Death Metal Cowboy Meets Inky, Dark Gothic Vaquero

 June 16, 2026

   Woke up in a funk. Feeling a bit blue. It happens. But then I have friends who make me laugh and I pull out of it. Read on.

Seriograph of "Cave Creek Crazy Arms"

(5 of 38 art print)

   Yes, when we first moved out to Cave Creek in the eighties, this twisted cacti stood about 20 yards from our house near the banks of the creek. I marveled at the arms of agony and finally walked down there and sat at the base and looked up to sketch what became this pen and ink rendering of what happens to saguaros who end up in the creek bottom and have to endure the colder, frigid air during the winter months, which twists the arms into gothic shapes. Boy howdy.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Old Vaquero Demonic"

      Maybe, just maybe, that is the key to this Old Vaquero dude. Perhaps he is not the wisened old sweet-heart of a curmudgeon we thought he was.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Old Vaquero Demonic II"

"When the law is far, the fist is near."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Daily Whip Out: "Pendejo Puncher"

Daily Whip Out: "When Nana Gets Steamed"

(known north of the border as "When Grandma Gets Steamed"

Good Advice From An Old Friend

"Give it that inky, dark Gothic Vaquero, Death Metal Cowboy, sharp-shinned, sinister, sexy silhouette, that you do so well."

—Kit Carson, the sculptor, not the pathfinder