THE RANCH HAND

The Ranch Hand was done as a "wrap" book cover for Ballantine Books. It had a different title then. I strove for a realistic deeling and told a story of a rather prim young lady, dealing with a bad boy ranch hand, whom she finds herself increasingly attracted to. I wanted to convey her strength, running an isolated ranch alone, in the face of great difficulties. The dark clouds rolling in from the right are there to help give the scene a sense of foreboding. There is going to be trouble ahead! I always enjoyed making up these scenes, adding authentic touches to them, such as thepan by the cold campfire and the rough wagon. Even the fence and scrub brush were carefully thought out. I worked from photogrphs of the two models, taken in a New York studio and worked from a print, painting in oils.