I recently came across this photo of a cowboy drawing my Dad did on a chalkboard. Above it, he wrote, "I love you, Rutho," which is what he called my mom sometimes. All around the cowboy drawing there are messages to him from my children who were in elementary at the time. Sweet memories. I still have the original. As a child, I remember sitting at the table with him after supper in our in our Southeast Texas home, learning to draw this cowboy. His lines were simple, yet definite, sharp and confident. Much like my Dad. He must have drawn this guy hundreds of times. He taught me how to draw him step-by-step and there were variations of this guy..sometimes he had a beard or mustache, but basically he was the same, and always facing left. I wish I had some of those early attempts at this cowboy. He taught my children to draw him as well. My Dad inspired me to draw more and more and one day, my Dad would become the inspiration for two of my paintings. My first watercolor portrait (a sepia study) was of him and then there is the one of him in his boat gathering oysters, "Gettin' Ready to Get 'Em," which was what he said when he saw it.

My dad had a very artist soul and he loved to make things, like pictures from shells, step stools (he created his own pattern) and during his time in the service, he bought an engraver and would salvage plexiglass to engrave bracelets and etchings to send back home to my mom. Sometimes he would also engrave large seashells. These are all precious to me now. 

But none more precious than the memory of first drawing that cowboy with my Dad. Later I would become an art teacher myself and during my days teaching elementary art when I wanted a lesson on line and texture, I would pull out a lesson I learned long ago. Meet Tex. Perhaps you can share it too. But please, give my first art teacher the credit.

"Tex, the Cowboy from Texas Who Liked Texture." by Melody Weintraub/Johnie Hryhorchuk