Clint Butte Finish

January 2, 2012

Amazing to me that I made it to Arizona's Statehood Centennial year. Actual birthday is February 14. Of course in March of 2008 I had a near miss. Anyway, I'm quite thankful and it's an honor to still be posting stuff right here.

This morning, after feeding Ken's horse Chato, i came back to the studio and finished Clint Butte:

Going to be the opening spread on our tribute to Mr. Eastwood in the March issue.

Is this the year Mickey Free breaks out? Sometimes I can see entire scenes built upon one line:

They met on the trail, but the smell of that big jack made the other horses crazy.

But, of course, one scene, does not a graphic novel make. How to get all of my ideas down on paper and make it track? I consulted with one of the best writer's I know. Here's what he told me:

The Ron Carlson Regimen

1. Bring the story to a boil

2. Find 9 weeks, solid, to work 3 to 6 hours a day.

3. Get the dream up above your head and pay attention (as if you are juggling).

4. Eventually, the angry tension between the macro-story and the mini-stories will break and reveal themselves.

Okay, I'm game. One more time. This hasn't been easy, but I'm heartened by the words of Mr. Pelly.

"There is no such thing as good writing. There's only good rewriting."
—Scott Pelly