Drummer Dazzles One Chick and Las Tules, Naked & Not Afraid

 July 16, 2021

   If you look at my life in the right light it's pretty impressive. How did I, an above-average Kingman kid, manage this? Well, for one thing, I have followed a few bromides in my day, like this: When one door closes, another one opens. Other than that it's a pretty good car.

   And this one really resonates with me:

"Yeah, I pretty much never sit by the pool anymore."

—Marco Polo

If You Can't Attract Beautiful Chicks at Least Learn to Draw Them

   She fleeced many a Yankee in Old Santa Fe and she became a legend to all of New Mexico. 

Daily Whip Out:

"Las Tules, Naked & Not Afraid"

How to Dazzle One Chick

   Yes, drumming put me through college. True, I didn't actually graduate but that's also typical drummer behavior. Also, in the "dazzle the chicks" department, I went 1 for 1,000, but it was the right one. 

"If you think it's bad now, in twenty years the country is going to be run by kids who were home-schooled by alcoholics."

—Old Pandemic Saying

Navajo Royalty, River Crossings, Beating Iron And Covid Crankiness

 July 15, 2021

   Still working on a variety of women representing different folks out on the wild American frontier.

Daily Whip Out: "Navajo Royalty" 

  As promised, here is the illustration I talked about yesterday where I started out inking in the main figure with the intention of making it a full silhouette, but as I got toward the top I stopped and let his shirt and the reverse on the barbed wire, pop the effect. A very happy accident.

   This is from a series of editorial cartoons for The New Times Weekly I did back in the eighties that ended up in a compilation book, "Even Lower Blows" which is not to be confused with "Low Blows," the first edition that quickly sold out. This drawing was part of a proposed mock ad campaign that Jerry Falwell wanted to do in support of Apartheid (seriously, I'm not making this up). So, I thought I'd save him the $1+ million he was threatening to spend, with ads like this one. As far as I know Falwell never did the ad campaign and he certainly didn't get the humor but I'm proud to say most of my family did.

   Let the record show I have had Long Haul Covid symptoms for 17 weeks and counting. I am not alone. Some of my friends have been suffering from Long Haul for over a year. The good news is I received this notice yesterday:

   So, if I tested negative after having two positive tests in June, does that mean I am out of the woods? And, if so, why do I still have the long haul symptoms? And why won't they give me known treatments, like Regeneron (the cocktail Trump got) or Ivermectin, which has not been approved by the yaddah yaddah?

   I think I know the reason why:

They Don't Want The Liability of Treating It

   Thanks to the lawyers and a litigious populace, my friendly and competent doctors cannot risk the liability of giving me something that might help at the risk that it might, somehow harm me.

   An old drummer friend from Oregon, Beanie Bob, sent me a packet of Ivermectin, but none of my doctors will approve me taking it. Kind of at wits end, and I'm tempted to take it but I want a medical blessing. Haven't gotten it yet, but I guess I'll cross that river when I come to it.

Salt River Crossing Rescue, 1900

Photo courtesy Arizona State Library

A Gaggle of Van Gogh Flowers

Greasy Days Without Inspiration and Encouragement to Beat The Iron

"Isn't it the emotion, the sincerity of the feeling of nature that guides us? And if these emotions are sometimes so strong that you work without realizing that you are working, when sometimes brushstrokes come with a follow-up and relationships with each other like words in a speech or a letter, you have to remember that it hasn't always been this way and in the future there will also be, unfortunately, greasy days, without inspiration. Therefore we need to beat the iron while it's hot and put aside the forged bars."

—Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo

The Best of Everything From Sketchbook #29

 July 14, 2021

Most of the good things I have discovered in terms of art skills happened when I was trying to do the opposite. For example, way back in my New Times days, I was hell bent on filling in a silhouette and then stopped at the last minute and let the remaining top part of the original illustration stay as is. This was the opposite of what I intended. (I'll post it tomorrow.) A happy accident is what it was.

I've had a few. I think it has something to do with the battery effect. Here is how Adam "Flippin'" Gopnik puts it:

"The truth of the battery is, for Proust, the truth of humankind: it must have two poles or it can carry no charge."

—Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker, on "Peripheral Proust"

The Positive Charge

I have realized this is true of almost everything. Billy the Kid is remembered because he was an all-American boy and a cold-blooded killer. Those are two, mutually exclusive and opposite traits (think poles of a battery) that literally creates a spark, or a charge when combined. The same is true of artwork. If it is too "technically perfect" it has a tendency to look dead. Photo realists are perceived by many as hacks and craftsmen, not artists. Put another way, "No technical perfection or elegance can produce a work of art," is how the artist and teacher John Graham put it way back when. And, by the way, he hated contour drawing and thought chiaroscuro ruined painting for five hundred years!

But if there is a combo of looseness and technical proficiency, sometimes it creates a charge.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Vague & Specific Side by Side"

Like I said, for me, at least, this is as loose as a goose. The bigger question is, does it add up to anything? Perhaps not, but who cares. I'm having fun with it.

Finished another sketchbook (#29) two days ago and this morning I culled out all the things I thought were worth reflecting on.

Daily Whip Out: "The Last Drawing"

alternate title

("Sweetheart of Rodeo Alarmed at Size of Neighbor's Wagon Tongue")

"The truth that's told with bad intent

beats all the lies you can invent."

—William Blake

"Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way."

—Franz Kafka

Daily Whip Outs: "The Big Poach"

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."

—Mark Twain

"An arrow can only be launched forward by pulling it backward."

—Old Vaquero Saying

"Suppose. . .suppose. . ."

—Wyatt Earp's last words

"It is wiser to find out than to suppose."

—Mark Twain

"There are many kinds of eyes. Even the Sphinx has eyes—and consequently there are many kinds of truths, and consequently there is no truth."

—Nietzsche

"The fundamental contradiction in this country is the coexistence of political freedom and social oppression."

—Hanna Arendt, "The Origins of Totalitarianism"

"History is not facts, but the meaning of facts."

—Louis Menand, "The Free World: Art and Thought In The Cold War"

"To the mob, everything is a lie anyway."

—Louis Menand

"The most complicated thing in the world is to be able to keep things simple. The simplest thing in the world is to make things complicated."

—Old Vaquero Saying

"It takes a long time to become young."

—Pablo Picasso

Daily Whip Out: "El Jefe Is Talking"

"When El Jefe talks, you better pretend to listen!"

—Old Vaquero Saying

"The wages of sin are unreported."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Daily Whip Out: "The Sinner"

Daily Whip Out:

"Four Cornered Dead Ends"

This "dead end" was inspired by The Stone Pony's lead guitarist who told me, during a gig at the Red Rooster out on Benson Highway back in the seventies, how he approached playing guitar breaks, "I simply play myself into a corner and then try to get out." And, yes, he was romantically involved with Linda Ronstadt, which gives this story its extra charge.

"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

A book and a theme I wanted everyone

to know about.

"Everything is theoretically impossible until it's done."

—Robert A. Heinlein

Big Hatted Women and Hogtown Hussies Half Lit Up

July 13, 2021

    Dramatic lighting is my scratchboard stock in trade. Nasty, wild women are my go-to weakness.

Daily Whip Out:

"Hogtown Hussy Half Lit Up"

   And, speaking of weaknesses, as you know, I also have a thing for big hats.

Daily Whip Out:

"Big Hat, Big Shade, Woman"

Narrative Insights 

  I also collect narrative boxes to study and emulate. I don't quite know why, but I think there is a new way, or at least a different way to tell a story with a series of checkerboaard images, like this:

A lined-up gaggle of van Gogh self-portraits

   Somehow, it attains a power that is missing from just one? Not even sure if that's true, but it is something I am enjoying seeking.

   By the way, here is a summation of his mature style which I greatly admire: In van Gogh's fourth stage (1888 to July of 1890) he began to exaggerate line and color to express his feelings and emotions, which results in his total conquest of color. This influences what becomes known as the Expressionist School. This final phase made him a universal superstar.

One More Untamed Woman

   She made her mark through the fog of prejudice and tradition—an American-born girl of Chinese descent who defied her parents for her freedom, and then defied the White community for her love. Her bilingual skills were so valued, she became the first Chinese-American woman to work as a civil servant for the U.S government.

Daily Whip Out: "Tye In Darkness"

( Tye Leung Schultz, California. 1887-1972)

   And, last but not least. . .

   Oh, this is going to be a fun one. You may already know the answer, but not the version I am going to tell. (You know, the one and only true version, via Kingman.)

"Everything lies. Except the eyes."

—Vincent van Gogh

One Tough Broad, One Tough Art Board

July 12, 2021

   Is it possible to fail yourself to success? Sometimes, or more accurately, occasionally, assuming you don't give up at the first, or second, or third, set back.

   I am looking to do a series of illlustrations for a teaser campaign on our new book on Women of the Wild West. I wanted to cover the dog, as we say, and do some scratchboards and some gouache portraits of a variety of frontier females in a variety of heroic situations.

Daily Whip Out: "One Tough Broad"

   So here's the inside skinny on how I got the, splotchy, border effects on the above illustration. My partner, Ken Amorosano, and I, were in the Valley last week in a rare rainstorm and we were on our way to an appointment in downtown Phoenix and we had about five minutes to spare, so, on a wild whim, I asked him to pull into a stripmall at 16th St. and Indian School Road, where Arizona Art Supply is. I told him to keep the car running and I ran inside and grabbed a handfull of scratchboards and paid for them and we went on to the appointment. Later, when I got home I realized I bought a few "hardboards" by mistake. I thought I was grabbing a bunch of scratchboards but a couple of these slick surface boards were in there (they were all stacked together side by side). So, I tried to paint on the surface of the hardboard with water soluable gouache paint and got all those islands of paint globs which was a total turnoff and failure, but then I kept going (key phrase) to see what might happen, trying to get some traction and after about four layers, I ended up here. Crazy, huh?

"Failure lies at the heart of all art and. . .any story about art is a story about progressive failure."

—B.D. McClay

Be Wary of Stagecoach Mary

July 11, 2021

   Having fun with some of the contentious women of the Wild West. Here's one I would have liked to have shared a shot with.

Be Quite Wary of Stagecoach Mary

   She was a hard-drinking, quick-shooting former slave who'd had enough of anyone messing with her. She was so fierce, the federal government trusted her to carry the mail—only the second woman in history—and bandits quickly learned to stay away. Her stagecoach was never robbed, but she once had to fight off a pack of wolves. Montana will never forget her.

Daily Whip Out: "Stagecoach Mary"

(Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary)

   And here's one I feel like I should have known.

   She was a small, young woman pregnant with her fifth child when her rancher husband was murdered.  She had to fight for their inheritance and then figure out what to do with it. She carried on for two decades, becoming the largest landowner in the county. She was so beloved, on the day of her funeral, the town that replaced her ranch closed its doors in respect.  

— Helen Jane Wiser Steward, The First Lady of Las Vegas

"Las Vegas will BOOM SOON. THE SOONER THE BETTER."

—Helen Steward in a letter, October 14, 1924

Oh, Henry, Tell Me How to Write O. Henry Short Stories

 July 10, 2021

   To avoid the heat of the day (it was 87 degrees at midnight), I walked down at six this morning for a haircut from our neighbor, Bev, and took the dog. On the way back I had to stop and take this photo. Look at those green doors on the Triple B Bunkhouse! 

Meanwhile, Uno has that look that says,

"You look, I'm not all that interested."

More Women of The Wild West

   Gave myself the goal of doing a whole gaggle of black and white scratchboards of Western Women for my book project with Jana. Here's a taste of that effort.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Ticked Off Tewa Maiden"

I'm aiming for a checkerboard look, like this.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Checkerboard Women of the Wild West"

I am reading a big, fat book on The Cold War and what came out of it: Drip paintings, Andy Warhol, The Beatles, censorship wars over Tropic of Cancer, etc. and now I just read in the current New Yorker (July 5) a very cool piece by the same Cold War author, Louis Menand, on the King of the Short Story. Check out Menand's brilliant lead:

   "The story of the writer who called himself O. Henry could almost be an O. Henry story. The writer—his real name was William Sidney Porter—had a secret, and he spent most of his adult life trying to conceal it."

   Isn't that just the best? Menand then proceeds to spill the beans on Porter's secret about a third of the way in. (It's a three page article.) The lesson, at least for me, is to sometimes avoid the first line temptation of having this bio piece read like an O. Henry short story and save the secret to the very end. But NO. That in itself is unexpected and a nice insight into staying ahead of the reader. Don't give them what they expect when they expect it. Check.

   Another crazy little gem, at least for me, is that Porter "was also a talented cartoonist and. . .started up a weekly, called The Rolling Stone." I kid you not. This is a half century before Jann Wenner launched that other title of the same name. Then, "it did not prove to be a financially sustainable proposition." Ditto, dude.

   Of course, as most of you probably already know, Porter created this guy.

The Cisco Kid returned time and time again but Porter was long gone and never made a dime from any of it.

   The long running character of The Cisco Kid is from an O. Henry short story, "The Caballero's Way," published in 1917. Here's the lead to that classic tale: "The Cisco Kid killed six men in more or less fair scrimmages, had murdered twice as many (mostly Mexicans), and had winged a larger number whom he modestly forbore to count. Therefore a woman loved him."

   Couldn't get published today, but still funny.

   So, it's no suprise then, that Menand compares O. Henry short stories to "the model of the comic strip." Basically, "you always read it, because you know what you're going to get." Check.

"The plot to nearly all the good stories in the world is concerned with shorts who were unable to cover," declared Porter, meaning people who have borrowed money, bet on something and then come up short and can't cover the bet. One of his tricks is to take probable situations and give them improbable outcomes. Check.

   From there, Menand goes off to compare the O. Henry model to other literary genres and giants, like Saki, Kipling, Hemmingway and Poe. And what they have in common in terms of storytelling. I won't spoil the rest, but suffice to say, if you enjoy writing, I predict you will also learn something. Check.

Members of My Tribe

This photo of Cale Starr (left) and

Watie Freeman typesetting in the

Cherokee Advocate printing office

   I've spent many a late evening and early morning in the company of this tribe: typesetters and press men. I always thought they were a strange breed of cat, but they all, no doubt, looked at me the same way.

"I once asked this literary agent what kind of writing paid the best. He said, 'Ransom notes.'"

—Elmore Leonard, Get Shorty

Taking Things Too Far On The Tombstone Floppy-Wang-Dang-Noodle Foot Race

 July 8, 2021

   If you know anything about me at all, you know that I have a tendency to take things too far and overwork ideas until they turn to mush. Just ask my family therapist.

   Here's a good example. Our intrepid editor, Stuart Rosebrook, asked me to illustrate a Sherry Monahan Frontier Fare food column in the current issue since there are no known photos of the participants. Long story short, Sherry found this hilarious article in an 1880's Tombstone newspaper about a naked foot race. Here is the key part of the article:

A foot race in "the buff"?

    My first question is, if you are running nude, except for "running shoes," where exactly would you stick a "diamond pin"?

   No, I'm serious. If you have an idea, any idea, I want to hear it.

   So, then I asked Sherry this question:

Are there any descriptions of the nude runners?

   Sherry: "According to the Cochise County voter registration, Isaac Levi was born in Austria and was a merchant,  age 25 in 1881. He arrived in Tombstone July of 1880 and took over I. Goldtree's tobacco shop in August 1880. Both runners were named Isaac. Funny, two Isaacs running naked down Middle March Road!"

And where is the location of the foot race?

   Sherry Monahan's speculation: "I deduced Middle March Road based on the newspaper account. It's less than 2 miles from Tombstone. The entrance is almost across from the Tombstone campground. The article says it was on 'The Dragoon road, just out of town.'" Sherry sent me a photo of that area. She and her husband Larry have property out there. And here I am going hog wild on the landscape rather than depicting the foot race.

Daily Whip Out:

"Naked Foot Race Near South Pass Outside Tombstone, A.T."

   So, what would "running shoes" look like in 1881? Well, here is a photograph of baseball players from that year:

Baseball players and their shoes in 1881

   Dig that arch stripe and you can see I emulated that in this sketch:

Daily Whip Out:

"The Floppy-Wang-Dang-Noodle Foot Race"

   Not sure I believe it, though. That is the naked part. The whole article has a whimsical nature to it, but one thing is certain: We wouldn't be talking about it today if it was just a foot race. It's the naked part that captures our attention. Hmmmmm.

   And, in case you are curious, here is my family therapist.

Kathy Radina, Licensed Family Therapist

   Took this photo this morning of my therapist and her dog Uno admiring a new plant for the Triple B Bunkhouse that Carole Glenn gifted us and dropped off yesterday. It's a African Alcate and, according to Carole, it loves direct sunlight.

"Nakedness is the best disguise."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Two Nude Tombstone Sprinters

 July 7, 2021

   We've got a fun one in the next issue. Sherry Monahan in her column Frontier Fare has uncovered a very cool and crazy news item about a naked foot race north of Tombstone on Dragoon Road in the 1880s. Here is my first take on it:

Daily Whip Out:

"Two Nude Tombtone Runners"

   The guy hiding in the bushes, at left, pulled a lowdown stunt that threw the race. I have a more ambitious one which I'll post tomorrow with the full details on the flopping-wang-dang-noodle race.

“Civilization: a scheme to hide nakedness.”

― Marty Rubin

Edward S. Curtis Redeemed

July 5, 2021

   We've got a stunner of an issue going to the printer this weekend. Here is an exclusive, sneak peek behind the editorial curtain.

Edward S. Curtis Redeemed

An Underdog gets his due.

Edward S. Curtis

(1868-1952)

   All my life I have heard criticism of Edward Curtis. He faked his photos, he didn't do this, he had no business doing that. Here's how the man himself put his life's mission:

“I want to make them [American Indians] live forever. It’s such a big dream I can’t see it all. The passing of every old man or woman means the passing of some tradition, some knowledge of sacred rites possessed by no other…consequently the information that is to be gathered, for the benefit of future generations, respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost for all time.”

 —Edward Sheriff Curtis

   Yes, and the dream ended up being so big it broke him financially, it ruined his marriage and it almost killed him physically. Still, he endured. It took him thirty years to complete the project and in the end, he never made a dime out of the finished product. He is currently criticized, first for staging photos and making his subjects "too dramatic" rather than, say, capturing them in the documentary style of Dorothy Lange. And, then, just to rub salt in the wound, Curtis is criticized for cultural appropriation, and all that ridiculous claptrap.

   And, yet, the end results speak for themselves. In the next issue, which goes to press this weekend, you will bear witness to a stunning record of a people who deserve to be remembered as a proud people. Thank you Edward Sheriff Curtis. We love you and hopefully in this exclusive special collector's issue we have proved it!

   Issue will hit subscriber's mailboxes in three weeks. On newsstands, not too much later.

"For every negative that is a disappointment, there is one that is a joy."

—Edward Sheriff Curtis

Meet The Geezers & Sermon On The Rout

 July 4, 2021

    My mother always wanted me to become a minister. Some times I think I would have made a good one.

   Like today.

   But in my sermons, I would lean on slides and optical Whip Outs. Here's a few examples.

Daily Whip Out: "Don't Worry, Be Hopi"

   Yes, my sermons would be fun and humorous. And I would spare no one.

Meet The Geezers

   I have met a whole bunch of geezers in my time. Invariably, they stunned me with the things that came out of their mouths. You know, like this:

Daily Whip Out: "Oldtime Geezer"

"They don't want to work."

Daily Whip Out: "Geezer #2"

"If you ask me, they're too damn lazy."

   And, then, there are the folks caught in the middle.

Daily Flashback Whip Out:

"Mickey Remembers History A Little Differently"

  

 "Easy for you to say."

—Mickey Free

How I Would Preach About Sin

    Love the sinner, hate the sin.

Daily Whip Out: "The Sinner"

   And, when push comes to shove, listen to the mothers. That is where forgiveness lies.

Daily Whip Out: "Opodepe Mamacita"

"What the hell do you know, Cabrone?"

"Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense."

—Robert Frost

Daily Whip Out: "Everyone Is Guilty"

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked him to forgive me."

—Emo Philips

Daily Whip Out:

"Angst Down Thru The Ages"

   Maybe it was just as well I didn't become a minister. Or, maybe I did. A minister of Zane.

"Anybody with a sense of humor is going to put on my album and laugh from beginning to end."

—Eminem

Crazy Cool Images And The Stories We Need Right Now

 July 2, 2021

   Having too much fun, but I'm not real sure how to stop it. I guess you could chalk it up to Long Haul Covid.

Daily Whip Out: "The Lone Sentry"

This is a commission for a well known historian who somehow, some way, came up with enough cash (don't ask). I hope he's happy with it. Went out special delivery today to Albuquerque.

Also I am enjoying getting back into scratchboard mode.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Zapata's Wary Look"

  I'm experimenting with those bold, checkerboard scrapings, almost a van Gogh swirl to it to emulate neutral spaces. Perhaps I went a bit too far on the facial features. Wanted those wary eyes to pop and they did more so before I added too many highlights to the face. As the late, great, fellow artist, Walter Henn always told me, "Every artist needs another artist to stand behind him with a hammer and when the time is right, start hitting the artist over the head, while yelling, 'It's finished. Stop! For God's Sake, Don't ruin it!'"

My Swedish cowboy compadre, Rasmus Holmberg, is at it again. Here is his colorization of the legendary Marlow brothers, George and Charley.

Those Pipe Smokin' Marlow Brothers

Check out that concho on George's holster and the corduroy pants on Charley! Crazy cool. What I love about Rasmus's work is he is very subtle, he doesn't overdue the color.

Sometimes you can discover something cool by trying to do the opposite. Lifting is a valuable tool in watercolor painting and here is an example that went off the rails, but I kind of ended up with a cool effect:

Daily Whip Out: "Full Moon Rider"

This was supposed to be the background for my initial run at "The Lone Sentry" (see, at top) but it was too centered and when I got the sky laid in I wondered if there was a different scene to work on and I ended up here.

"[We have lost the ability] to tell stories in which opposing characters can each possess pieces of the truth, stories in which all the characters are embedded in time, at one point in their process of growth, stories rooted in the complexity of real life and not the dogma of ideological abstraction."

—David Brooks