Enemy Camp?

December 14, 2012
Big rain last night. Really soggy out. Love this weather. Fire in stove, tweaked some paintings:


 
Daily Whipout #72, "Enemy Camp?"
I want it!


 
Daily Whipout #73, "Mick Rides Into Los Muertos"

I want it!

Also, finally, got this one to fall after at least four sessions on it:

 
Daily Whipout #74, "Tenth Horse Picket Post"

I want it!




 
Daily Whipout #75, "Skirting White Sands Rider"


Last Paypal link coming Monday.



"Not having to work on Christmas is the new Christmas bonus."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Best of the Daily Whipouts

December 13, 2012

   The Daily Whipouts continue. By the way, we are on our way to 100 for this first go round.



Daily Whipout #66, "The Kid In The Bib Shirt"




Did this one a couple days ago of Mickey Free on the hunt for the Apache Kid. Somehow I captured the magic hour dusky glow, especially on the cliff at left. it is what we call a Happy Accident.



 
Daily Whipout #67, "Mickey Free Stares Into The Abyss"




This next piece was utilized for a Dalton Gang Classic Gunfight. Quite minimalist but pretty strong effect.



 
Daily Whipout #68, "Dalton Gang Firepower"




This next one is a scene from a Graphic Cinema that ran in True West on Billy the Kid (styled as El Kid in the GN) subverting an attempted stage robbery north of Anton Chico.



 
Daily Whipout #69, "Billy Doffs A Derby"


And if you're into the Buffalo Soldiers, well, this is pretty cloudy.



 
Daily Whipout #70, "Tenth Horse On The Move"



Next up is a very moody piece that I particularly hate to part with, but it's a very successful piece in terms of what I set out to do (in other words it rarely happens but it happened here):



 
Daily Whipout #71, "Apache Midnite"



These all represent a lot of work. Not all of it successful, of course but these represent the very best of what I can do. Gee, I wonder what ol' Hamilton has to say about that?



"Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Half effort does not produce half results. It produces no results. Work, continuous work and hard work, is the only way to accomplish results that last."

—Hamilton Holt

Tennis Lesson Applies to Landscape Painting

December 13, 2012

   Turned chilly this morning. 32 degrees at the Triple B Ranch and we're supposed to get a cold rain later this weekend. Had a nice little fire going in the studio stove and tweaked a couple of paintings before coming into work. First up, found a half-finished painting in my Has Potential File and gave it another go. Nice atmospheric effects in background and the design of the lake bed is nice, although I don't like the prominent dividing line in the middle of the page. Needed to move it up or down, don't get caught in the middle.



 
Daily Whipout #74, "Mickey Skirts The Edge of Red Lake"



Also grabbed another painting at lunch and tweaked it as well. Some of us believe the Apache Kid escaped to Old Mexico with the love of his life, Beauty and living deep in Copper Canyon with the Tarahumara Indians they lived out their life in peace.



 
Daily Whipout #75, "Beauty's Daughter High In The Sierra Madres"



"If you want to win at tennis play the net or stay behind the baseline, don't get caught in the middle."

—Old Vaquero Tennis Player Saying

26 Men Too Sexy?

December 12, 2012

I'm working on a story about an old TV show filmed in Phoenix. I remember clearly that after the TV show "26 Men" aired for a year (1957?), that a still living Arizona Ranger threatened to sue the show because he felt that the sexual shenanigans depicted on the show were scandalous and unauthentic (never mind that a real Arizona Ranger—Jeff Kidder—was killed in a whore house gunfight in Naco).



I have a tape of the shows and they are rather racy for the times. I seem to remember articles in the Arizona Republic about this with a photo of the still-living Ranger as well.





Tris Coffin portrayed Captain Tom Rynning in the ABC TV show "26 Men (who lived to ride again)". The show was filmed at Cudia City which was at 40th Street and Camelback in Phoenix. I actually talked my parents into visiting the set when we were in the Valley visiting our relatives the Hamiltons and I got to see the wooden bars in the jail (which really disappointed me).



I think the show only lasted two seasons. Believe it or not, we are having trouble finding this story about the former ranger—it might even have been several—who tried to sue for $40,000 in damages and I've often wondered if that led to the cancellation of the show. I've talked to numerous ex-staffers at the Republic and so far, nothing (their online search has a huge hole from about 1920 to 1990. One ex-employee confided to me that the Republic used to have 19 in the research library, but all have left, either by attrition or early-buy-out deals. Today it's farmed out to one contract labor person. Ouch!



Dan The Man Harshberger and I were faithful followers of "26 Men" and we got our Levi jacket inspiration directly from Kelo Henderson, the lead, hunk Ranger.



 
1958: Dan The Man Harshberger and BBB at White Hills ghost town, 40 miles north of Kingman, Arizona. Photo by Dan's mother, Denise Harshberger



"Saddle up, saddle up. . .This is the story of 26 men, who rode the Arizona territory. . ."

—The catchy "26 Men" theme song

Midnight In Old Fort Sumner

December 12, 2012

Today is the last day we have Nora the service dog in training. Tonight she goes back to school where she will do intensive study to learn how to retrieve meds and take off socks (I'm not kidding). The woman who is training her had to leave town so we volunteered to take her for five days. The institute actually encourages this because service dogs need to get acclimated to a variety of social situations. I took her to work at True West Monday and Tuesday, much to the delight of my entire staff. She is a very smart dog. I was watching "The Plainsman" on Encore Westerns the other night. During an Indian charge I looked down to see Nora intently watching the action on the TV. I've heard about dogs doing this, but this is the first dog I've encountered who actually appeared to be studying the action. And she scored points with me for digging a Western.



 
Nora and Kathy playing on the floor one last time, 8:45 a.m. this morning.



Meanwhile, got up this morning at 5:30, started a fire in the studio stove and grabbed a pile of unfinished paintings in my morgue and took one last stab at saving them. First up, "Midnight In Old Fort Sumner":




Daily Whipout #70, "Midnight In Old Fort Sumner"

Never quite got the Kid's face right, but I really like the demonic, Pat Garrett as Skeletor. Ha.



Also grabbed this one which I did for the cover of last years' Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Awards program:



 
Daily Whipout, #69, "Rockabilly Billy"



I want it!



 "You cannot run away from a weakness. You must sometimes fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?"

—Robert Louis Stevenson

The Lone Ranger Trailer #2

December 11, 2012

  Funny what a little creative editing can do. The first Lone Ranger trailer was okay, but check out the newest trailer (2) for The Lone Ranger. It looks really, really exciting:



The Lone Ranger #2

Mickey Free Stares Into The Abyss

December 11, 2012
Yesterday, I went home for lunch and whipped out a little study utilizing a photograph Bob McCubbin sent me this week of a young cowboy posing with a Henry Rifle.



 
Daily Whipout #66, "The Kid In The Bib Shirt"



I want it!



Meanwhile, I've been wanting to do a set piece of Mickey Free on the trail of the Apache Kid. He comes to a yawning chasm (Copper Canyon which is allegedly six times bigger than the Grand Canyon) and sees, first hand what he's up against.





 
Daily Whipout #76, "Mickey Free Stares Into The Abyss"



I want it!


Speaking of wanting something:



"I can tell you how to get what you want: You've got to keep a thing in view and go for it and never let your eyes wander to right or left or up or down. And looking back is fatal."

—William J. Lock

A Trubute to One Badass State Bird

December 10, 2012
Worked this weekend on a couple cloud images.



 
Daily Whipout #64, "The Return of The Raiders"



I want it!


Last May Paul Andrew Hutton wrote a humorous piece on "one badass, tough character: The roadrunner eats rattlesnakes for lunch and packrats for dinner. . .roadrunner is the perfect sate bird for the real New Mexico." Finished this tribute before coming into work this morning.



 
Daily Whipout #65, "A Tribute to The Badass Roadrunner"



I want it!


"So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private individuals will occasionally kill theirs."

 —Elbert Hubbard

Baby Sitting Nora The Explorer

December 8, 2012

   We have a guest in our house. Her name is Nora and she is a black lab service dog in training. The woman who is training her needed to leave town so we drove down to Scottsdale to bring her home with us (my crazy wife got us signed up for Puppy Paws or some such liberal entitlement deal). We have her until Wednesday and she is very polite. I took her for a tour of the property and so far, she really, really likes the chicken house, but we can't let her "chase birds" so we had to nip that in the bud.





My son Thomas Charles called from Maryland where he is going to school. We had a nice chat about Christmas (we're going there to be with them on Christmas Day) and as he and his wife Pattarapan were driving down the road they started laughing. This is what they saw:





Working on several cloud paintings and pursuing the concept of "The Last Liar Standing."



"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."

—Stella Adler

The Eagle Print Has (Almost) Landed

December 7, 2012

Most of the original Whipout Paintings have been sold. Which painting would you like to see as a print? Several of you have mentioned you wanted to buy this one:



 
Daily Whipout #2, "The Eagle Has (Almost) Landed



If there are other originals on the Whipout list you would like to see as a print, just let me know.



"Whip it, whip it good."

—Devo

Brave Vigilante

December 7, 2012

   Nice morning. Here's a Daily Whipout I created for the Northfield Raid. I was visualizing this as an illustration for the brave civilians who stepped out from behind the staircase on Division Street. Mainly A.R. Manning and even Henry Wheeler. I used this in another Classic Gunfight, but the intent is the same: our country has been built on civilians stepping into the line of fire to protect their towns.



 
Daily Whipout #56, "Brave Vigilante"



This next one was done for the Steins Pass train robbery attempt involving members of the Wild Bunch, Will Carver, Tom and Sam Ketchum and others. Their MO was to commandeer the train at the Steins Pass and compel the engineer at gunpoint to proceed up the track to two bonfires in either side of the track. The ruse was supposed to protect the robbers from being blind sided by spunky railroad riders, but, instead served to illuminate the deputies on the train to see the robbers clearly. The lawmen were supposedly utilizing "blue whistlers".



 
Daily Whipout #57, "The Wild Bunch: Waiting For The Train"




 
Daily Whipout #58, "Billy's Querida"



Whipped this one out yesterday.


 
Daily Whipout #55, "Worried About The Back Trail"



This was created for a Classic Gunfight edition on John Ringo's mysterious death and being found seated in a tree. It also appeared in my book "Classic Gunfights, Volume II: The 25 Gunfights Behind The O.K. Corral".



 
Daily Whipout #60, "John Ringo In Death"




 
Daily Whipout #61, "Tubac Duel"



 
Daily Whipout #62, "The Duelists: Edwin Cross and Syvester Mowry"



   Worked this morning on a 10th Horse painting. I've had the idea for some time, but finally pulled the trigger on it.



 
Daily Whipout #63, "Tenth Horse Courier"



"Where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign."

—Victor Hugo

Billy Clanton Gets Plugged Big Time!

December 6, 2012

   And the Daily Whipouts continue. Did this first one at lunch yesterday. Built it from emotion, let it go where it wanted to go. I was kind of shocked at the goldish-yellow and thought it was too strong at first (for a natural landscape color), but as the foreground came into shape it receded in strength and, since my family and I took a sweet little road trip across the Navajo Res last summer, the title came to me in a flash:



 
Daily Whipout #50, "Many Farms Dust Storm"



Next up, a study that ended up on the cover of our May 2009 issue of True West:



 
Daily Whipout #51, "The Alamo: Davy Does San Antonio"



 
Daily Whipout #52, "O.K. Corral: All Guns On Billy"





 
Daily Whipout #53, "Pimwah, High In The Sierra Nevadas"





 
Daily Whipout #54, "Apache Crown Dancers"



"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible."

—Soren Kierkegaard

Lon Megargee On Horseback, Doc Holliday Red-Eyed and Last Liar Standing

December 5, 2012

   Herman Dickson came by yesterday with some spectacular Lon Megargee images. Herman collects all things Megargee and A-1 beer related. Here's a photo of the artist in about 1949:





That is just a classic image. Lon had a couple houses in Cave Creek. One of them is about a half mile from here (The True West World Headquarters). We're going to feature Lon in an upcoming issue of True West and also in "Outrageous Arizona II" which is being discussed with our partners at Channel 8.



   More Whipped Out Paintings for your perusal.


 
Whipout Painting #48, "Doc Holliday: Red-Eyed & Lit Up"




 
Daily Whipout #49, "Last Liar Standing"


Next April we will celebrate our 60th year of publishing and as of last month I am marking 13 years at the helm of this venerable magazine. Here is a staff photo I found on an old Thank You card yesterday:



 

Left to right: DeAnne Giago, Dan The Man Harshberger, Carole Glenn, the late and great "Minnesota Mike" Melrose, BBB, Mare Rosenbaum, Cowboy Dan Martin, Robert Ray and Gus "The Mapinator" Walker. Mike Melrose always told everyone this was our White Album photo and you can see he's posing as if he's on a Moody Blues album cover. Mike was our first legit sales manager (no comment on the previous manager) and he got us to $20K in advertising sales for an issue, which at the time seemed so far out of reach. Mike, who was actually from Saint Charles, Iowa, passed away several years ago and I really miss his crazy sense of humor. He was a great guy and I'm proud to say I knew him.



"Ask yourself the secret of your success. Listen to your answer, and practice it."

—Richard Bach



I am listening, I am practicing, and the secret, so far, is: enthusiasm, passion and persistence.

Evil Women, Mickey Free & Breakfast Buffet in The Tent of Death—all for sale, of course!

December 4, 2012

   Woke up at 4:30 this morning and got right into harness and started plowing into a series of painting ideas. Whipped out a half dozen backgrounds and skies before starting a fire in the pot-bellied stove. Got into the office at 9:30 and went into an editorial meeting for March issue. Lots of strong pieces. Going to be sweet. We're on a roll.



News From The Front Lines

Ralph Scott ordered The Illustrated Life & Times of Billy Kid on 11/26, received it last Monday and finished it today.  He called and asked me to tell you that it is a perfect book, he really enjoyed it and now has “Billy on the brain bad.” A sweet man from Henderson, TN.

—Carole Glenn



Also, tweaked or finished a half-dozen more studies.



 
Daily Whipout #42, "Evil Woman"




 
Daily Whipout #43, "Tenth Horse Guideon In Dust Storm"




 
Daily Whipout #44, "Mickey Outruns A Haboob"




 
Daily Whipout #45, "Sunset Sierra Vista"


This is the painting I whipped out yesterday morning for our Classic Gunfight on Frank Dalton's Death Tent shootout. This is the scene inside the tent during breakfast of Thanksgiving leftovers as the U.S. Marshal approached the front entrance:



 
Daily Whipout #46, "Inside The Tent of Death"


This following image is a reworking (in fact I have a series of these) of an earlier attempt. I've hidden my signature in the embers of the fire. Can you find it? Hint: Mickey Mule Tu is pointing his nose at it.



 
Daily Whipout Painting #47, "Mickey Rides Through The Fire #4"


"There is many a good man to be found under a shabby hat."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Death Tent Inside & Outside

December 3, 2012

   Spent most of the weekend finishing "The Death Tent". This morning, I got up early and took a whack at what it may have looked like in the tent. Had some subtle things going but killed it:





A tad too ambitious with a kid crying a mother breast feeding, cramped quarters and a demonic Smith about ready to unleash death on everyone.



Here's the Death Tent finish:





Yes, that's a brush hook imbedded in the block of wood to the left of the tent flap. Tried to capture tent shadows of people inside with mixed results. Wish I had back a couple areas of this painting. I had high hopes.



Ken and I had a meeting with Channel 8 at noon. Drove into The Beast at 11 and met our contact at Gallo Blanco on Clarendon. Had a mahi taco and tortilla soup.



"Always say 'yes' to the present moment. Surrender to what is. Say 'yes' to life -- and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you."

—Eckhart Tolle



"

Jimmy Page, Frank Dalton and The Whipout-er Gets Whipped

November 30, 2012

   Working in office. Need to video-tape a snap tag for the cover. Working hard on the next CG (Classic Gunfight). More on that in a minute.

 

The Day The Music Died (and was born again)

   Great interview with Jimmy Page in the new Rolling Stone. We think of the British recording studios in the early sixties as being open to new ideas and that's what led to the Beatles. Not true at all. In fact the opposite is true. Here, I'll let Jimmy tell it: "When I was in Neil Christian and the Crusaders, we got a recording contract, but we didn't play on the tracks. Session musicians did. Record companies had staff producers who would supply songs written by their pals. There would be a deal on the publishing. It was a shut-down situation. Then the Beatles came along."



   And totally destroyed the Good Ol' Boys' Club. Ha. The beauty of this world is that nobody can really quite put a stranglehold on anything. Not Ghengis Khan, not Rupert Murdoch and certainly not recording studios, record companies or even movie companies. Content is king. Long live content!

Sometimes I'm the whipout-er and sometimes the whipout whips me. Worked both in the morning and at lunch yesterday on a painting for the next Classic Gunfight. Tried to finish this morning but it just won't fall. Here it is, a work in progress, "The Death Tent."



 
The Death Tent (fpo: for position only)



Had a very simple plan to finish this in short order. Two riders, Deputy U.S. Marshal Frank Dalton and Deputy U.S. Marshal James Cole come upon a tent in the Indian Nations. They have warrants for an illegal bootlegger named Smith. Unbeknownst to both, Smith is in the tent with his wife and a kid, plus three other outlaws and a whole bunch of women and kids. The ensuing gunfight cost Dalton his life Two others were killed, including Smith and a woman. Will try to finish this weekend. Need to add some laundry hanging on a line. Smoke coming out a stove chimney, blankets hanging on the tent lines and assorted barrels and still-type materials. A simple plan ended up very ambitious. Can't look back now. Got to keep going. Why?



"Don't look back—you're not going that way."

—Old Vaquero Saying