Zorro: The Daring Escapades

I’m delighted to announce that I have a new, all original illustration in Zorro: The Daring Escapades (2020) by Bold Venture Press. This fresh compilation brings sixteen new adventures of the dashing caballero! My illustration is for “Zorro’s Midnight Mission” by Will Murray.

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The Story Behind the Illustration

There are two things I can say confidently that I know something about—horses and the desert. I started early with both—my first play was the Romberg operetta, “The Desert Song” which my aunt took me to when I was a tot. I’ve been riding horses since I was four-years-old and I lived in the Sonoran desert for ten years. When the editor of the collection, Audrey Parente, told me that I’d be illustrating Will’s story I was delighted because I’m a huge fan of his writing. I had no idea at that time that the story was about Zorro’s horse, Toronado.

I always doodle while I’m thinking about illustration work and here’s one that I did while working on this piece.

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As I considered the best scene to illustrate, I thought about my own horses and their reactions to someone sneaking up behind them with a whip. My horse Percy, a tidy dressage horse with quick hind feet, would no doubt attempt to remove the stalker’s head. If restrained, he would simply jig and fret about what was happening behind him. This inspired the horse in my illustration. The rider is distracted and has removed his lance from its holder, so as to better control his fractious mount. Meanwhile, our hero, too smart to stand on level ground with a jigging horse, gets up on some rocks and snaps his whip forward. (I’ve had some experience with bullwhips, too. I’m no champ at their use, but I have fox hunted and being able to use a hound’s whip is often necessary. ) The desert illustrated here is Joshua Tree, which is near Capistrano, CA..

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I hope that you’ll check out Zorro: The Daring Escapades, it’s filled with wonderful new adventures and is a must-have for all Zorro fans!