Official Site of True West Magazine, Since 1953

Bob Boze Bell's Blog – February 2009 Archive (46)

Drinking Cowboys Not Drinking Anything

February 28, 2009

Got this question this morning:

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 9:20 AM, Jimmy Sparks wrote:

"Mr. Bell, Please satisfy my curiosity. I watch the Westerns Channel about every day. I see a lot of your commentaries and just wondering if those cowboys really drink as much as they seem to. My thoughts are that they are not really drinking alcohol at all. Am I right? List me as a faithful watcher From Lenoir N.C."

—Jimmy… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 28, 2009 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Big Billy, Part III

February 27, 2009

Went home for lunch and brushed in another pass at the big Billy painting:

Laid in some Indian Red to give the shadows some warmth against the adobe:

Also, gave Garrett's face some shadows as well. The Kid seems to be floating a bit. Was hoping the shadows would pull him down, but it didn't. May kill the highlight on his spur because I think… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 27, 2009 at 2:30pm — 3 Comments

Clint, Mickey Free and American Flag

February 27, 2009

Got this from the United Kingdom this morning:

"Hey, painter, I thought this page from my morning paper might interest (astonish?) you.

"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: ; and that is an idea whose time has come." (Anon)

Love to Kathy,

—Fred Nolan

Yes, the motiff is quite close to, oh, say, this:…

Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 27, 2009 at 9:00am — 7 Comments

Old Fools Still Foolin'

February 26, 2009

Got a slow leak in my left front tire on the Ranger. Lugged out the air compressor and aired it up yesterday, but this morning it was way down again. So aired it up and then drove up to Tobias Automotive on Cave Creek Road. Left it, and hitched a ride from there with Chuck up to our offices. We're about a mile away.

Got a snotty letter from a reader of this blog. Scrawled on a printout of the "Music Is The Doctor" poster-posting were these words: "Yes,… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 26, 2009 at 8:43am — 13 Comments

Big Billy, Part II

February 25, 2009

Lots of image and design issues this morning. Good feedback and questions. Everyone working together to do more with less.

Went home for lunch and worked on a Mickey Free sequence (Faces of Anguish) and then worked on the sky in the Big Billy painting:

Worked quickly to lay in the entire sky before I came back into the office:

Got… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 25, 2009 at 4:27pm — No Comments

Ted Turner's Head Meets Ted Turner's Sword

February 25, 2009

Finished "Call Me Ted" last night. The book got less interesting after the AOL-Time Warner collapse. Turner rides off into the sunset, so to speak, with several hundred million dollars (as opposed to the $8 billion he had at the height of his empire in 1999, when he calculated his stock value was increasing by $10 million a week!), but the heady swashbuckling of the early years gives way to saving the planet stuff, which isn't nearly as exciting or… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 25, 2009 at 9:00am — 4 Comments

Don't Call Me Ted (But Give Me Some Of His Gumption)

February 24, 2009

Another beautiful day in sunny Arizona. Got on a short-sleeved shirt and used the AC coming back to the office from my home studio. Supposed to hit 83 today.

Kathy met me at the house at 2:30 to move out a big desk in my studio so I can bring in the big oil painting of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. While I waited for her I whipped out a trio of landscape studies:

I guess you could collectively… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 24, 2009 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

A Genius Chipolte Promotion And A Good Attitude

February 23, 2009

Had a staff meeting at lunch today. Carole got a big Subway hoagie for everyone, along with Sprite and Cokes. Gave a little pep talk about staying positive in this very negative time.

Esquire magazine Editor, David Granger, wrote a wonderful editorial in the current issue on how this is the best of times because gas is under $2, the best restaurants have open seats, as do airplanes, and you want to buy a car? Zero down, half off! In this doom and… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 23, 2009 at 3:30pm — 18 Comments

Big Billy, Part I

February 23, 2009

Finally got the underpainting on the big Billy the Kid oil laid in. Started Friday and used alizarin crimson utilized by Frank Tenney Johnson on his nocturnes:

Saturday morning I bailed in early and blocked in more of the big shapes:

By nine I had it covered (with the exception of a distant roofline at the bottom:…

Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 23, 2009 at 9:00am — 3 Comments

Inquiries: Billy the Kid's Ridiculous Hat

February 22, 2009

Last night we drove over to the westside of the Beast for a surprise birthday party for Gordon Smith. Gordon, who turns sixty, is a very funny guy and when we did our radio show on KSLX he did a character called Dr. Buford, who was a stitch-and-a-half. Had lots of fun and many laughs.

Reclaimed part of my studio this afternoon, so I can move the big Billy the Kid oil painting into the north light space. The painting is now in the breezeway, which is… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 22, 2009 at 12:30pm — 12 Comments

Tres Muertes Or, On The Dead Run

February 20, 2009
A running boy, a worried mother and a sharpshooting Rurale. . .

"Managers help people to see themselves as they are. Leaders help people to see themselves better than they are."
—Jim Rohn

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 20, 2009 at 4:57pm — 3 Comments

Walt Disney's Golden Advice

February 20, 2009

Finally started the underpainting for the big oil painting of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. I'll post the progress later.

Meanwhile, our April travel issue went to the printer yesterday. Tweaked a couple designs, caught a couple corrections. Always a massive undertaking towards the end with the operative metaphor being a six-lane freeway exiting through a garden gate. Ha.

I've missed a few postings on my daily sketches, so here are the last… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 20, 2009 at 9:14am — 3 Comments

The Wonderful Country Scenery

February 19, 2009

Seth Wilson, of Las Cruces, sent me a copy of "The Wonderful Country" by Tom Lea and I have been marveling at Tom's graphic illustration skills and in fact, did a whole series of sketches emulating his style and studying his technique:

Seth also mentioned the work of Jose Cisneros, another El Paso artist who did vaqueros and they really seem close in style. I wonder if one of them was a student of the… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 19, 2009 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

Phil Spangenberger Hospitalized

February 18, 2009

Got a call from Linda Spangenberger yesterday who told me Phil had a stroke. He was hospitalized, but the worst is over and I believe he's home now. Fortunately for all his fans in True West (his column "Shooting From The Hip" always ranks in the top five most read departments), he has three columns in the can, and is trying to pull together a fourth. I told him to take it easy and we would cover for him.

Phil is expected to make a full recovery but he's… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 18, 2009 at 3:30pm — 10 Comments

Serious As A Heart Attack

February 18, 2009

Hard to believe I'm coming up on a one-year anniversary. On March 22 of last year we were rehearsing Wipeout at the old Elks Club in downtown Kingman when I had one as well. Two of my bandmates, the ambulance first-responders and the staff at Kingman Regional Hospital saved my life. So, when they asked me if I'd return to the scene of the crime to raise money for heart defibulaters, I really couldn't say no.

So, without further ado:…

Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 18, 2009 at 8:39am — 10 Comments

New Black Jack And Tap Duncan Info

February 17, 2009

Got this in today from author Donna B. Ernst:

"hi Bob -- Enjoyed your family's genealogy and connection to Tap Duncan. Did you know that Tap and his family spent a couple of years living in Three Creek, Idaho, with his brother Jim before settling in Arizona? In fact, a couple of the children were born there. I discovered this interesting piece of information when I was researching the September 19, 1900, Winnemucca bank robbery by the Sundance Kid, Butch… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 17, 2009 at 2:45pm — 1 Comment

The Day Geronimo Died

February 17, 2009
Geronimo checked out one-hundred years ago today. An art show of Geronimo images is opening tonight at Mark Sublette's gallery in Tucson. Meanwhile, Ron Jackson produced an excellent piece on the Apache warrior for his Oklahoma newspaper. You can read it and see the accompanying video right here.

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 17, 2009 at 10:52am — 3 Comments

How Do N.D. Horses Break Into Movies?

February 17, 2009

I get some good questions off my True West Moments on the Westerns Channel:

On Feb 17, 2009, at 8:42 AM, Richard Perry wrote:

Dear Mr. Boze Bell,

The Westerns Channel is my favorite channel and I love the True West Moments. I have a question about the horses in some of the movies. Are the horses owned by the movie company's or are they rented or leased out to them by private owners. I realize they don't Western Movies like in the past, (I… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 17, 2009 at 9:30am — 11 Comments

Loop Rawlins, Rock Holliday, Joey Dillon and Cash Dillon Rock Wickenburg!

February 16, 2009

Last Saturday morning I met Tom Tumas at 7 A.M. at the True West World Headquarters and we took off for Wickenburg, which is about an hour west of Cave Creek:

The desert was beautiful in the morning twilight and I snapped off a dozen shots on the way over, and at least a hundred on the way back:

We got into Wickenburg at eight and waded up… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 16, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Last Light On Elephant Butte

February 16, 2009

Spent a good part of the weekend painting and working on art. Got a decent pencil sketch for the big oil painting of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett transferred to canvas. Also worked on sketches for a phenom that happens nightly, north of our house:

"Last light On Elephant Butte" is very angular and random looking, as little slivers of light catch the tips of buttes up on Elephant Butte just before… Continue

Added by Bob Boze Bell on February 16, 2009 at 8:53am — 4 Comments