Cowboys I Have Grown Up With

 November 30, 2024

   I grew up with some major cowboys. And, by major, I mean the No-Nonsense-Ropin'-Smokin'-Ka-Boys who walked the walk, but only if they couldn't ride a horse kind of cowboys.

Daily Whip Out: 

"My cousin Billy Hamilton at a Kingman Rodeo"

(from a photo)

   You see that stoved-up cowboy walking in the background? That's how all the cowboys I grew up with walked when they were off a horse.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Kingman Cowboys I Knew"

   Two of them did jail time and one of them was killed by his pet bull.

   On the other hand. . .

Wikieup Cowboys In Their Natural Habitat

   Yes, this is a pretty good cross section of the Wikieup Cowboys I knew growing up, and if you are from around those parts, you can easily spot the Shorts and the Banegas boys. Yes, and one Fancher.

Daily Whip Out:

"Into The Valley of The Sugarloafs"

   There's a relatively new cowboy hat style that is making waves 'round these parts.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Cowboys With Shovel-fronts"

Others call this hat style the Flying Taco.

"You draw the things that won't leave you alone."

—A Well Known Drugstore Cowboy

Putting The Quest to Rest

 November 29, 2024

   I'm about halfway thru my inventory of the 94 sketchbooks I have filled in the past four decades. It is overwhelming in some aspects—so much effort expended for what, exactly?

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"The Cacti Prisoner"

   Here are random notes from this blog during the quest, from November 21, 2005 to August 31, 2009:

   Harvey Mackay had a thought provoking column today (he's syndicated but I read him in the Arizona Republic). It was on the concept that it takes about "10,000 hours of practice to attain true mastery." This is so amazing, since I am in the process of doing 10,000 bad drawings (I just finished my 7,610th sketch this afternoon). This is from Malcolm Gladwell's new book, "Outliers," which I have some problems with, but nonetheless, the concept of 10,000 applying to all forms of mastery is a nice touch in terms of what I'm practicing. Gee, I wonder what else he has to say about this?

"Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good."

—Malcolm Gladwell

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Honkytonk Sue Rearing Up"

"I have little interest in teaching you what I know. I wish to stimulate you to tell me what you know."

—Robert Henri, master art instructor and artist

Daily Whip Outs:

"Real McCoy Sequence"

  Since I've started my quest, and, in an odd serendipity, I've read that Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, has postulated that the magic number of hours needed for mastering a particular field is "10,000 hours." He reckons Bill Gates had that much computer time logged when he launched Microsoft and the Beatles had that much playing time together before they conquered America.

Daily Whip Outs: "Tom Horn Studies"

   During my quest I have tried to do my daily sketches no matter where I have been, so I have sketches done in New York City, Georgia, Wichita, and New Mexico, and also sketches done in Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. (some of those pretty amazing sketches later)

    The only significant time I missed sketching was when I had a heart attack, playing Wipeout at a band reunion in Kingman in March of 2008. I missed about five days, but got right back on it, and was soon up to speed again.

Daily Whip Outs: "Crazy Legs Crazy Dog"

   I had several thoughts and concerns: would my drawing skills improve? How much? Would there be a breakthrough moment?

   In terms of learning anything on the quest, for my money, no one has said it better than Cassius Clay.

“Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”

—Mohammed Ali

Mexican Surfers & Cerocahui Wowies!

 November 28, 2024

   Lots to be thankful for today.

Daily Whip Out: "Mexican Surfer"

(January 7, 2021)

   Yes, it's the shirt, or, the hint of a surfer shirt that dictated the title to me, and you have to admit those big sugarloafs would definitely make for fine flotation devices.

Daily Whip Out:

"Electronic Magnetic Field No. 16"

   I always take my sketchbook on family vacations, and so, this sequence on the Copper Canyon Railway is especially sweet because I not only sketched the people along the way, I kept track of our expenses and what we spent our money on.

Daily Whip Outs: Cerocahui Sketches"

(December 20, 2006)

Horseback ride for four: $60

Cafe Daniela @ Bauchivo (red chile): $20

Train tickets to Chihuahua: $50

Two serapes at Divisadero: $40

Margaritas at Divisadero Hotel: $40

Daily Whip Out:

"Sue Laughing Demonically"

"Success is resting on a rotisserie"

—Old Vaquero Saying

More Best of The Bad From 94 sketchbooks

 November 27, 2024

   I found the 2,000th drawing on my quest to do 10,000 bad drawings and it's an ambitious doozy.

Daily Whip Outs:

"He Rode Past The Village of 300 Widows"

(September 4, 2006)

   Meanwhile. . .

More Best of the Bad from 94 sketchbooks

   Four years ago today, November 27, 2020

Daily Whip Out:

"Red State-Blue State Cowboy"

(done during the pandemic)

   Then there was that time I went to Traffic School with O.J.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Traffic School Classmates"

(August 13, 2006)

   No, I don't think that is actually O.J. Simpson, but it's a dead ringer caricature of the guy. Also, the class was so long and so boring I actually did a second page of sketches.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Traffic School Classmates II"

   Recognize any lawbreakers you know? The bigger question is, do they even do Traffic School anymore when you get a ticket? I assume it moved online, but. . .

Daily Whip Outs:

"Tracy & Christina On The Colorado River"

(September 4, 2005)

   There's a ton more, but that's enough Whip-out-reflection for one day.

"One must always search for the desire of the line, where it wishes to enter, where to die away."

—Matisse

The Release of The Old Vaqueros Book Is Finally Here But You Need to Act Fast

 November 26, 2024

   Just in time for the holidays, our OVS book is finally ready for you to order. In fact two of them have already been delivered.

Barb Zimet's 1/100 has landed

and she is very happy

"Love everything in the packet you sent: the book, the badge, the coasters and the extra badge on the envelope. Wow!"

—Barbara Zimet, New York, New York

   And, here is the person who received copy number two:

"What can I say?  I have tears of joy in my eyes.  This is amazing and even exceeds my expectations.  Every single detail of this book is perfect, the amazing artwork,  the calligraphy, the content, the on-spot translations, the print job, the cover that almost feels like 3-D,  even the paper and the binding.   This is your legacy book.  I can't thank you enough for letting me have #2.   I will keep it forever and when I'm gone it will go to a special person in my life.  Thanks also to your amazing team that worked on this labor of love."

—Carol Caldwell, Cave Creek, Arizona 

An Old School Hand-u-factured Work of Art

    They were produced in the old school ways of scratchboard and letterpress and made possible by high tech scanners and photopolymer plates printed on vintage equipment. The cover was digitally printed on a 130 pound cougar digital natural white paper and the pages were letterpress printed on 100 pound Mohawk Superfine. The binding was done by hand. It has been hand-u-factured in a limited edition of 100 hand numbered and signed copies. In addition 10 artist proofs, 10 printer proofs and one BAT and 1 archival impression were made. These Old Vaquero Sayings books are $100 each.

 Get yours before they are all gone: Here's where to order your copy: 

The Old Vaquero Sayings Limited Edition

   Yes, a dozen have already been pre-sold so you need to act now.

"It should be funky and look like it was printed on an ancient printing press found in the back of an abandoned cantina in Sonora, Old Mexico."

—Mark McDowell

A Half Century of BBB Sketchbooks By The Numbers

 November 25, 2024

One of the surprising insights into going back through all my sketchbooks is how many different story ideas I had which I have never really paid off, like this one.

Daily Whip Outs:

"The 47 First Loves of A Soiled Dove"

Here are the top five story ideas I found in my sketchbooks that I'd still like to pursue:

• The Night Man

• Pepe From Opodepe

• The Mexicali Stud

Daily Whip Out: "The Mexicali Stud"

• El Pendejo

• El Divisadaro

And, you might be surprised to know, not all the sketches are by me.

Deena Bean's Portrait of her father

This was done on Mission Beach in San Diego when Deena was nine years old. She saw me sketching and said, "Can I try one?" Well, of course!

BBB Sketchbooks By The Numbers

• Number of sketchbooks, so far: 94

• Number of original characters created: 38

• Number of pages with no drawings, just words: 85

• Number of landscapes: 139

Daily Whip Out: "Yellow Storm"

• Number of truly awful drawings: 4,326

• Number of decent drawings: 2,087

• Number of exceptional, or, at least, inspired drawings per sketchbook: 2 to 4 on average, like this:

Daily Whip Outs: "Bull By The Horns"

(May 18, 2007)

• Number of Whip Outs that made it into publication: 772

• Number of educated guesstimates on this list: about half of the above.

"If you want to write a good book, write about the things you don't want people to know about you. If you want to write a great book, write about the things you don't want to know about yourself."

—David Perell

Lessons Learned On The Quest to 10,000 Bad Drawings

 November 24, 2024

   What exactly have I learned on my quest to do 10,000 bad drawings? If you want to know the truth, three things stand out:

1. Hand-eye coordination is a muscle that needs exercise and the daily repetition builds a more solid foundation towards creating accurate renditions.

2. If you just start scribbling lines you will be surprised at how accurate your doodles are if you build on them and just "let it flow" and you don't start with a preconceived idea of how it should look.

3. Draw what you see, not what you think you see.

   Like most wannabe artists I have a hard time getting past my own foolishness. When you peel away the artifice and get to the motivation, what comes out in high relief is the desire to be admired and respected. Well, for starters, that's a damn foolish motivation for an avowed cartoonist! So, getting past the "hopeful admiration" part is difficult but the sheer volume of the task helps dissipate that desire.

Daily Whip Out: "Beyond The Artifice"

Context

   I was on a Southwest flight from Las Vegas (December 4, 2005) back to Phoenix and I had just had my eyeballs filled with Vegas showgirls and Siegfried & Roy (the mauling had taken place in 2003) and I was doing some prep drawings for a Classic Gunfight on the assassination of Ben Thompson in the Vaudeville Theater in San Antonio, Texas on March 11, 1884, which we were featuring in the next issue of True West magazine. So, all of those different topics ended up in this page of sketches done on the airplane ride.

Vaudeville Theater Shooting

   Drinking heavily most of the day, Ben Thompson strikes a porter on the train. When blood splatters on his silk hat, Thompson cuts away the crown and sticks a knife in the brim. Wearing his new, bizarre headgear, he steps off the train with John King Fisher to take in the sights of San Antonio, Texas. Ben buys a new hat before he arrives at the Vaudeville Theatre.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Study for Ben Thompson's Bizarre Top Hat"

   When I get on an assignment jag, I often spend numerous pages of my sketchbook noodling out scenes, like these which continued from December 9 until December 12th, 2005. 

   For the actual shooting, I combined two views on one page of the Vaudeville Theatre POV from the stage.

Daily Whip Outs: "Two Views to A Kill"

   Here is how the story played out in the magazine.

Forewarned & Forearmed

   So, down the rabbit hole I go, but does it translate into respect as an Artist?

"BBB's not an artist, he's an 'illustrator'."

—Billy Schenck

Deep Variations On The Road to 10,000 Bad Drawings

 November 23, 2024

   Last night I was watching the new Ken Burns documentary on Leonardo DaVinci and it inspired me to give chiaroscuro another try. You know, that's where you lean on those deep variations and subtle gradations of light and shade to create dramatic effects.

Daily Whip Out: "The Gambler Wyatt Earp"

Daily Whip Out: "Dick West Out East"

Daily Whip Out: "Cowboy Ridin' At Ya'"

Best of The Bad

   Flashbacks on my quest to do 10,000 bad drawings.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Mickey Free's World, December 10, 2005"

   I still think there is a great story inside the Mickey Free saga and one of these days. . .

Daily Whip Outs, April 22, 2008

   Don't quote me, but I think the guy at the bottom is based on Baxter Black?

Daily Whip Outs:

"Six Apaches" April 29, 2008

"You must have the devil in you to succeed in any of the arts."

—Voltaire

Ha Ha's Epic Haboob

 November 22, 2024

   What can be 100 miles wide and 5,000 feet tall? A wall of dust in a typical Arizona "Haboob" storm, that's what.

Daily Whip Out: "Ha Ha's Epic Haboob"

(That would Grandpa Ha Ha's Haboob)

A Clarification

   No, Bell Rock in Sedona is not named for me. And, contrary to popular opinion, Bell's Palsy isn't either.

Daily Whip Out Revisited: "The Baja Hinny"

   Here's a sneak peek behind the editorial curtain:    

   I asked Mark Lee Gardner to give us a museum to visit, a book to read and music to play on the road trip to getting to the Centralia Battlefield in Missouri. This is for our new department, "Walk Where They Walked." Here are his replies and they are just the coolest:

   "There's no museum that would help your readers understand the fight. However, there is a place about 65 miles away where readers can get an understanding of the life and culture of central Missouri on the eve of the Civil War: Arrow Rock State Historic Site. One of my favorite places, by the way.

Movie to watch before visiting: Ride With The Devil (1999)

Book: Bloody Bill Anderson: The Short, Savage Life of a Civil War Guerrilla by Albert Castel & Thomas Goodrich (1998)

Soundtrack to play: Johnny Whistletrigger: Civil War Songs from the Western Border by Cathy Barton, Dave Para, and Bob Dyer. Available on CD for $12 at this website: Johnny Whistletrigger | Barton Para

Best of The Bad, Part IV

Recapping my quest to do 10,000 bad drawings, this is a page done on May 1, 2006 which includes studies for Changing Woman, Barrel Cactus Bras, Outlaw Sneering and Night Man Shenanigans. Yes, I like to jump around because as a friend once said, I have "the attention span of a gnat."

Daily Whip Outs: "May 1, 2006"

   Somehow, by a happy accident, I think I captured the visage of The Night Man and somehow, I think one of his encounters on the nightshift will be a midnight visitor in a barrel cactus bra.

Daily Whip Out: "The Midnight Visitor"

   This is how serendipity and creativity happens in my world.

"Bell's Palsy is actually named for Sir Charles Bell."

—BBB, utilizing Google in order to deflect the name of a popular medical condition often attributed to him

Woosies Unite! When In Doubt Listen to These Women

 November 21, 2024

   I've had some interesting roommates over the years but two of them take the cake. Yes, the most creative roommates I ever had were two beautiful women I lived with at 707 W. MacKenzie in Phoenix when I was going to use an offensive term for vagina in my comic strip Honkytonk Sue and both of them said—"that's too offensive, why don't you use the term 'Woosie' instead?" And, well, thank God, I listened to the voice of creative reason and here it is documented for all time from a sketchbook I just found in the garage:

Honkytonk Sue Clip File Sketchbook

July 20, 1978

   Even better, one of those roommates became my girlfriend.

BBB with Kathy Sue near El Charro

in Tucson in 1978

   And the other creative roommate, Carole Compton Glenn, became my business manager at True West magazine. How damn lucky can one Kingman yahoo get? Not sure how, but I am eternally thankful for the good fortune. 

My Business Manager

Carole Compton Glenn

   Together they saved True West magazine more than once.

Carole and Kathy Sue

"When in doubt, listen to the women in your house."

—Old Still Married Guy Saying

Long Shadow Into Night—Daily Whip Outs From Way WAYYYYY Back!

 November 20, 2024

   Last night I went out to the front yard just before sunset to check on the boy and caught this very long shadow of myself stretching clear across the driveway.

Long Shadow Into Night

   As usual, Uno was not all that impressed.

   We are still processing the passing of our good friend Ollie Reed. Here is the feature he wrote on the reopening of the Ellis Store last summer.

Investing In History by Ollie Reed

   Such a good man, and a fine writer to boot. We had over a hundred and fifty guests come through the doors at the Ellis Art Show & Open House and when I asked them how they heard about the event almost all said, "I read Ollie's article in the Albuquerque Journal."

   The legacy of our Old Vaquero Sayings book rests in the hands of our tech crew now.

In A Land Far, Far Away

   In an alternate universe a certain captivo should have been catapulted into the mainstream culture, and it would come as no surprise that a decorated war hero would be chosen to play the boy who started the longest war in United States history.

Daily Whip Out:

"Audie Murphy IS Mickey Free!"

in 1957 Technicolor "Kid Savage!"

Best of The Bad, Part III

   I'm going thru all my sketchbooks looking for the best of the bad. Here's a page from ten years ago when I was adamant about doing six bad drawings a day.

Daily Whip Outs: "April 20, 2014"

   Coming tomorrow, a sketchbook page from 1994. No, seriously, I have been doing six bad drawings a day for thirty plus years and it is a miracle that I can still pull one out of the trash even at this late date.

"A winner is just a loser who tried one more time."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Dan The Man Ages & The Genesis of The Old Vaqueros Book

 November 19, 2024

   Every year, on this date, a certain art director is the same age as me for about 30 days.

Dan The Man Harshberger, turns 77 today

   And, speaking of amazingly talented, graphic designers, look what the old Kingman Bastard came up with for our friends in Texas. 

Sky High Scout Cover Design

by Dan The Man

   Speaking of striking book covers, my collaboration with the Boys down at Cattletrack has resulted in a limited edition collector's edition of Old Vaquero Sayings. Here's how this came about. Three years ago, Mark McDowell suggested we team up to do a book of my Old Vaquero Sayings. Here is how he pitched it to me:

"It should be funky and look like it was printed on an ancient printing press found in the back of an abandoned cantina in Sonora, Old Mexico."

—Mark McDowell

Mission Accomplished

   Meanwhile. . .

In the Walk Where They Walked Zone:

(Photo by Stuart Rosebrook)

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom can keep the obsessive compulsive historian from his rounds."

—Old BBB Saying