New Billy Painting by Degas Surfaces?

July 17, 2014
   A shocking find this morning. Everyone knows the famous French Impressionist, Edgar Degas, spent time in New Orleans and he did a famous painting while there in the 1870s. What most people don't know is that Henry McCarty, had relatives in New Orleans and while on a visit there just prior to the Lincoln County War, it appears he sat for Degas. The resulting portrait, lost for 152 years, was found this morning in the garage:



 
Billy Bonney by Edward Degas

   Also found in this same stash of old art this portrait of Billy in Bonita:

 
Daily Whipout: "Billy In Front of Atkins Cantina, in Bonita, Arizona"

   Also found was this original photo of Barney Mason's ranch, which I believe was east of Fort Sumner.

 
The Barney Mason Ranch, near Fort Sumner, New Mexico

   Note what appears to be a white wagon at left, center. This looks to me like a typical sheep wagon, although I'm not sure exactly what that is. Do you see it?

"He came to town dressed like a country jake with shoes instead of boots. He wore a six-gun stuck in his trousers."
—Gus Gildea, describing the young Kid Antrim at Bonita, Arizona in 1877

Did Billy Fire Back?

July 16m 2014
   Still cleaning in studio and found this old T-shirt idea celebrating Billy the Kid in Bonita, Arizona, the date marking his first "kill." Lettering by Bob Steinhilber. Thought the folks in Bonita would love it, but they did not. I believe the woman who owned the bar there in Bonita (1991) was named Dottie and she had an annual celebration of sorts on the date of the Cahill shooting. I worked up this design and asked her if she wanted it to sell and she said, "No, we don't like it." She never said why. I always thought it was kind of cool in a specific to the Kid kind of way. Never got around to developing it farther, although I have another painting of the Kid as a "Country Jake" and I'll post it tomorrow.

 
Billy In Bonita, T-shirt rough design by Dan Harshberger

   And speaking of the Kid, Mark Lee Gardner forwarded me a very interesting new find. As I mentioned a couple days ago, Pat Garrett, Pete Maxwell and, I believe, both McKinney and Poe thought they heard three shots when Pat shot the kid at midnite in the darkened bedroom on July 14, 1881. They allegedly looked and looked and never could find another bullet hole to prove it. That's what makes this newspaper item, from the Clovis Evening News, May 31, 1937 rather interesting:

 
Interview with Buster DeGraftenried in Clovis Evening News, May 31, 1937

   Now the problem with Buster's story is Garrett didn't dive out the window, plus, he tells a bunch of other windys (trading horses with Geronimo near Vaughn, New Mexico and the like), but he was in the area at the right time. Hmmmm.

As Mark puts it: "There's no way to prove, of course, that the bullet "mark" was made by Billy's gun, and the old guy might have just been telling a windy, but the story certainly is intriguing."

"Let is all go and have a life that isn't dictated by the past."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Jesse James Hangs Out

July 16, 2014
   Woke up at three (thanks Bryan's Bar-B-Q!) and finally got up at four and worked on a couple projects. I've got my curator coming by this morning to start archiving my artwork.

   Ken and I are on the homestretch of The 66 Kid film which we are going to sneak at the Route 66 International Festival on August 15. Four weeks to finish it. Mike Torres is bringing by the final mix on the soundtrack music, which he and Hans Olson performed.

   Went for a walk up Old Stage at 5:30. Everything is tolerable out until the sun tops Continental Mountain at 5:55. Then it just gets ugly and uglier. The good news is we only have 16 more weeks of this. Ha. Actually about six to eight more weeks.

   Filled the seventh garbage bin, in seven weeks, with discarded art and hauled it out to the street for the recycling truck:



Garbage In: Jesse James Hangs Out

   That painting on the left was done in about 2002 when I was hot on the trail of the James Gang's retreat from Minnesota. It was supposed to illustrate Jesse and Frank riding the stolen, blind horse that ran into a tree, before they bailed on it (well, that and a sentry at a bridge crossing firing on them). Overworked the puppy. Had great photo reference of Chip DeMann and another re-enactor riding double on a horse, while wearing dusters, on the actual escape route of the gang west of Faribault, Minnesota. Had the right corn fields, buildings, everything. And still tubed it!

   As I took this photo, above, I noticed another two paintings sticking out and went over to give them one more look before closing the lid:

Garbage In: Mickey Free and Tommy Lee hang out

   Yes, the Mickey Free painting, on the right, is even worse, in the over-worked department, and the Tommy Lee Jones cover concept, middle, (done for a proposed True West cover on "The Missing") is a piece of crap as well.

    If you are thinking, "Hey, Boze, don't throw those away, I'll put them on the wall in my den," just remember I don't WANT you to do that. And I especially don't want to come to your house and see these hanging on your wall. That's how bad I think they are.

   Of course, one can over think these things and that in itself is something i am very good at.

"Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour, springs and germinates no more."
—Henri Frederic Amiel

LIve By The Gator, Die By The Gator

July 15, 2014
   Found this little painting, in my discard file this morning and gave it a whipout tweak:

 
Daily Whipout: "Madam Katie Fulton"

   Katie got her nose broken in a soiled doves melee in Olympic Park on the outskirts of Denver in August of 1877. In what has since been known as "The Nude Duel That Will Not Die" (okay, at least as long as I have called it that in my Classic Gunfight coverage). Katie went up against fellow madam Mattie Silks and it is believed Mattie's boyfriend, and "kept man," Cortese "Cort" Thomson is the one who did the damage. This fight is covered in Classic Gunfights, Volume I.

    Meanwhile, finished another study of a familiar landscape to the north of my house:

 
Daily Whipout: "Last Light On Morningstar #13"

   I'll get it yet. I have long been a fan of the gator until it almost killed me. Found this photo in my archives this morning. This was at the grand opening of the Country Swing bar—Honkytonk Sue's, north of McDowell Road on Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale. I believe this is in the late 70s. A Honkytonk Sue lookalike (who came off of Bill Heywood's morning show) is the vertical dancer, and that's me, on the floor, doing the notorious gator. Hey, I had to break in the club with some ridiculousness.

 
BBB and Honkytonk Sue "dancing" at the grand opening of Honkytonk Sue's niteclub

   This is a lethal dance. My Kingman compadre—Dan Harshberger_wrenched his knee so bad while doing this dance he still limps from it. I, of course, all but died doing it on March 22, 2008.

"Live by the Gator, die by the Gator."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Billy the Kid Checks Out

July 14, 2014
    Tonight is the night Billy took a bullet in the heart (in 1881), courtesy of his former friend, Pat Garrett. The sheriff of Lincoln County always maintained there were three shots fired that night, two by him and one by Billy. The other ear-witnesses, Pet Maxwell and deputies Tip McKinney and John Poe also agreed they heard three shots, but no evidence was ever found of a bullet in the walls of Pete's room.

   Recently, Mark Lee Gardner found a newspaper article that solves the mystery. Stay tuned.

   Meanwhile, as I was cleaning this weekend I found an old T-shirt design created by myself and my neighbor Judy Darbyshire. I never quite liked the figure of Billy but I always dug the lettering and the concept of the Kid being the "I" in Billy. Decided I would take one more crack at it and either ruin it or save it:



Daily Whipout: "Billy the Kid T-shirt Design"



   Also, found a couple more daily whipouts I thought I could save, or ruin, like this one:

 
Daily Whipout: "Mickey Free Rides Out of the Fire Zone"

   The extra-keen vision of the Apaches has often been remarked on. Once when a cavalry column was scouting the flats south of Naco they spotted a rider coming towards them at a run. Even with binoculars, the anglo officers could not make out if the rider was friend or foe, but one of the Apache scouts said, "Rides like Apache." Even at a great distance he could tell, by the style of riding, what kind of tribesman was on the back of that horse. Now THAT'S vision.

 
Daily Whipout: "Rides Like Apache"

"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."
—Steven Wright

Garbage In, Garbage Out

July 13, 2014
   So far, I have filled at least six big recycling containers with bad art and loose paper and STILL it appears like I haven't even touched the space in the garage where a large pallet of "66 Kid" books will land very soon. Here's part of the space that needs to be cleared:



The garage after six weekends of cleaning

   My goal has been to fill the recycling container every week and so far, so good. Heere's the flat file area in the corner:



Flat file corner with disgusting evidence of termites and rat droppings

   You can see the flat files because I hauled all of the art that was stacked here out into the breezeway to sort and label:



Assorted New Times cartoons, Honkytonk Sue flats and Al Sieber at Gettysburg (color explosion, upper left) intended as a back story for "Mickey Free."

   And speaking of Mickey Free, I found this daily whip out in the pile that is much better than most of the crap out here.



Daily Whipout: "Mickey Free Climbs Out of The Fire Zone"

   This kind of harsh environment, with fires ravaging the landscape, seemed over-the-top when The Top Secret Writer and I were writing the saga of Mickey Free on his hunt for The Apache Kid, but now, today, with fires everywhere, every season, dare I say, it seems somewhat normal?

   I'm meeting my curator, Cal Nelson, at noon today to go over a coding system and methodology to ID and store the art in some logical and organized way. Hard, hot work, but my main goal is to not leave Kathy a mess and to hopefully leave something worth keeping. I know it's vain and probably a fool's errand, but, hey, it keeps me off the streets.

"Many things should be done in silence and talkin' about them is a mistake."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Let There Be Drums, Part II

July 12, 2014
   Last Tuesday morning I met legendary Bluesman Hans Olson and Kingman guitar great Mike Torres in the recording studio to lay down the tracks for "The 66 Kid," a song Hans and I collaborated on together (it's really Hans' song though as he wrote the music and sings it in his distinctive style). As soon as I got to Praiselab Studios, run by engineer Thom Casey, Hans asked me to sit at the drums and see if I liked the sound.



Hans Olson works on the lyrics while Mike Torres straps in and Thom dials in the board.

   Well, I didn't like the sound of the drums, at all. Hitting the snare it sounded like I was thumping a dead rat, and the cymbals were totally dead with a thick as a brick thud sound. But then Thom told me to put on the "cans" (headphones) and listen to my taps. Well, I'll be Jon Bonham, if it didn't sound like a solid, proper set of chrome-plated Ludwigs.

   Hans asked me to play along with the click track and see if I could keep up. It had been, after all, five years since my last drumming session, and if you were in Kingman on March 22, 2008, you know how THAT session turned out!


Fake drums and a flake drummer pound out the beat. . .

   Amazing what our muscle memory retains. I had lost some speed but when I got done (it's a long song at five verses and two lead breaks) Hans and Mike both gave their thumbs up and it looks like I may end up on the record.

   I know, I know, hardly anybody makes records anymore, but I'm hopelessly in the past and have no intention of changing my vernacular, even though I have to laugh as it relates to my grandmother. When she and my grandpa came out for my high school graduation in 1965, the Exits were playing at the Elks and she said, and I quote:

"Is your orchestra going to be playing tonight, Robert?"
—Grandma Minnie Bell

   Well, Grandmother, it's not really an orchestra, but I could see she was hopelessly in the past. So, that's what I sound like talking about "records" and "gigs," but then all I ever wanted was to sound like the second-best drummer of my generation:

"His drum solos sound like someone pouring a ten-pound bag of potatoes over a drum set."
—A critic describing Ginger Baker's style a la Cream

Mickey Free Redux: Ruined or Saved?

July 11, 2014
    Still filing and throwing away bad art. Found a discarded painting of a certain one-eyed scout and took another run at it, painting over the bad parts and enhancing the few good parts with a zeal I didn't know I had (amazing what you can do when you don't care about the outcome). Here is the daily whipout as I found it in the discard file:

 
Daily Whipout: "Mickey Free Gets His Gaucho On"

   I felt like it was too busy and his costume was a little too flamboyant, almost Peruvian, or gaucho looking. So, since I was going to chuck it, I decided to see if I could prune it down to the basics and see if that would make for a more dynamic image:

 
Daily Whipout: "Mickey Free Slices And Dices"

   Is it more dramatic? Is it cleaner and leaner? Or, did I ruin a perfectly fine illustration? I'm usually the last to know.

"Every artist needs another artist to stand behind him and hit him over the head when he starts to ruin a perfectly good painting."
—Nora Henn's husband

Gunslinger Meets The Hillbillies

July 10, 2014
  After our media blitz at The Ciritics Association conference we got to mingle with some of the other "talent" on the Discovery slate and I hit if off with the dudes from the new show "Hillbilly Blood."



The Gunslinger Meets The Hillbillies: Spencer "Two Dogs" Bolejack, BBB and "Cowboy"

   Kathy and I sat in on the Tru TV showcase this morning and watched some of their new shows, including "Way Out West" a reality show about some cowboy pack trips guys and their wives that has already been picked up for another 13 shows (think "Duck Dynasty" meets "Bronco Lane"), plus, "The Carbonaro Effect," "Branson Famous" (working title), "Hack My Life," "Kart Life," and "Fake Off," to name but a few of the dozens and dozens of new shows.

   Robert Rodriguez is coming in next with his new El Rey channel contributions and although we have to leave for the airport I'm hoping I get to catch him before we fly back to the sand box.

"Life's been good to me, so far."
—Joe Walsh, parodying the lifestyle of all the people at this conference

Gunslinger Media Blitz

July 10, 2014
   Yesterday was a whirlwind of media blitz and Uber travel. Started early in the main ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel where 200 TV critics from around the world assembled with their glowing laptops lighting the room:



The stage at the twice-a-year rollout of Summer 2014 TCA (Television Critics Assoc.) Presentations

First up was the Discovery Channel's new show "Naked and Afraid" (Kathy got a ball cap with the logo on it). Then came "Pit Bulls & Paroles". We followed with a sizzle reel of the six-part-series "Gunslingers".



That's the actor Walt Willey, me and Chris Cassel, the director on stage. We took questions from the audience and we worked together very well (we were coached the day before by veteran anchor and media consultant Steve Grey) and I somewhat stunned the cynical crowd by singing the Wyatt Earp theme song. What are the odds that I would know any of the gathered TV critics. Well, when we got off stage I was met in the back of the room by this familiar face:


New Times and Zonie bandmate, Dave Walker who now works for the Picayune Press in New Orleans. He has been coming to these two-week-at-a-time affairs for the past 20 years. At the first one there were mostly male critics from 120 newspapers on expense accounts, with typewriters on the tables and an ash tray at each station. Dave estimates there are maybe 20 newspapers represented and it's mostly digital reporting (lots of tweeting going on as the show unfolds). Also, at Dave's first show the OJ chase was unfolding during the sessions. Amazing.

These shows and the networks themselves are oiled and tuned and massaged into shape by a battalion of young women 18-35 who shepherd us from place to place, on to the stage, off, and then through a long hallway of media rooms where outlets like the BBC and ET have cameras set up in makeshift studios. Our first stop was at the Dish Network where we were met by Jessica (getting her makeup freshened up):



Jessica of The Dish crew who lobbed us huge watermelon questions which we crushed out of the park.

After a round of these quickies we were whisked into a small room where a Getty photographer shot us in a variety of poses.

Chris Cassel get's his closeup

I was shot in this position then taken over to a sitting position and a big wooden box plopped in front of me where I was encouraged to ham it up.



Poster position number one

And of course, it didn't take much to get me to go farther:



These were taken by the photo assistant Matt, using my phone camera. The real photographer, who I am facing, was shooting rapidly and all the photos appeared instantly on a large computer screen off to my right. The guy is very good and he shot very quickly.

After that we all went to lunch at Trader Vic's where we met some of the other "talent." I hit if off with the guys from "Hillbilly Blood". Pics to follow.

"That's a wrap."
—Old TV slang for finishing a shot

"

At the press conference for "Gunslingers"

July 8, 2014
  Flew into LAX this morning and landed at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the press conference to launch a ground breaking new TV series "Gunslinglers" on the new American Heroes Channel. Event happens in the morning. All my best buds are talking heads on this six-part show including Paul Andrew Hutton, Drew Gomber, Thom Ross, Mark Lee Gardner and many others.


Here we are at the run though this evening. That's Chris Cassel, the director and producer at left, with Walt Willey ("Days of Our Lives" and he plays "Wild Bill" in the series) and a top executive at the network who I met and was very impressed with, but don't remember her name.

  The show premieres on July 20. Watch for it.

"Out of old fields comes all the new corn."
—Chaucer

Daily Whipout: Billy Is Da Bomb

July 7, 2014
   Came into the office early to fix a Maxwell house-Fort Sumner map problem in the September Classic Gunfight feature. Leaving at 8:30 for a recording session with Hans Olson and Mike Torres.

   Worked most of yesterday on cataloging and compiling artwork in the garage and in the studio. Came up with 15 categories and now I just need to put everything into their proper place. Fortunately, I have a neighbor, Cal Nelson, who has offered to help me tag everything by date, title, where it ran, etc. Going to take some time.

   Meanwhile, I found several, semi-worked paintings that I couldn't resist "finishing." Like this one:

 
Daily Whipout: "Billy Is Da Bomb"

   This was inspired by the hispanic dude who rode with Billy the Kid in the Lincoln County War, then lived long enough to witness (or, at least see the light coming over the mountains) the first atomic bomb test at the Trinity Site, almost due west of Lincoln. As I say in the first edition of Billy, "from Billy the Kid to atomic bombs, not a bad stretch for one lifetime. . ."

   I actually worked on a half dozen others (it's relaxing to me), and the verdict is still out on most of them, but I did finish another one, with a similar theme:

 
Daily Whipout: "El Jefe"

   This is from a photo of a Mexican revolutionary dude I have somewhere in my "Vaquero File." I started it at least ten years ago, but when I saw it yesterday I thought to myself, "I think I can finish this guy off."

"I like men to behave like men—strong and childish."
—Francoise Sagan

Saving Bob Boze Bell Art

July 6, 2014
   Danger: navel gazing ahead: When I go on my morning walks it helps me clear my mind and in the quiet I get to think of the day ahead and all the things I want to accomplish. But sometimes I am shocked back into the present and it usually involves the mountains and the sky yelling at me. Their loud message is clear: I simply need to be in the moment. Like this moment, at 5:55 a.m. with the sky opening up over Ratcliff Ridge.



In This Moment All Things Are Possible, 5:55 a.m. Ratcliff Ridge

   Last week I had a conversation with the director of the Tempe branch of the Arizona Historical Society about donating my cartoons, artwork, research materials and artifacts to an organization that would want it, and would take care of it. John Langellier told me the first step is to tag and document all of the materials and then have it all appraised. So, I need a pro to help me, and last Friday night one offered her time to help me organize and document everything. And she had one piece of advice:

"Stop throwing stuff away until I can see it!"
—Cal Nelson

Lee Anderson And Concho Steal Show at Prescott Parade

July 5, 2014
   Got up at 5:30 and did my morning hike up to Morningstar and back. Threw my long pants in the Flex, drove down to my neighbors—Jon Nelson's house—and we took off for Prescott at 6:30, arriving in the downtown staging area at eight.

   Jon, who is jokingly known as the oldest unpaid intern, drove the True West Checker extended cab in the parade and Greg, Sarah and myself handed out 16 boxes of magazines on the route. Saw may old-timers I know: they always say, "Hello Bob,"  about the way I imagine Billy the Kid said it to Bob Ollinger. It has an edge of familiarity tinged with a pinch of irritation (oh, it's YOU again). Ha.

This photo was taken by Dale Schwamborn of Dewey, Arizona and he shared it with me. I actually walked most of the parade route, handing out magazines, but when we ran out, just north of the Palace Saloon, I jumped on the back for the scenic showoff part of the parade. In fact, when I was walking, one of the sexiest radio personalities I ever worked with—Carol Springer—ran out to give me a hug, then said in my ear, "You heard about Chuck [a radio GM we both know], didn't you? He died yesterday." Well, crap. That was a downer. I can't even do a parade without a death reminder? It's like a bad metaphor in a bad movie: Sexy DJ runs towards me in slow mo and whispers in my ear: "You're next, cowboy." When I turn to look at her sashay away, she turns and it's Skeletor. I know so many people who are on the ropes, health wise, it's not even funny. What do you do? Keep walking, keep smiling, keep waving. That's the gig, Jack.

   Oh, and by the way, here is video I shot of Carol and the KSLX gang back in the nineties.

Carol Springer, The Queen of Classic Rock

   The opening sequence was shot for a TV show we did at Channel 10. The rest I shot on my petite video camera. Didn't have time for any pictures at the parade, but as we rounded the corner I took this little parting shot video:

Lee Anderson and Concho Steal The Show at Prescott Parade

"A wink is as good as a nod to a blind mule."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Random Rattler Wishes Us A Happy Fourth

July 4, 2014
   Kathy is going down to the D's for a Fourth of July luncheon and I stayed here to clean in my studio and the garage. Got a call from her saying she had forgotten a cold dish for the party and could I get it out of the fridge and meet her in the driveway. Got it, walked out the gate. She pulled in and stopped and as I leaned forward to hand her the dish when I saw something moving on the driveway under my feet. This is what it was:

A Slithering Visitor

   I believe this is a Coontail Rattler, also known as a Mohave Rattler. They are especially dangerous because they often down't give you the courtesy rattle (which is why I'm filming from a distance). This the first of the season for us. One summer our neighbor killed 11.

   Need to go get long pants on and find my rattler-hook. About the last thing I want to do today.

"Stay shy of a man who's all gurgle and no guts."
—Od Vaquero Saying

Honkytonk Sue as Lady Liberty

July 4, 2014
   Got our first Monsoon last night. Lots of dust and wind and a six inch rain (one drop every six inches). Woke up to a muggy morning. Walked up Old Stage Road and when I got to the top of Morningstar, I spied this familiar ridge off to the west. Seems fake, doesn't it?



Geometric Ridge: If I saw this in a painting I would say the artist was exaggerating the geometric shapes (unless, of course, it was Ed Mell, and then I'd be positive he was exaggerating the shapes). But there you have it. Mother Nature poaching an Ed Mell painting.

   Still cleaning in the garage. Found a batch of cartoons I did for the New Times in 1991.



Yes, that's Goldie Hawn, upper left, and I'm admonishing her to hurry up on the Honkytonk Sue movie or she would soon become too old to play the part. Sigh. And yes, that is a Billy On The Brain confession at bottom, left, proving I was plumb crazy about the Kid even before I published my first Billy book (1992). Upper right, is a Fourth of July cartoon attempting to honor our troops in Kuwait. I have Lady Liberty as Honkytonk Sue hoisting a beer to "the boys".



Lady Liberty Hoists A Cold One On The Fourth of July, 1991

For some strange reason I gave Ms. Liberty a Bohemia beer. I also found a full set of original Honkytonk Sue comics:



The four Honkytonk Sue comics: Vol. I (1978), Vol. II (1979), Vol. III (1979), Vol IV (1980)

I'm proud to say, these comics are worth hundreds of dollars. Okay, tens of dollars. Seeing them now in the light of a new day, I am struck at how mediocre they are. I took some chances, but not big enough. I needed to leap but I only hopped. I just read Peter Matthiessen's "The Snow Leopard" and THAT guy took some risks. How big?

"For fame, for craft, for our enlightenment, they do us the old-fashioned honor of risking their lives."
—Edward Hoagland, in a review of "The Snow Leopard"

The 66 Kid Revisited & Heatwave Hitcher

July 3, 2014
   Got out into the garage after my walk at about six this morning and bailed into organizing and chucking bad art into the dumpster. Found five semi-failures and brought them into the studio and made an effort to salvage them, maybe saving three:

 
Daily Whipout: "The 66 Kid, Heatwave Hitcher"

  Also, tweaked and finished this little landscape:

 
Daily Whipout: "Topock Marsh"

   And this one:

 
Daily Whipout: "Soggy Morning"

"Where I come from, when a Catholic marries a Lutheran it is considered the first step on the road to Minneapolis."
—Garrison Keillor

Billy's Last Second On Earth

July 2, 2014

   Hotter than the second of July out here. 106 in the shade. Streets deserted, ACs groaning on every rooftop. Heaven help us all when the grid goes down.



   I've been working on dispelling most the wild theories about what actually happened in Pete Maxwell's bedroom on July 14, 1881.



 
Bob Boze Bell oil painting, July 14, 1991, "Billy's Last Second On Earth"

   Of course, I have always had my own wild theories (I never believed the Kid was armed and I have long subscribed to Frederick William Grey's account of Garrett arriving early, gagging the girl—Paulita—and shooting down Billy like a dog), but, thanks to Mark Lee Gardner (he wrote "To Hell On A Fast Horse") and a second look at Grey's book has caused me to back off that assumption. The guy—Grey—was a major BSer along the lines of Dr. Hoyt (both, as it turns out, are totally unreliable as sources). There are other theories Gardner dismantles as well, but suffice to say, it's going to be controversial. Anyway, at the end of our work today, I asked him if we had missed any conspiracy theories he wanted to address and he said, and I quote, "it's not Brushy Bill who's buried in the Hico, Texas, cemetery."  Now, there's a conspiracy theory I can get behind.





   The new Billy the Kid CDV sold for close to $18,000 and the buyer was Craig Fouts, a friend of the magazine and the former owner of the famous Wyatt Earp portrait (the one in the oval that was taken in San Diego). Fouts sold his substantial collection to Bill Koch recently, but now appears to be back in the game.

   I have always been fond of desolate highways on the desert. Here's a study done for La Gata back in the mid-eighties:



 
Daily Whipout: "Mutant Highway"

   Remember when the president of the United States could appear in a Van Halen rock video and nobody beat him up about it? I think America was a more compassionate, ass-kicking nation in those days.



 
Daily Whipout: "Heavy Metal Reagan"

   Playing with doing a book on the highlights from my quest to do 10,000 bad drawings. This is a very good page to start with:

 
Daily Whipout Sketches: August 6, 2009

"There are very few people who don't become more interesting when they stop talking."
—Mary Lowry







Daily Whipout: "

The Kid Still Stands Tall

July 1, 2014
   Got out on the road at 5:30 this morning. Much cooler out. Did notice that the first light on Morningstar is similar to The Last Light On Morningstar:


First Light On Morningstar

   Notice the low ridge with the gleaming adobe at right, center. This is the same adobe that shows up at sunset.

 
Daily Whipout: "Last Light On Morningstar #10"

   Found another little gem in the same stack of rejects:

 
Daily Whipout, "Night Time Driver"

   Nice little study, didn't make the final book, but I like it. Also found this old Tucson band poster and had a realization:

 
The Five of Us (were actually just four guys?)

   Decided against using the Billy sketch I posted reently and instead went with this painting to illustrate my editorial on "Billy the Bedwetter?"

 
Daily Whipout: "The Kid Still Stands Tall"

"Outside every thin woman is a fat man trying to get in."
—Katherine Whitehorn