Had a particularly successful weekend painting. For one thing, Kathy is in Spain and I had no magazine obligations and I just hunkered down in the studio with a fire in the pot bellied stove and wailed. First up, a couple happy accidents.
Daily Whipout #117, "Cave Creek Flash Lightning
Yes, that's Black Mountain in the distance and the perspective is from Matt Grace's house via my mind. Ha. And here's another Happy Accident, done with zero reference, just pure noodling:
Daily Whipout #118, "Road to Bartlett"
Also took numerous stabs at the persistent memory of the lone kitchen light I witnessed as a kid outside of Del Norte, Colorado.
Daily Whipout #119, "Lone Kitchen Light #4"
I decided to try a couple with a more aerial view, pulling back. Would the lone light be more lonely that way?
Daily Whipout #120, "Lonely Kitchen Light #5
Not sure that worked, so I tried another one.
Daily Whipout #121, "Lone Kitchen Light #6"
And, here's a slightly different take on it:
Daily Whipout #122, "Colorado Cook Shack"
Got up this morning and jumped on an illustration for the next Classic Gunfight, which is on the Greathouse Ranch standoff that led to the tragic death of Jimmy Carlyle. The 26-year-old blacksmith agreed to be a hostage in negotiations between a White Oaks posse and Billy the Kid's crew who were holed up inside. Once inside, things went south and Carlyle, fearing for his life, jumped through a window and was shot down in the snow, either by the posse outside or Billy and Dirty Dave Rudabaugh.
"Carlyle In The Snow at The Greathouse Ranch"
Speaking of the Kid, I read this in the new issue of Rolling Stone:
Rolling Stone: "You told Alec Baldwin that 'The Ballad of Billy the Kid' is full of factual errors. Is that the case for any other songs?
Billy Joel: "Well, 'Honesty' is total bullshit."
Here are the words to Billy Joel's "The Ballad of Billy the Kid." You decide:
From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande
Well, he started with a bank in Colorado
In the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
And his age and his size
Took the teller by surprise
And the word spread of Billy the Kid
Well, he never traveled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
And he never had a sweetheart
And he never had a home
But the cowboy and the rancher knew his name
Well, he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
And the law just could not seem to track him down
And it served his legend well
For the folks, they'd love to tell
'Bout when Billy the Kid came to town
Well, one cold day a posse captured Billy
And the judge said, "String 'im up for what he did!"
And the cowboys and their kin
Like the sea came pourin' in
To watch the hangin' of Billy the Kid
Well, he never traveled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
And he never had a sweetheart
But he finally found a home
Underneath the boothill grave that bears his name
From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island
Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande
Okay, there are a couple correct items in there, like the Oyster Bay, Long Island verse. That one is dead on. Speaking of close to death, our longtime partner at True West, Dave Daiss is 72 today. Happy Birthday cowboy!
"The great secret of power is never to will to do more than you can accomplish."
—Henrik Ibsen
