Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - The Saddle

For those of you who don't know the story of this piece, here it is
Two Crow Warriors, heading home from a failed raiding party, come across a saddled horse, just grazing in the spring sun. They investigate and find that the owner, a cowboy, is deep in a muddy bog, rescuing a young calf. While the cowboy's attention is elsewhere, the enterprising warriors, abscond with not only his horse, but the hat the cowboy hung, carelessly on his saddle horn.
Today I worked on the saddle..

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Final Photographs

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Re-Faced

Started the day, by removing the front Indian's face, and re-doing it. then I re-did the robe he is wearing, then moved onto his hair.

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Final Photos. Below I've added photographs of a modern day Crow Indian and an 1800's Crow, by the name of Curley. This is where I came up with the hair style of the front Indian. I'll be in studio on Friday.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Back on the 1st Indian

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Spent the first couple of hours researching. I came up with a photo of Curley, the Crow Indian Scout that rode with Gen. George Armstrong Custer.

Note the blanket slung across his chest and over his left shoulder. This is the feature I've decided to try on the front Indian
Here are final photos of the clay. I'll be tightening up his face and work out the hair or headdress tomorrow in studio.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - The Second Figure

Well after several days away from the studio. I've come back to it today. I started on the second Indian. By the end of the day, I had him pretty much sketched in. He'll be wearing the hat left on the saddle horn on the cowboy's horse, as he got down and dirty in the mud bog to save the stray calf.
I decided to add a shirt to this warrior.

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Final photos of the clay. Will be in studio tomorrow.

Memorial Day Barbeque

Took the above photographs yesterday on the way back from Bozeman. It was a rainy day. The first one is a drift boat. Guided fishing trips are offered on the Madison River. This may not be one. It may be a private fishing trip. The point is, they fish, rain or shine.
The second Photo is self explanatory. Horses just putting up with the wet weather. Again on the Madison River.
I'm taking the day off. I've been invited to a friends house to share a barbeque with his family. I will be in studio first thing in the morning. Beautiful day today, just a bit windy.

Featured Bronze of the Week

Imminent Threat
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I Made a Movie Prop Today

The A&E Channel is filming in and around Ennis Montana, where I live, a docudrama about a tragic story that took place back in 1985. A young woman, an Olympic Athlete, was kidnapped just over the mountains from here by two so called mountain men.
Johnny France, the county sheriff at the time eventually, after a long grueling man hunt, caught the two men. The story is in a book called, "Incident at Big Sky". It was made into a couple of made for TV movies years ago. Well A&E is here filming. I work with the local talent agency and so, knowing I'm an artist, they asked me to reproduce a log on which these two mountain men wrote a message that they lived in these mountains.
This video shows me making this prop. No clay today... lol



Pictures from the book "Incident at Big Sky" as well as the photograph of the original log.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Proportions Scaled Down

I scaled down the proportions just about an 1/8th of an inch. It was just enough to change the size and make the warrior fit the horse. This was my third try and final try.



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I'll be in studio tomorrow. Remember if you have any questions, my email link is to the right of this entry.

War Stories Update - From Clay to Mold, then Wax

This video shows the process of mold making. The clay is War Stories, which was delivered to the foundry April 20th.



Some selected photographs

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - A New Face

Today was spent creating a new face for the front Indian. Now at the end of the day, I'm not sure I like his face. I won't be in the studio tomorrow, but I will be back on that face on Wednesday.
As a friend of mine in Austrailia just commented on my re-doing my figure, on this horse..

"G'Day again Dave,Don't be discouraged with the endeavor to achieve what Sir Keneth Clarke, referring to Stubbs' painting of "Mares and Foals in a Landscape", called: symphonic proportions.Also remember that the great french animalier Fremiet, completely redid his famous heroic sized bronze of Joan of Arc, after the first version resided in the Place des Pyramides, for fifteen years! His reason being, an increasing dissatisfaction with the proportions of the rider to the horse!If I remember correctly,Fremiet redid the piece largely at his own expense.Anyway,
All the Best, S'later, Boyd "

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Final photographs today.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Corrections

Well today I started not comfortable with the Indian on the lead horse. Watch the video to see what changes I made.

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Back in the studio tomorrow..

Featured Bronze of the Week

Been Thar, Dun That
An old wagon train guide, who'd seen most everything to be seen, and done most everything to have done, at the time of the birth of a nation. This bronze can be seen at finer galleries in the western USA..
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War Stories Update - Dateline May 15, 2009

The clay of "War Stories" has had the mold made of it, and a wax from that mold is now ready for the next stage in production.

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Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Indian's Face Started

Started on the front Indian's face today, and part of the upper torso.

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Here are a few photographs. Tomorrow I'll be out of town. So see you all Monday. Check in on Saturday night for This Week's Featured Bronze.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Adding the Second Figure

I removed one of the horse, so I could get at the last horse from every angle. I re-did the front leg of this horse, because when it fell, last week, I caught it by that leg, and it warped it.. lol

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Final pictures. I'll be in studio tomorrow.. At 5pm tomorrow (Thursday the 14th) I will be photographing people at an A&E channel movie tryout. I help a friend of mine with her talent agency. So I probably won't have my blog updated tomorrow till really late.