Made a goal this morning to get out into the garage early, go through all my original art and put it into categories, The Razz, New Times, Honkytonk Sue, Billy the Kid and General Wild West. Then I decided to judge each piece of artwork, by putting them into three piles:
• Worth saving
• Sentimental
• Derivative
I had Kathy come out and help me, since she is a little more objective than me. The first category is self-explanatory, the second category means a piece of art featuring a family member or friend that warrants saving. The last one—derivative—connotes artwork that I copied literally, without any original flare, or traced, or projected ( did this more than I'd like to admit). A good example of this is a Duo-tone of Calamity Jane done on Grafix paper in the 1980s (I believe it ran in "Low Blows," the compilation book of my New Times cartoons). I threw it right into the trash bin.
A large Grafix page of Clamaity Jane (17.5" X 25") in the garbage bin
Here is a closer look:
Calamity Jane about to go to the dump
And here's just some of the artwork I went through this morning. It's going to take another couple days. This is probably a fifth of the artwork stored in the garage.
Original BBB artwork on the Spanish driveway. Scenes in front are Honkytonk Sue boards for a story, "The Man Canyon" which never got off the ground.
Filled the entire green garbage bin with "derivative" artwork, but then had seconds thoughts about Ms. Jane.
Here's the deal: I pulled the Calamity Jane out of the trash and brought it into work. If anyone wants it, they can have it for free. All they need to do is pay for shipping and handling ($25). Let me know why you deserve to have it.You can respond here, or email me at bozebell@twmag.com
"I'm glad she went to a good home."
—What I always say when someone cool owns a piece of my artwork