Mini Whip Outs & Praising The Past

 February 14, 2026

   Good things have happened on this date.

It is Arizona Statehood Day

   And, I must admit I love this damn place with all my heart.

Hopeless Mini-Whip Outs

   Someone gifted me a mini-sketchbook and I resisted using it because it seemed too small and cramped, but one day, in quasi-desperation, I decided to use it as a loosening up tool. 

Size Matters

(a regular sized watercolor paper is on the bottom, my big-sized sketchbook is on the right and my mini-sketchbook is on the left, with a big, fat, fanbrush pointing the way between the two)

   So I grabbed my large fan brush, above, and blocked in some color, without hope, without despair. And. . .

Mini-Gasline Break

   I totally dig it now and use it often to loosen up before getting serious about effort and expectations. Here are a few of those hopeless pages. 

Mini-Ghost Cleavage

Mini-Slug Queen

Mini-Gearhead

   Of course, there's tons more, but you get the picture.

Passing The Torch

   I will be eighty this year and it's time to start thinking about passing the True West torch on to someone who can carry this venerable publication to the century mark. I have had great help from a ton of people who believed in the mission: to keep our love of American history alive. Yes, I have carried it when no one else wanted it and I have had the time of my life, but it's time to give someone else a shot at this. We need new blood and new ideas. Do you know anybody who is worthy of this gig?

"It's not what you look at, it's what you see."

—Old Vaquero Saying