Demo Cowboy #1 

Thomas Blackshear's "Demo Cowboy #1" presents a striking figure through the fluid medium of watercolor, capturing a face half-lit, half-shadowed beneath a wide-brimmed hat. This stark division immediately creates a sense of duality and hidden depths. The artist's masterful use of light and shadow is more than just representational; it's a signifier, hinting at the complex moral landscape of the Western genre. The shadowed portion obscures, suggesting a hidden or suppressed aspect, while the lit side reveals a piercing gaze, rendered with sharp detail that pulls the viewer into a direct confrontation. Blackshear uses watercolor in such a way as to challenge fixed notions of the cowboy as a symbol. Is he hero, or villain? This image functions within a visual vocabulary that invites us to question our perceptions of power, identity, and representation in popular culture. The painting’s structure destabilizes easy categorization.