into that area and rubbing it with a paper towel (one swipe, not two). Very dynamic, but now I am stuck at phase two: what will I put in that space? Two riders? A column of troopers? Apaches with stolen horses? A dune buggy? Sarah Palin chasing a liberal on foot in Mexico?

It may be a couple years before I get the inspiration or courage to take this to the finish line.

I'm on my way to Palm Springs next Thursday for the big West Fest & Rodeo. Going to be speaking on Thursday and Friday at the event. More details as we get closer.

As you know, I often go home for lunch and whip out one of these studies. A friend of mine on Facebook posted this today:

"Went home for lunch, ate a green burrito, then had a nap. where did i go wrong?"
—Mike Hutchinson