Makes you want to squeal with delight, doesn’t it?
Here’s one of our family favorites—
a distinguished and dignified primate.
Upon inspection of these images, I would say that the initial illustration was done in Illustrator, then imported into Photoshop to add effects and the backgrounds.
Howie Rubin was the VP of the Gottlieb Video Game division. After Columbia Pictures/Coca-Cola shut the operation down, Howie worked independently or from time to time for cartridge game companies like Jaleco. I produced a lot of artwork for Howie over the years and some of it actually translated into products, like “Lotto Fun” and “Double Cheese”. But, many of the concepts never made it out the door. Here are some samples from a folder dubbed “Jaleco”…I have absolutely no recollection of for what this was intended…I don’t even remember doing it…but it has my name on it!
This dog probably owned Spook’s girlfriend Linda down in Las Cruces. On my first visit to New Mexico, in March of ’77, we rendezvoused there. A gang of us were headed for the Grand Prix in Long Beach, CA. I had enchiladas (from “Gil’s”) for the first time and learned to play to play cribbage while listening to Boston’s “More Than A Feeling”. Ah, the ’70s!
Every August, Lincoln hosts a Billy the Kid pageant, the highlights of which are the parade and performances of “The Last Escape of Billy the Kid”. The play is corny and amateurish, but rings with integrity. It is actually performed by local folks in an outdoor setting mere yards from the very courthouse where the eponymous event occurred. The play has hilarious dialogue, horses and lots of gunplay. Matt, his wife Becky and probably half the populace of Lincoln have all appeared in it. For a period of years, I and my friends would turn up for Pageant and sell Billy the Kid t-shirts. Pictured is one of the designs. It is originally a linoleum print.
Lincoln hosts an annual folk pageant every August, “The Last Escape of Billy the Kid”. It is corny and amateurish, but has integrity in that it is a genuine community endeavor. Local folks play the roles in an outdoor arena a few yards
This sad little shack stood not too far from one of the several houses which Matt rented before building his own hacienda. The sketch is done in ink, marker and colored pencil. Abandoned buildings often intrigue me. I imagine the people who built them…the hopes and dreams which charged their existence…the joys and tragedies which unfolded within their walls…all of which are swept away by the march of time. Of course, this adobe was probably just a utility shed where none of that happened!
To a large extent, the town of Lincoln, NM is a museum celebrating the Old West in general and the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid in particular. Many of the oldest buildings are historical sites and any new construction has to be done in an official “frontier style”. Pictured above is a “typical Lincoln” adobe house. “Typical Lincoln” was one of Matt’s pet phrases by which he referred to the petty small-town bickering of his adopted hometown.
Speaking of my buddy Matt, this is a portrait of him, drawn from life sometime in the mid-70’s. He was a boon companion, a generous and warm-hearted soul. He carved out a successful career as a landscrape architorturer in the hostile environs of the southwest. He was a beloved husband and father, utterly devoted to his “girls” and he is sorely missed by all that had the pleasure to know him.