All Blog Posts (3,373)

I would like to wish a very, very happy Passover to all of our friends who celebrate.  FREEDOM IS WORTH MORE THAN ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY AN BUY!!!

March 28, 2013

I booked my Spain trip through Expedia and flew British Air from Phoenix to London. Left last night from Sky Harbor at 9:10 p.m. After the all night flight I walked off my plane at Heathrow and went straight to the terminal (had to take that damn train) and I asked an attendant which gate my plane was at, and he said, "Around this corner, but you're not going to make it." I thought that odd, so I walked around the corner, only to see a big ol' line. I'm…

Cowboy Quotes - 10 Old West Sayings Worth Remembering #54

1. A change of pastures makes for a fatter calf.

2. Sticking to your guns is fine, as long as you don't get shot in the back.

3. Oil all the wheels on your wagon, not just the squeaky one.

This advice would be critical in the Old…

March 27, 2013

Taking off for Spain tonight. It's a long flight, 14 hours. Meanwhile, inventoried more of the old home movies I had converted into CDs last night. This is The Bell men, my father Allen P., my grandfather Carl Marin and me, in front of Glenn Marvin Bell's apartment in Long Beach, California in 1963:

 …

March 26, 2013

Sometimes I'm kind of amazed at some of the people I've met who have impacted the world in ways I had no clue about. When I was doing freelance illustrations for Arizona Highways in the 1980s I attended a patio cocktail party at the editor's house and met the author Glendon Swarthout, who wrote, what became John Wayne's last movie, "The Shootist." I knew he also wrote "Bless The Beasts And Children" but I didn't know this: in yesterday's New York Times…

March 25, 2013

Fun day yesterday at Festival of the West. Check out this shot of Lee Anderson in our booth:

The Vaquero En Boxero

Going to do a drawing or two of this pose. May even end up on a cover. Great look by a great guy. Had some…

March 24, 2013

On Friday morning I read with interest Bill Goodykoontz's re-review of "On The Road" in the Arizona Republic and ran out on Friday to see it immediately. I really wish I could say I loved it. I think Bill was generous (he gave it three stars out of five) and I thought Bill overall nailed it, but I have to disagree with his opening line "Okay, it's not the book." The problem with the movie is, it IS the book, just the wrong parts of the…

March 23, 2013

After my appearance at Festival of the West today I motored up to Cave Creek for the legendary Lew Jones' 75th B-Day bash at a remote house on Lone Mountain. Here's the dreadlocked B-Day Boy himself. We did the Jones & Boze Radio Show live from the Mineshaft (1997-98) because of this crazy guy. The photo on the wall shows Lew in his racing days. All his former race car driver pals were at the party and told stories on him.

 …

March 23, 2013

I am always amazed at the crazy people I meet at the Festival of the West down at Westworld, in Scottsdale. These photos were taken at today's show. First up:

The "Please Lunge Me" Cowgirl

This pretty cowgirl has on a…

March 22, 2013

Whipped out another Doc Holliday painting this morning before I came into work.

Daily Whipout #499, "Doc Holliday: Legend in The Sky"

This will be married to a panorama of Leadville by our intrepid Illustrator master Dan The Man…

March 22, 2013

Got the word yesterday that my producer at the Westerns Channel has retired. In 2002 I attended a writer's workshop in Gunnison, Colorado where there were more teachers than students. I called Kathy and told her the trip (I drove there) was a total waste of time. They put us up in dorm rooms and mine smelled like dirty jockstraps.

On Saturday morning they had a field trip and I was asked to choose between a farm visit to see a calf being…

March 21, 2013

Had a meeting with Ed Reilly of Bronzesmith this morning, then tweaked cover ideas and sent them down to Dan The Man Harshberger, then I took off for The Beast. Dropped my Flex off at Power Ford (used to Lou Grubb Ford) to have my oil changed by Tommy Amorosano (Ken's nephew) and a tire checked. Ken picked me up there and we motored on to the first day of Festival of the West.

We've got a great booth right next to celebrity stage where I…

  Thanks Gents for the comments, I'm still trying to figure the site out, as in how to answer individual comments. I'll get there eventually.

A friend of mine loaned me a copy of a 4th Cavalry court martial proceeding at Fort Concho, Texas that took place on December 20th, 1870.  There were nine cases.  All the accused were privates except for one corporal. Two of them were acquited.   

The first charge was for "Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline."  Private William S. Hill tried to shoot his sergeant and got into a fight with some other soldiers who tried to stop him.  At one point he exclaimed,…

March 20, 2013

Hit the wall yesterday. Had great photo reference, thanks to Chad Hays, who modeled the pose I wanted.

But I totally tubed it:

 …

March 18, 2013

Went home for lunch and whipped out another Doc Holliday.

Daily Whipout #496, "Doc Holliday's Last Gunfight #4"

Someone commented on the bullet hole in his hat, but it's actually the sun going down on his…

This Week in Old West History - March 18

March 18, 2013

Spent the weekend working on a cover concept illustrating Doc Holliday's last years in Colorado, which is being written by Doctor Gary Roberts, the foremost expert on Doc. I am going to do "Doc Holliday's Last Gunfight" for Classic Gunfights which was in Leadville, the two miles high mining town. I'm thinking of these headlines:



• Sky High Gunfight



• Two Miles High Gunfight



• Doc…

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of our friends of all ethnicities!

March 15, 2013

I'm looking at our newest sculpture from Bronzesmith which just arrived to us from up in Prescott Valley. Ken Amorosano wanted us to come up with something to go along with our True Westerner Award, a statuette, something akin to the Oscar, that we can hand out once a year. I thought we could do worse than base a statuette off of, what we kiddingly refer to as The Stud With The Gun:

 …