April 11, 2014
I'm at the Arizona History Conference in Prescott this weekend. Yesterday, on the way up, I stopped at Bronzesmith in Prescott Valley to see the progress on my next sculpture. The very talented Deb Gessner is working off a sketch of mine. Perhaps you recognize the subject matter.
Deb Gessner tweaks the Kid's Bowie knife.
I had a couple suggestions on equipment, chaps, boots, shirt, sleeves, and, of course I had to weigh in on the hat:
Ed Reilly utilizes one of my prop hats to point out his theories about the elusive crown.
If you are trying to capture the Kid, his damn hat has given countless artists and movie prop guys fits. Many assume wrongly it's an Abraham Lincoln top hat (Val Kllmer in "Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid") and most give the crown too much height, although, Garrett said the Kid wore a Chihuahua "sombrero" so a certain kind of artistic license is in order.
Deb continues to tweak Billy's knife.
That is a very authentic Lightning in his holster. The '73 Winchester is lying behind the sculpture. I asked Deb to applicate it so I could see it all together:
I agree with the Smiley Face on Deb's chest.
I totally dig the stance she and Ed captured. Their hand (Billy's left hand) is better than mine (in the drawing behind). It's a tad more "ready for action" and yet cocky. It seems to be saying, "You want a piece of me?" They also pointed Billy's left foot inward which also adds to the cocky factor. All in all, very exciting.
"Advise persons never to engage in an art career."
—Kid Bozer