Finishing up a few things for this issue. I got roped (literally!) into doing an original painting for this year's gift guide. The problem has been that all of the online photos that are cowboy-Christmas related are too American Cowboy magazine (read that modern) and not historical. So I got nominated to do something our guys would like for the opening spread. Right off the bat I knew I wanted to do outlaws heading for their hideout, or perhaps a friendly ranch, in the style of Charlie Russell, who did a fair share of Christmas related paintings with a similar theme. So that led to these sketches:
Holiday Gift Guide Sketch No. 1, 2
Holiday Gift Guide Sketches No. 3, 4
Holiday Gift Guide Rough (not wide enough, so gave up)
Gift Guide Rough Pass No. 6 (not enough riders or the right gift)
Holiday Gift Guide First Layout by Rebecca
Not exactly sure you can drag a "through" safe through the snow via a rope, but there you have it. Oh, and by the way, a through safe is the safe on a train that goes all the way through the route, as opposed to a one stop safe or payroll.
And, yes, I questioned whether we should be combining train robbers with Christmas, but then I thought, well, outlaws in America are rather sainted, aren't they?
"Lawlessness, like wildness, is attractive, and we conceive the last remaining home of both to be in the West."
—Wallace Stegner
