Pastoral Narrative With Teeth

April 6, 2012

Enjoyed reading this posting this morning: "I don't know about y'all, but I love this website. It's a great respite from all the crap going on in this world. I often think (and wish) I'd been born in the early 1800's instead of the mid 1900's. Granted, the life expectancy for a man at that time was about 50 and you were considered an Old Phart at 40.

"Nonetheless, I think I would have been a whole lot more satisfied with life way back when.

"Anyhow, the purpose of this is that you may have friends who need a place to hang their hats and kick back at the end of a long hard day in the old grind. Why not let them know about this site? All y'all need to do is CLICK HERE to import your e-mail contacts and invite them. Once you enter your invitations, you'll have a chance to send them a brief message. Just tell them this ain't no dadgum political site, it's about history and the Old West."

I think this dovetails with the article I was telling Ken about in the New York Times where an urban mother writes that she can't quite figure out why she so enjoys reading "Little House On The Prairie" to her two daughters and why THEY enjoy it so much. She guesses it's because deep down we all love "pastoral narrative with sharp teeth," and we all love "a fantasy of total isolation and total control." This is the secret power of Davy Crockett, Billy the Kid, etc. People want to get away from the stress of the modern world and the frontier West takes them there. I told my staff: "Let's don't forget to take them there!"

Last night I shot a couple dozen photos off of The Westerns Channel. One of my favorite shows growing up was "Lawman". Loved that dude's chiseled face.

That's Peter Brown at right who I just had lunch with two weeks ago. Peter and his wife stayed in the exact same flat we stayed at in Paris a year ago. Peter said the landlord told him, "Oh, you are in into all things Western? We had a crazy American here last year who publishes a true magazine." What are the odds?

Using the screen captures on "Lawman" to utilize in the Wyatt Earp time travel story. Sketches to follow.

"You have merely replaced one myth with another."
—Wyatt Earp to a young whipper snapper named Burns

The 1,000 Faces of Wyatt Earp

April 5, 2012

When I get going on due diligence I get a little manic. Been noodling and obsessing on the facial characteristics of Wyatt Earp. Here's my sketches from yesterday morning:

And here's a page of sketches from yesterday afternoon:

And here's this morning's sketches which ironically, has the best likeness of Earp (which ironically was inspired by a William S. Hart photo):

And speaking of William S. Hart, our very own Anthony Martin won the True West subscription with his take on the Wyatt Earp mystery car. Here's what Anthony had to say about the Earp car:

“I feel confident the car is a 1924-1925 Packard, model 326 Opera Coup. Tom Mix’s taste ran to flash—he owned several big open Cadillac tourers that were somewhat tricked out and Hart tended to quieter, more dignified taste favoring Packards. I believe this most likely to have been Hart’s. Really their difference in car taste is rather like (and consistent with) their difference in screen persona and presentation!”

—Anthony Martin

Well said, sir! And, I believe, dead on. I would bet money the car belonged to Hart.

"What is true by lamplight is not always true by sunlight."
—Joseph Joubert

Wyatt Earp Mystery Car

April 4, 2012

Here's a famous photo of Wyatt Earp standing next to a fancy car.

I believe the photo first shows up in Stuart Lake's book Frontier Marshal. Some historians believe the touring car belonged to Western movie star William S. Hart (although it could have belonged to Tom Mix and we have a photo in the next issue showing Mix inside a fancy touring car). Both actors were fans of Earp and, according to Hart's son, his father had photos taken with Wyatt, but those photos are lost. It's possible Hart hired a photographer, or had a studio photographer accompany him, and that's how this photograph came to be. We really don't know.

Okay gear heads, what kind of car is it and what year is it? If you are the first to get the make and year you will win a free subscription to True West for you or a friend.

"That's easy: I can name that car AND the year."
—Allen P. Bell, who is, unfortunately deceased

Bndido

April 4, 2012

Sometimes I find old pages of sketches that kind of stun me. On my quest to do 10,000 bad drawings I whipped out this page of mini-loosie-goosies. So loose, so free. Wish I had the courage to do this every day.

Did this almost three years ago. Love that smoky bandido in this corner. How do I command this boldness in the future? Gee, I wonder if ol' Lionel has anything to say about this?

"The poet is in command of his fantasy, while it is exactly the mark of the neurotic that he is possessed by his fantasy."
—Lionel Trilling

A Sneak Peek at Bob Paul cover

April 4, 2012

Just got a sneak peek at the cover of John Boessenecker's next book, which will be published by Oklahoma Press in October. We will be doing an excerpt in October in True West magazine. If you followed the many incarnations of this cover painting, perhaps you are as surprised as I am, at how nice it turned out.

Meanwhile, last Friday I drove up to Prescott Valley, which is an hour and a half run from Cave Creek. Met with the town manager and the sculptor, Deb Gessner who is actually doing the sculpting on the project, which is turning my painting "Not-So-Gentle Tamer" into a statue for the front of city hall. Here is Deb putting the finishing touches on one of the clay work-ups.

With absolutely no help from me, Deb totally nailed the hat (which is always a priority with me) and she really captured the resolve in the face, which is flat out even better than my painting.

Anyway, I called my Aunt Jean in Fort Sumner right after taking this picture (and it's still so amazing and ridiculous to me that I did both on the same machine!) and I told my aunt to get ready to attend the unveiling of the statue sometime later this year. I will be dedicating it to my two grandmothers, Grandma Guess and Minnie Hauan Bell, who were the inspiration for the piece. Both were women who seemed gentle on the surface, but both had a steely resolve that was breathtaking to behold. As a 9-year-old boy I watched my Grandma Minnie dispatch five chickens by putting their necks on the back porch steps, stepping on their bodies and twisting the heads off with swift and confident flick. As I watched the chickens flailing around the back yard—headless—I was stunned and, needless to say, I never looked at my kindly grandmother the same ever again.

"The older I get, the greater I was."

—Van Dyke Parks

Wyatt On The Set Final

April 3, 2012

Got up at five, sketched like crazy until about eight, utilizing a variety of movie set references, finally went to painting about eight-thirty, kept at it until noon, broke for lunch, did a final push and finished at 1:30, brought it into the office, scanned it and sent it via the cloud down to Dan The Man for the layout of "Wyatt On The Set".

Can you spot Wyatt? Hint: he's standing next to a young John Wayne. Oh, and on every movie set I've been on there is always one guy walking away (see, at right). Going to lunch, back to the studio, fed up, etc. As William Goldman (or was it Larry McMurtry?) once remarked:

"The most exciting day of my life was my first day on a movie set and the most boring day of my life was later that same day."
—William Goldman (paraphrased)

Welcome to New Mexico WWA final cover painting

April 2, 2012

Last Saturday was the annual Cave Creek Rodeo Parade. Put out the call for people to join me, but since it was at the last minute (we turned in our $40 parade fee on Friday and were #60 in the lineup, out of 61) everyone was busy. My good neighbor, Tom Augherton answered the call and while he drove the Super True West Taxi I stood on the back tail gate and pre-qualified everyone along the route by demanding, "I want readers. Who reads? I only want readers. Do you read?" Only if they said they were readers did I give them a free True West magazine. This was my view over the top of the taxi:

The parade entry in front of us (see photo, above) had a number of riders and just as the parade started one of the women in the group grabbed a banner, with a pole connecting the top, and was going to hand the other end to another rider so that they could ride along side by side holding the banner between them. Of course, the first horse freaked at the strange contraption which forced the rider to drop the banner, setting off the second horse who did a 180 and proceeded out of the area. The banner was put in the back of the jeep about a minute before this photo was taken.

And, in case you haven't seen it, here' a side view of The Matt Grace True West Super taxi:

Meanwhile, here's a closer view of one of our outriders:

The horse's name is Saguaro and this ain't her first rodeo parade. The cowboy, who is one of the parade chairmen, told me she is 20-years-old and "this is her last parade." He mentioned all of his kids were raised riding this horse and then he couldn't go on, said he was going to tear up, so I didn't ask him anything more about it, but I thought I should take a photo of her last parade ride. She sure is a pretty thing, check out those gams!

Meanwhile, Kathy and I have had more house guests in the past three weeks than in all the years we've been married. This is Sunday dinner last night. Had to move everything out on the patio because they wouldn't fit in our dining room. Can you spot the Radinas from Michigan?

Worked all weekend on another cavalcade of New Mexico history cover painting for Johnny D. Boggs and the WWA Albuquerque Convention in June. Didn't finish. Went home for lunch today and finished it: I call it "Welcome to New Mexico: Home of Big Clouds, Big Legends, Prancing Vaqueros, Sexy Senoritas And Very Irritated In-dins".

Yes, that's a nod to Remington ("Going to The Rodeo") in center and yes, that's Paulita Maxwell on the right. At least, the Paulita in my dreams. Ha.

"Far and away the best prize that life offers it the chance to work hard at work worth doing

—Teddy Roosevelt

Disenchantment Fall Back Position

March 30, 2012

Although he didn't admit it, I think my "Land of Disenchantment" idea gave Johnny D. Boggs heartburn. I emailed him this morning and told him if he'd give me the weekend I'd get him something less edgy and more history minded. Whipped this out before I came into work:

A straight-up vaquero: "Jumpin' On It" is a good place holder. I sent this to Johnny in hopes he can sleep better this weekend, as I take another run at it. Meanwhile, still noodling the layout for Wyatt On The Set. Played with the idea of adding a long shadow of Earp as the looming hulk he was to become.

Dan thinks I might be overproducing (Who, ME?), so the debate is on: does the shadowy, looming visage of the future Wyatt Earp say what we want it to say? That no one on that movie set in 1921, including Wyatt Earp himself, has a clue about how large he will someday come to dominate the image of The Gunfighter in the American West?

Well, does it?

"We must be doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary to us than thought."—William Hazlitt

Kid Burns

March 29, 2012

Went home for lunch and worked on a cover concept for Johnny Boggs and the Western Writers of America who have their convention in Albuquerque on June 15. Since it's the centennial year for both Arizona and New Mexico I suggested a cavalcade of history style cover illustration. I grew up on these collages of historic figures mashed together. However, as I got to going on it, I noticed that everyone looked rather unhappy. So, this is called "The Land of Disenchantment."

I told Johnny it might be too dark. Yes, that's Mangus Colorado in the upper right. The only guy who is happy seems to be the Kid, so you might also call this, "Ain't Nobody Happy Unless The Kid Is Happy."

Or not.

"Would it hurt you to care about the truth, just a little?"
—Kid Burns to his soon-to-be ex-wife, in the next installment of Graphic Cinema

Brush Poppin', Curled Brim Wearin' Earp Head Gear

March 29, 2012

Working on the next installment of Graphic Cinema where-in we catch up with Wyatt Earp at the so-called Mescal Springs fight in March of 1882. I have a hunch he wore different head gear in the brush than he did in town (you see photographic evidence of this with George Parsons posing in the studio with completely different clothing that he wears out on the trail than what he wears to work in Tombstone).

And, yes, I'm aware it has the so-called rodeo curled brim, but I defy you to prove that he didn't wear this style hat.

"They say they didn't have time to think—to choose to decide, only to react. There's a biological switchlike mechanism that turns on in some people's brains, sending them into action automatically. They go from a bystander to hero in a split second."
—A Fort Huachuca scientest trying to explain Earp's reaction to events in the Tombstone story

Snidely Whiplash Earp

March 28, 2012

I have been accused of being anti-Earp. Although I don't see it that way, I do understand the criticism. As I have been developing the latest Graphic Cinema for True West I have been sketching the frontier marshal with, what I would call, an unflinching eye. Some might see it as negative.

I see myself leaning on his steely-eyed visage, whereas some might see Snidely Whiplash.

Had a design review this morning with Ken, Meghan, Robert and Dan The Man. Lots of input and trading up, which is a good thing. I rejected my opening spread illustration on "Wyatt On The Set."

I hate it when I miss the original idea (which was MY idea!). My original rough sketch layout is what I want, so I return to the drawing board.

The idea being that Wyatt Earp was in the background watching the filming. He never got close to being in front of the camera. In my defense, I was in a hurry to go to Mexico and perhaps rushed it a bit.

"You will meet your destiny on a road you took to avoid it."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Back Yard Wedding Bells

March 27, 2012

Had a small wedding party in our back yard last Saturday night. Here are a couple of photos John Beckett took of the fandango, starting with the newlyweds, Amy Pattarapan Pothong and Thomas Charles Bell:

Here's the latest extension of the Bell family (below), with the next wedding to involve the couple on the right.

Things got a little wild after a four course Thai dinner (cooked by Amy's mother and aunt) and during the snowball dance a certain cowboy cartoonist went and got one of T's friends from Tucson to dance: Believe me, it's not as gay as it looks.

Okay, it looks pretty gay. Still working on frontier marshal faces. Actually did these in Mexico last week.

Still not there yet. Haven't quite got it and it's been 71 days of due diligence. Gee, I wonder what ol' Gide has to say about this?

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."
—Andre Gide

Mexico Sketches

March 26, 2012

Back from a week in Rocky Point, Mexico. Great beach, great food and great downtime (no internet access for five days!). Spent the time drawing, drinking and napping (in that order).

Worked hard on the story and the characters, especially the main character. Here's a page of graphic cinema pastiche:

Did, perhaps, 50 drawings on a variety of angles on the frontier marshal. Want it to be clean and lean. Here's one I did yesterday:

Perhaps a bit too Kurt Russell-ish, which, in fact, was the art reference. This morning I took a crack at Morgan Earp, seeing if I could find a common connection to the family facial structure and especially the Earp nose. They definitely had a bulbous schnozz deal going.

Trying to throw this all together into a graphic cinema for the next issue. Getting tight. Need to distill all the writing and art into something that has a strong voice. Here are two quotes that really describe my current dilemma:

"No matter how pretty the picture is, if there is no story or meaning in it, there will be no interest."
—Hal Foster, author and illustrator of the classic cartoon strips Tarzan and Prince Valliant

"Uninterpreted truth is as useless as buried treasure."
—Lytton Strachey

Wyatt On The Set #5

March 17, 2012

My son is getting married today, but I had to finish the Wyatt On The Set opening spread illustration. Worked until about 11 and came up to the office to scan it:

What we have here is Wyatt on the set of "Wild Bill Hickok" (1923) standing next to the actor who plays him and William S. Hart in the title role, on right. This is the first portrayal of Wyatt in a movie. Paul Hutton is writing the piece to accompany the illustration.

Going dark here for a week. Going to Mexico to dodge cartel caravans.

"When a dirty fighter has no legs left, he aims low."
—Wyatt Earp, as quoted in my Extremely O.K. time travel graphic novel

Edmundo

March 15, 2012

I did an interview on NPR yesterday. You can hear it right here.

Meanwhile, found a half-finished painting in my morgue this morning, saw some potential and tweaked it to a finish.

I call this "Billy Stiles, I Presume" because I think I based this pose on an alleged photo of the outlaw Billy Stiles. I think the photo had some issues in terms of provinance, but anyway, here it is.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the Wyatt Earp timeline project and plan to run the first two-pages in the next issue of True West. This morning I was playing with opening it at a certain venue in Tombstone:

I'm also playing with a clean look for Wyatt. This was sketched from a photo of Bruce Boxleitner as Wyatt Earp:

Bruce actually had a good look as Wyatt, although I think he had a fake mustache for the Marie Osmond TV movie. We are going to do a comparison of all the movie stars who have played Wyatt and a question as to who resembled him the most.

Edmundo Segundo came by the offices this morning with an art collector who has more than 30 Lon Megargees. Really an impressive art collection (we looked at them on his iPad). Ed Mell was taking Byran Lewis around to see the Megargee sites in Cave Creek. Lon did some of his most famous paintings while living here in the early days. In fact, Lon's house became Tonto Bar & Grill and I drew a map for Ed and Byran to see several other Megargee sites. Here we are standing in the front office before they hit the road:

Ed's giving a talk about landscape painting at the Tempe Art Center this evening.

"Latent abilities are like clay. It can be mud on shoes, brick in a building or a statue that will inspire all who see it. The clay is the same. The result is dependent on how it is used."
—James F. Lincoln

Bring Me The Hea of Bob Paul #13

March 14, 2012

After 27 studies, workups and numerous painting attempts, I hit the wall on the Bob Paul assignment last week. My good friend John Boessenecker did not think the last attempt captured Bob Paul's visage like I had on earlier attempts. The problem is, in one of the only known photos of Paul he looks rather bloated and heavy. I wanted to show him a little more trim and fit, in fighting form. John thought that I had nailed Paul's facial appearance in this study—number 13:

The problem with this study is his body is too short, especially from the waist down. And this makes the rifle ridiculously short. So I needed to expand this and it was very difficult, for me. After a half dozen attempts, I ended up here:

John did not like the face and thinks it is way too thin. So I took a water filled brush and blurred out the right side to expand it. A very chancy proposition. That gave me some width and I tweaked it adding back the eyes, etc. and that got me to here:

John still felt this was not quite right and he kept referring to Bob Paul number 13, so on a long shot, I brought that study in to the True West World Headquarters this morning and scanned it at 600 dpi, gave it to our production manager, Robert Ray, and asked him to put it in Photoshop and see how much of a train wreck it would be to marry the two images. Within fifteen minutes, Robert Ray came up with this:

As you might have already guessed, John loves this and they want to use if for the cover. Amazing. I still need to redo the painting for John's wall with the right face on it, but for now, this mash-up will have to do.

Considering I have a wedding in the back yard to attend this weekend, and a week in Mexico dodging cartel convoys, I am quite grateful to Photoshop AND the skills of Robert Ray. Speaking of new technology and how ridiculous people are about it. . .

"Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia."
—Dr Dionysus Lardner, University of London professor, 1840

Arizona Buscadero Rig Discovery?

March 13, 2012

I have thought for a long time that our obsession with the eradication of Buscadero gun rigs in movies was a little over the top. Especially when you look at Commodore Perry Owens in his buscadero rig, but this always elicits a snobby, "Yes, but that's the only one." Well, we published another one about five years ago showing a Flagstaff lawman with a buscadero rig and although it was undated, it clearly was before 1900. This led to a theory in the office that perhaps there was a movement in Arizona, or perhaps a gun leather craftsman in northern Arizona who specialized in the low slung holster (Commodore was from the Holbrook area and later Seligman, both towns on the Santa fe rail line, as is Flagstaff.

Yesterday I was looking for something in my photo archives and found this familiar image from Holbrook:

I've seen it many times, but this time something jumped out at me. The guy in front of the horse appears to have on a buscadero rig. Here's a closeup up:

Or, is it merely the leg of the guy in the background? So yes, the Mexican loop holster was predominate in the 1870s and early 1880s, but I think there was an early movement to build buscadero rigs in Arizona during this same time period. Just a theory, but I have a hunch I'm right.

"People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first."
—David H. Comins

Rubbing Pocahontas The Right Way and Wyatt Earp The Wrong Way

March 12, 2012

Back in Arizona after a whirlwind trip to Williamsburg, Virginia and the Williamsburg Film Festival. Had a great time and met some very nice people. All my life I have heard about Southern hospitality and now I know what everyone is talking about.

On Thursday, the first day of the show, one of my hosts, Larry Floyd, took me to Colonial Williamsburg and I finally got to see first hand that incredible living history site that everyone has talked about. Here is Larry on the square.

If you saw the TV movie series "John Adams" most of it was filmed here. From Williamsburg, Larry drove me out to Jamestown and I got to see the original fort and I also got to participate in a local tradition. According to Larry, locals believe that if you rub a certain part of the Pocahontas statue you will receive good luck. In spite of a couple standing nearby, I jumped up and rubbed her good. Here I am jumping down. Can you guess which part of the statue is supposed to be magical?

Got home last night about six. Worked this morning on my Extremely O.K. Wyatt Earp Time Travel project. Working up sketches of the controversial frontier lawman this morning:

"Police are looking for a suspect who calls himself 'Wyatt Earp.' He is wanted for a hate crime at a convenience store near Casa Grande, Arizona. According to eye-witnesses, several youths were called racial epithets and when they attempted to discuss the situation with the suspect they were hit over the head with the handle of a long-barreled gun. The suspect is believed to be armed and dangerous. He was last seen heading north towards Vegas in a brown Ford Crown Victoria."
—Shannon Bragadacio, Fox News

Last Day at Williamsburg Film Festival

March 10, 2012

Spent some time talking with the actress Terry Moore this morning. She has led a pretty amazing life. She was married to Howard Hughes, she starred in movies with leading men from Burt Lancaster to Tyrone Power to Clark Gable to John Travolta. She knew John Wayne (see quote, below) is in her eighties and feisty as ever. Still walks ten miles on the weekend. She was a jet pilot, she had her own talk show, she's written five or six books. When I asked her if there's anything she hasn't done, she said, "Rest."

John Saxon is giving a talk at 1:30, then I'm giving a presentation at three on The Real Billy the Kid vs. the Reel Billy the Kid. Banquet is tonight and then home tomorrow.

"Hell, I'm too stupid to lie and keep everything straight. It just gets you into a mess of trouble."
—John Wayne, as quoted by Terry Moore in her book, "So How Do You Stay So Young?"

Wyatt Earp at the Circle K

March 6, 2012

Been working for the past 50 days on my Wyatt Earp time travel project. One of the things that grinds me is when oldtimers, especially certain cowboys, start pontificating on "dudes" in old photos. I have several photography books where some "local expert" labels an 1880s photo of a guy, with his pants tucked in his boots, or some other mortal sin to a 1930s cowboy, as a Dude, and I'd love to pull out an expert from the past, a la Woody Allen in the movie line, and give the "expert" both barrels. That led to this page of notes:

Another aspect I'd like to delve into is Wyatt Earp interacting with gang bangers in, say, a Circle K. What would he say? What would he do? I have a hunch what he'd do:

Going to be a fun project. Looking to run a short story arc on this in an upcoming Graphic Cinema.

Meanwhile, Juni Fisher and I are scheming on a Dixxy Diamond story for later this year. Got some doozys in the hopper. I have some very ambitious goals, but sometimes those don't help us as much as we'd like. In yoga this morning, our instructor, Debbie Payne had a good quote: "The only limitations we have are the limitations we mistake as goals."

Well, okay, at least I'll be consistent, then?

"Don't be 'consistent', but be simply true."
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.