I decided to invent a neon painting. The concept: a cowboy on a bucking horse, swangin’ his Indiana Jones style whip, atop electric grass, with the mighty Tetons far off in the distance… my result? “The Neon Cowboy” — not to be confused with “The Electric Horseman“.

Love MH the Verb, particularly my shout in the first verse… here’s the entire painting process condensed to one minute.

An outline, an underpainting and a dream.

Banging out red in the primary form, and throwing in the shadows… the quick beard/eyebrow combo looked like Eric Cartman wearing a fake stache…

I immediately realized the sky gradient was too bright… but I finished it anyway.

Even with the underpainting fully covered, I knew the sky required some darkening.

I prefer to put an initial run of neon tubing early in the process… this way, I can course correct (as per the face) and establish the hot points.

Everyone loves a red horse with a blue mane. I had a dream about red horses.

Now that the reverb colors have been added in the red and green sections, I decided this was the time to revisit the sky.

And yes… the dark made a huge difference. As you will note in the professional capture of the final painting… light plays a major role in how this work is interpreted. When bright, the mountains are quite clear. In static-to-low light, the mountains and clouds are ghostly.

Boom! The Neon Cowboy. Perhaps, one day, I’ll fabricate him.

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