MORE COWBOY Illustrations

In the last post I mentioned that one of the characters on one of the book covers looked very much like a friend's husband. I sent her a jpg and she and her daughter were dumbstruck. I am sending them the book. Turns out her husband was also a big Louis L'Amour fan.

This time I've got three more L'Amour covers with what appears to be another "guest star."

I love illustration, much more than I like fine art. I guess it's the graphic designer in me. I'm fascinated by someone working within set parameters and how with a limited amount of time they can turn out work that fills the need and is memorable.

When you think of all the art that has been created for paperback books it's staggering. And when you think about the fact that there's been some seriously good work that once used was relegated to the trash bin, it's heartbreaking. I'll admit to not being a fan of the majority of art used on romance novels, but mysteries and westerns can be very enticing. I'd love to have any of this work to hang on my wall.


Image from 1972 edition.


Image from 1973 edition.

So here we have the "guest star, " though maybe I'm the only one noticing it. Dean Martin. Yes, THE Dean Martin who starred in many Westerns with the likes of John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Robert Mitchum. Now, did the illustrator intend for readers to recognize this as Dean Martin? Who knows. Illustrators often work from photographs. I know of a book done by a famous illustrator who used the wife of a politician to portray the Wicked Witch of the West in his book of Oz. You had to be blind to not recognize her face.


No edition information given.

COWBOY illustrations

I've never been a fan of Louis L'Amour books, but my father has a big stack of them given to him by the wife of a deceased friend. I think over the years dad has probably read all of them, but has no interest in me buying more of them. These days he's a big fan of Craig Johnson's Longmire series, a pseudo western. When my dad finishes reading a book he always hands it to me, no matter if I'm interested in it or not. I am the repository of books. I still say that anyone could walk into my home and find at least one book they'd like to read.

These three books were stuck in a paper bag of books I'd taken off a bookshelf when some new windows were installed last year. Yes, it's taken me this long to get the bookshelf back in place and start sorting the books. This time I'm going through and picking out stuff that will not go back on the shelf. Mind you, it's hard for me to get rid of a book. I love books, but then I'd have to since I make my living creating them.


1979 edition. Click on image to see it larger. 

What first struck me about one of these is how much one face looks like a friend's husband. Now, that would seem highly unlikely, except for the fact that he was an actor who did appear in several westerns. So maybe, just maybe, the illustrator was working from a photo of him. I've sent the image along to my friend to see what she thinks.


1985 edition. Click on image to see it larger. 

No information is ever given about the illustrators of these books, which to me is a shame. Just a brief callout on the copyright page would be nice. I'd like to be able to compare images they've done. It sort of boggles the mind how many illustrations have been done for paperbacks since their inception. Artists cranking out one cover after another, but still giving their best. A lot was riding on these illustrations, no pun intended. Point of purchase sale was the most important element behind what finally got chosen. Did the illustration capture something that would make a buyer stop and become a reader?


1979 edition. Click on image to see it larger. 

Will I toss these books as I put the shelves back together? Probably not. I'll never read them, but I do like the covers.

JOHN WAYNE gives it a big thumbs up!

Even if you've never read the book, you're probably familiar with the title Hondo, even if you've never seen the movie.

What's interesting about this cover is how long this illustration by James Dwyer  (1898-1973) was used. From what I can find, the image was first used on a paperback in 1953. The copy I have I think came from the late '60s or early '70s. That's pretty rare for an image to last through that many editions. Click on the links to see other Hondo covers and to read the brief information about Dwyer.

The film adaptation came out in 1953, the same year this illustration was first used. 

Hondo is a Warnercolor 3D Western film made in 1953, starring John Wayne, directed by John Farrow. The screenplay is based on the July 5, 1952 Colliers short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L'Amour. The book Hondo was a novelization of the film also written by L'Amour, and published by Bantam Books in 1953. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Interesting that the book wouldn't have happened had there not been a movie attached. So this book, with Wayne's praise, could loosely be considered a movie tie-in book.

Here's the poster from the movie from Wikipedia.

I'm sure it's just me, but whenever I hear the name John Wayne I first think of him standing silhouetted in the doorway at the end of The Searchers. My next thought is, well...perhaps not one you come up with. One of my very favorite movies, Smoke Signals.

If you see these guys IN A DARK ALLEY...

come up with another shortcut to take. I'm just sayin'.




Click on images to see them larger.

No idea who the illustrators might be.

Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, and the UNKNOWN COWBOY

A movie tie-in book. Love collecting these. Pointless, but always fun to find one.

So how would you feel to have gotten a part in the movie, your image on the cover of the book, but then no information given as to who you are? People in the movie who aren't on the cover got credit, but the lone fellow on the right is left out. I'm a guessin' he's thikin' somethin' along the lines of, "I think I'd better talk to my agent."




Click on images to see them larger.

Is that you DWIGHT?

It might just be another Louis L'Amour cover, but this time I'm curious about the fellow on the left. Is that Dwight Yoakam? Is it just me?

This cover came out in 1980. Dwight was not yet nationally famous, though he might have already been knocking around the Los Angeles scene. So where did the illustrator get the photo? Or is this all by chance? Not something really worth pondering, but there's no information about the illustrator so the story ends...here.

DAVID BLOSSOM'S Louis L'Amour Cover

My father had a friend who was Cherokee. The man loved to read and watch Westerns; a passion they shared. After he passed, his widow called dad and asked if he'd like to have a box of Louis L'Amour paperbacks. Dad is never one to jump to a "yes", so I said it for him. He frowned at me, but enjoyed reading all of the books.

I'll be featuring some of the covers. They date mainly back to the 1970s.

This cover was done, I believe, by David J. Blossom (1927-1995), son of Earl Blossom (1891-1970).

He was born in Chicago, Illinois but lived most of his life on the east coast, growing up in Rye, New York and Weston, Connecticut. He lived in Westport and Southport, Connecticut until 1963, when he moved with his family to Weston, where he lived until his death in 1995. 



He worked at Young & Rubicam as an art director (for the Ford Motor Company and Pan American Airways accounts) until moving to Weston, CT when he became a freelance illustrator. (SOURCE: AskArt)

He was known for illustrating Romance and Western covers.



Click here and here to see examples of Romance book covers; specifically nurses. And click here to see other examples of this cover as movie tie-in paperbacks.