Deb Trotter, Cowboy's Sweetheart

Cow + Boy

Thanks you, God. For Cowboys.

Maybe turning 60 has its advantages. For one thing, I feel this compulsion to hurry and try everything I’ve wanted to but never seem to have the time.

One of those everythings is more cowboy art. Not just cowgirl art. I said, COWBOY ART.

Another of those everythings is “clean art.” I tend to be very detailed in my work – so it takes a lot of time. I get bogged down in the possibilities of Photoshop. Perhaps all those images, colors, backgrounds, and fancy borders are getting old.

Sometimes I wonder if my painted story complicates the art – the final product.

So I’ve begun a study – a series of work involving quintessential western characters and the way they make me feel. I’ll use Old West and/or favorite photos I’ve collected over the last 30 years. And I’ll throw in some famous or infamous legends along the way.

I’ll start out with simple imagery. A monochromatic color scheme. Distinctive type. And minimalist (at least for ME) design.

The piece featured in this post – “Cow + Boy” – is the first of three that I just finished.

I was inspired by this cowboy photo and the upcoming Buffalo Bill Art Show – only two weeks away. Cody, Wyoming will be riproaring full of cowboys, cowgirls, western artists, and fabulous programs all week long!

This is how it started out.

First a Black & White photo of a cowboy with a nice, square jaw. The original (seen at the top of this post) needed a lot of cleaning up and enhancing in Photoshop. Thank goodness for the healing brush, clone, and dodge & burn tools.

After restoring a pretty bad photo (now one of my favorites) – I wanted that really graphic feel – so I used the magic wand tool to eliminate all the white from the photo. Then I used posterize … turning the cowboy picture into a more dramatic icon. I like to play with the adjustments of the image – experimenting with levels and curves. Then contrast.

Next – I chose a background that I ran through Filter Forge for the added effect of the subtle diamond pattern. I opened the cowboy icon and added it to a layer above the background.  You can see the figure + the background on the picture, above right.

Do you play around with composition as I do?

When I created all my collage by hand it took me a long time to decide where I wanted everything to be … but in the end it was really about the placement of the main image.

I really enjoy the spontaneous, intuitive process of following my instinct – an artistic characteristic of mine that may frustrate other artists. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to happen in my art. Other times I have no clue whatsoever – just a concept.

I’m going to be honest and say that a combination of intuition and planning works best for me. That’s one of the reasons I love photomontage. Digital collage. Photoshop art.

Whatever you choose to call it, it’s so easy – and FUN – to play around with composition. There is no glue. And I don’t have to pull out sanding paper, more paint … or God forbid – a knife … to start over (or destroy).

It’s all one big, undemanding – unlimited – exercise in creativity. (more…)

Tags: Buffalo Bill Art Show, cowboy art, Deb Trotter, Filter Forge, Photoshop, Wyoming
Posted in Blogs for Artists, Cody Wyoming, Cowboy's Sweetheart, Digital Art, Photoshop | No Comments »

Here I am – savoring Wild West Wednesday … but while I write this post I’m looking at my life in a whole new way. Let’s refer to me as a Spirit – a Ghost.

A sixty year old Ghost … but more about that in a minute.

There are plenty of Ghosts in the West. I like them. The famous lawmen and outlaws. The gutsy women who helped shape the West. And the long forgotten travelers who fell in love with Wyoming and stayed.

All you have to do is step into a Cabin frequented by the Wild Bunch … hang around the Rodeo grounds late at night when the crowd is gone … bathe in the silence and watch the Mule Deer grazing in your back yard.

With the passion I feel for Wyoming, you’d think I would be totally content. Don’t get me wrong … I’m happy to be an artist who imagines all the possibilities and opportunities waiting around the bend . I’m also beginning to realize that I must seize every moment with passion … and reverence.

I need to remember who I once was. How I got here. The people who have disappeared from my world … just like John Wayne, calmly riding off into the sunset. You know his soul is still out there somewhere.

I want the soul of a Ghost – a Spirit who can drift and seep into everything.

Drift and seep into verything I create – or imagine creating: Every crisp morning. Every sunset. Every Cowboy at the Rodeo. Every Cowgirl whether she lives on a ranch – or is a classy Cowgirl At Heart in every way possible.

(That would be me -the Cowgirl At Heart … Deb Trotter, Cowboy’s Sweetheart – exploring in Montana and snappin’ a shot of antique, wavy glass. And thinkin … “An original, real Cowgirl once stood here.).

(more…)

Tags: Blogging, Deb Trotter, Ghost, Wild West Wednesday, Wyoming
Posted in Art and Life, Blogs for Artists, Cody Wyoming, Cowboy's Sweetheart, Photography, Photoshop, Wild West Wednesday | 3 Comments »

“Fastidious” ~ © Deb Trotter, Cowboy’s Sweetheart (pictured, from the top, Left to right – Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp. Center [full figure] – Mr. Somebody – a potential candidate for GQ … Old West Style.)

Look at the tagline for GQ Magazine, and you’ll see “Look Sharp. Live Smart.”

Now, imagine it’s 1881. You’re GQ’s editor. You need a man … someone who embodies that description … to feature on the front cover.

You’re looking for a sharp dresser. A man of confidence. A man with some notoriety. A man who’ll illicit a strong reaction – positive, negative – or both (which is even better).

Women will adore him. Men will either really like him or really, really hate him. He’ll be much too acclaimed for it to matter either way – nor will he care.

This is, after all – a man who lives by his own rules.

Immediately, you know who you want … John Henry Holliday – better known as “Doc Holliday.”

You’ve got a winner. I’ll bet ya the magazine sells out in less than a week.

However, if Doc is indisposed (tuberculosis can do that to a guy), you have some other fine choices. Wyatt Earp or Bat Masterson would work just fine. All three were fastidious dressers.

But you could safely say that Doc Holliday was the best dressed of them all … the wild west “master of meticulous.” As folks were want to say years ago, Doc “cut a fine figure.”

Doc adhered to painstaking grooming of his hair and moustache. Two of his standard trademarks were a cane – which he needed for walking due to lung disease – and a diamond stick pin which he proudly wore with a tie.

In Karen Holliday Tanner’s book, Doc Holliday – A Family Portrait, you’ll read that his long time companion, Big Nose Kate called Doc “… a handsome man. A gentleman in manners to the ladies … He was a neat dresser and saw to it that his wife was dressed as nicely as himself.” (more…)

Tags: Cowboy's Sweetheart, Deb Trotter, Doc Holliday, fastidious, GQ, Wild West Wednesday, Wyatt Earp
Posted in Art and Life, Cowboy's Sweetheart, Digital Art, Photoshop, Wild West Wednesday | 5 Comments »

I’ve always been a bit of a wanderer.

Just like the Cowgirls of the Wild West – I have a hankering to follow a new trail every now and then.

But I always love to come back home. The older I get, the more I love to curl up at night with a nice glass of wine or a steamy cup of coffee. Take off my boots – put up my feet – and escape for an hour or so with a good book or my laptop.

Last night I happened upon a post at Houzz.Com called, “Home Design Ideas For The Cowgirl At Heart.”

I love the minimalist, contemporary approach on the modern Cowgirl theme – especially this bedroom! Carefree, kick back, and so EASY to maintain. But the best part is the vintage cowboy photos displayed in the old window panes. I mean, how COOL is that?

Cowgirls from the Old West would consider these sparse furnishings a luxury.

In fact, to many a Cowgirl – a ramshackle cabin or an abandoned shack was a nice place to call home.

I created “A Cowgirl Dreams Of Home” with this theme in mind.

I’d been holding onto the Cowgirl image for years – waiting until inspiration came to call. Her dreamy, serious expression has always appealed to me.

I wonder if, perhaps, she was dreaming of home. The dry crackle of wheat on the plains – or the lush grass of Montana in the spring, growing freely on a hill.

And one little, shingled hut with a broken pane of glass – just waiting for someone like her to settle down. Just in time for the wildflowers to appear.

Filters in photoshop … one of my favorite methods for creating depth and atmosphere … perfectly intensify the Cowgirl’s distant illusion of coming home.

Do you have memories of home? Is your wild spirit yearning for that special place to call your own – or are you already living your dream?

Just like the cowgirl in this artwork – I’m dreaming of my own little hide-away. Perhaps somewhere in the Southwest. Or a little jewel of a cabin by the river where I can watch the bears play.

Maybe some day …

Happy Trails!

Deb Trotter ~ Cowboy’s Sweetheart Artist