tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36901762008-10-02T14:52:02.022-07:00Bob Boze Bell's Big Bad Book of Bad Diary EntriesIf you've ever wondered what it's like to run a magazine or how crazy my personal life is, be sure to read the behind-the-scenes peek at the daily trials and tribulations of running True West. Culled straight from my Franklin Daytimer, it contains actual journal entries, laid out raw and uncensored. Some of it is enlightening. Much of it is embarrassing, but all of it is painfully true.
Are you a True West Maniac? Get True West for LIFE...Click here!Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comBlogger2364125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-68796486692820123972008-10-02T14:15:00.000-07:002008-10-02T14:52:02.044-07:00October 2, 2008
As of 1:55 p.m. Mickey Free: The Graphic Novel (the magazine version) is finished and ready to be sent to the printer. Really hard work and I must commend Robert Ray, Meghan Saar, Abby Goodrich and Paul Hutton for putting in long hours to bring this puppy into the pound.
Speaking of the pound, it cost $751 to "board" my dogs at the vet for a week. Don't know if that's high or lowBob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-9261624273850729082008-09-30T10:10:00.000-07:002008-09-30T10:20:22.084-07:00September 30, 2008
My dogs get out of the slammer today. Got some treats for them.
Finished two more illustrations last night and this morning:
This is Mickey Free, at left, saying to the Apache Kid, "Be careful Cousin, we are living in a time when even right is wrong." To which the Kid replies, "We aren't cousins."
Ouch! In Apache culture, someone is called Cousin as a sign of affection. Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-45590029123895639512008-09-29T10:05:00.000-07:002008-09-29T10:34:18.599-07:00September 29, 2008
Had a successful weekend. Did a half dozen illustrations:
And a very angry Apache:
"Stop being the White Man's dog!" is what he's saying. I got this bit of Apache slang from Dale Miles, the official historian of the San Carlos Apache Reservation. He told me this was a common expression in the old days.
Whipped out a sweet little establishing shot of Mickey Free riding Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-90376823199607845362008-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:002008-09-28T15:12:28.859-07:00September 28, 2008
Four days to go on Mickey Free. Hanging out. Ha. What else is new? We got good feedback on the PDF rough prototype we sent out. Good suggestions and opinions from virtually everyone. It's really going to improve the final product.
I've isolated ten art holes that should be filled for the story to track. Five are actually sequences, three are mandatory. Started work on Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-75443864220352744222008-09-27T17:34:00.000-07:002008-09-27T17:51:05.665-07:00September 27, 2008
Had kind of a poignant morning. Drove down to Mike Melrose's apartment with Kathy to meet Mike's brother Tim who flew out from Iowa to clear out his brother's apartment. Tim asked me if I wanted any of Minnesota Mike's Western collection so we went down and had a look see.
Mike had some good art and some of mine (ha), lots of True West back issues and even a Buck Taylor print.Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-41209031545745777922008-09-26T14:09:00.000-07:002008-09-26T14:16:56.040-07:00September 26, 2008
Went home for lunch and whipped out a pretty decent likeness of Alchesay, the White Mountain Apache leader who is one of the true heroes of our story. Here he is in all his thunderstruck glory:
Came back to the office, scanned the image and placed it in the document. Robert Ray and Abby have been working hard to get all the little details into the huge 20-page-document. Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-56384980406868294252008-09-26T10:44:00.000-07:002008-09-26T11:00:19.623-07:00September 26, 2008
Woke up early. Kathy had to go to a Red Cross nuclear explosion simulation so she left at six. I went out and finished the Remington knock-off "Sibi's Crew." Finished at 9:30 (got about eight hours in this puppy), and I might add, this is as close to Remington as I can come:
Left to right: The Apache Kid, Al Sieber, Tom Horn and Mickey Free. Notice I signed it "Freddy Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-70487035263101223932008-09-25T15:45:00.000-07:002008-09-25T15:48:35.209-07:00September 25, 2008 Bonus Blog Post
Johnny Depp as Tonto? Maybe-so. We know that Disney is mounting a big Lone Ranger movie with the producer who did Pirates of the Caribean trilogy. Just got this from Alan Huffines, who copied me off the Ain't It Cool website:
"So just got back from attending the Walt Disney Showcase that the company throws for partnering agencies and media and had some big Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-74736685800508451812008-09-25T14:41:00.000-07:002008-09-25T14:57:59.792-07:00September 25, 2008
Volatile day with Mickey Free. Two steps backwards, one and a half-forward. Ran into—again!—whether to use boxes on the cartoon narrative. Meghan believes the excerpt absolutely has to have them, instead of captions. I loathe cartoons boxes! They seem so lame and 1950s to me, but she is right. There are too many competing fonts and it's hard to follow.
When we get this Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-88440673896044268592008-09-24T08:39:00.000-07:002008-09-24T09:31:02.189-07:00September 24, 2008
Kept waking up during the night thinking of angles and layout ideas and word balloon leaps of imagination for the Top Secret Project. Almost too excited. Need to calm down a bit, but I get rather manic when I'm finishing a project like Mickey Free: The Graphic Novel.
Note to self: "And you wonder why you had two heart attacks?"
Meanwhile, The Not So Secret Top Secret Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-50356749163573853502008-09-23T16:18:00.000-07:002008-09-23T16:29:05.266-07:00September 23, 2008
I can see the finish line on Mickey Free and it's a beautiful sight. Fifteen pages in the can with five to go. Narration in, just went to Meghan and Hutton for editing.
Finding lots of images I had forgotten about (I'm at 7,151 sketches so it's understandable), like this one of pine cone runners in a deep canyon.
Can't really use it in the 20-page excerpt in True West, Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-35853664947548497232008-09-22T15:11:00.000-07:002008-09-22T15:16:26.808-07:00September 22, 2008 Bonus Blog Post
Dan The Man has nailed the cover of True West and here's a sneek peek:
Yes, that is a real photo of the notorious Mickey Free. Ain't he the coolest looking one-eyed multi-breed bad boy you have ever seen? He is to me.
"The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine clothes, fine houses, nor fineBob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-49517888581180963762008-09-22T09:51:00.001-07:002008-09-22T15:30:42.166-07:00September 22, 2008
Worked all weekend on Mickey Free: The Graphic Novel. Very ambitious work, some successful, some deeply disappointing. And sometimes they were both, on the same page:
Other scene designs I poached from old pulp detective stories, like this one:
This is Pastor Guenther Senior confronting Al Sieber and Lt. Powhatan Clarke about Mickey Free's penchant for bringing in the Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-85184826338698440032008-09-18T11:26:00.000-07:002008-09-18T11:31:32.575-07:00September 18, 2008
Dan The Man tweaked the Robert Ray inspired red and black cover and I think we're getting closer to a final:
A couple of word tweaks: it should be "Mickey Free: The Graphic Novel" and the byline needs a correction to "By Bob Boze Bell and Paul Andrew Hutton" (Paul and I have an agreement that my name comes first on the GN and his will be first on the movie) and I have Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-46813250398437630322008-09-18T09:28:00.000-07:002008-09-18T09:53:57.439-07:00September 18, 2008
I am officially in the Zone. Woke up at 2:30 this morning brimming with REM sleep ideas on Mickey Free. Had to go out to the kitchen and write them all down. Meanwhile, where I'm really in the Zone is with my art. It's just oozing out of me. Case in point:
A Hint of Assimilation Scandal
This is an image of Beauty and one of her professors at the Carlisle Indian School who Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-31100962497617237192008-09-17T08:10:00.000-07:002008-09-17T08:49:38.106-07:00September 17, 2008
As always, interesting comments from everyone and as is typical, no clear consensus:
“FREE may be a wee bit too big (or MICKEY too small). Upon seeing that large red FREE, people might just think it's a giveaway and walk out of the store without paying. Otherwise - it's quite stunning!”
—Steve Lodge
“Of the two simplest designs, I prefer the one that is primarily brown. Too Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-72322227266643794022008-09-16T11:22:00.000-07:002008-09-16T11:33:24.179-07:00September 16, 2008 Bonus, Bonus Blog Post
Feedback on covers:
"That last one with the red, white, and black is pretty striking. I look forward to the finished product."
—Seth Wilson
"You know that I am artistically and graphically impaired, but I liked the simplicity of the second cover and I think it pops. First one has way too much going on for my eye."
—Charlie Waters
And here's Dan Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-12937110352511738122008-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:002008-09-16T10:15:19.877-07:00September 16, 2008 Bonus Blog Post
Here's another take:
Feedback is appreciated.Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-22090686717285898512008-09-16T09:17:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:35:21.397-07:00September 16, 2008
Struggling with the cover for the graphic novel excerpt which will run in the next issue of True West. We need to thread the needle between historically accurate and cutting edge. Not easy. I spent wayyyyy too long on a painting of Mickey straddling two worlds and it just doesn't quite pop the way I wanted it to. I'm afraid I overworked it, and tried too hard. Here are two Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-50380422325268406052008-09-15T11:32:00.000-07:002008-09-15T11:43:48.700-07:00September 15, 2008
Had an excellent weekend working on art for the Top Secret Project. Did about seven scenes yesterday and came into the office early this morning to work on the layout. Robert Ray took out the old illustration and put Saturday's efforts into the Harper's template. Much better:
Lost a bit of Powhattan's boot in the process (plus Freddy's signature), but it looks much more Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-85163421642626924162008-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:002008-09-15T10:21:27.365-07:00September 13, 2008
Really buckled down this morning and attacked my priority art list for The Top Secret Project. With approximately two weeks to go, one of my main goals is to salvage art that wasn't up to snuff the first time around.
Case in point: if you visited MickeyFreeOnline.com you saw a pretty lame attempt at simulating a Harper's Weekly cover in Remington's style, circa 1888. It sucks Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-67139774166658701612008-09-12T17:58:00.000-07:002008-09-12T18:09:51.385-07:00September 12, 2008
Working hard on hammering out the 20-page Top Secret Project for the next issue of True West. Robert Ray is a huge help, finding all of the several thousand images I have created in the last four years for this opus.
The Top Secret Writer disagrees with me, but I feel like we need to get the complete story out and published, or we'll never finish it. It's an epic tale, Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-60810591127980632002008-09-11T10:57:00.000-07:002008-09-11T11:17:08.859-07:00September 11, 2008
One of the funnier aspects of Peruvian culture is their penchant for poaching American names for their "colleges." Case in point: Here is the Bill Gates College on a side street in Arequipa. Tommy tells me he has seen the Henry Ford School of Driving College and the Thomas Jefferson School of something.
Appeal To Authority
More rain last night. Up to my eyebrows in MickeyBob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-23577945353375021202008-09-10T16:48:00.000-07:002008-09-10T17:19:31.667-07:00September 10, 2008
Big clouds all day today. Rained pretty good last night. Worked for the last three days on a possible cover for the Top Secret Project, which goes to the printer on October 3. Been getting up at five and really wailing. Executed quite a few studies, including this one:
Cliff Crazy
Blogger Problems
I have more photos to post of our Peruvian adventure, but blogger.com is Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690176.post-38196776363050295572008-09-09T16:22:00.000-07:002008-09-09T16:23:49.067-07:00September 9, 2008
Just got this:
Funeral arrangements for Michael A. Melrose have been made for Saturday, September 20th, 11:00 am at St John Lutheran Church in Charles City, IA, 50616.
In lieu of flowers, please send memorials in Mike's name to:
YMCA Building Project
800 Hulin Street
Charles City, IA 50616
Mike spent many hours in his youth at our YMCA, playing basketball, swimming, etc.
Bob Bozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884865420067145231noreply@blogger.com