Not much needs to be said about this post,  except for that when I find a fun Mountie image,  I'm sometimes compelled to have some fun with it!  The images that Marilyn took with this (thus far) unnamed Mountie at Lake Louise in Banff, Canada  in 1953 (while filming "The River of No Return") are really charismatic stuff! 
                                                               
                                                                                              Click on the image to enlarge!

This is a compilation of two images from Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted comic book (the covers of which I posted HERE),  tagged together and cleaned up into a single cool image!   Of course,  I'm a fan of Mountie stuff,  and this was just plain fun.  As my Canadian pals at the film blogs Silver Screenings and Speakeasy pointed out,  the word "Moulage" described here is one worth learning!  One learns quite a bit hanging out with Mountie culture, wot?  Feel free to download the image below,  and to learn about Moulage HERE.

Here's a download of the full file,  about 2MB.  Great for a poster!

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED was many things in it's life;  a comic strip,  several cliffhanger serials (which I have, and will be reviewing here eventually),  and a number of "Big Little Books".   The character,  the stalwart Mountie Dave King,  is the creation of  Stephen Slesinger (not Zane Grey),  who is also the creator of the mega-popular western character RED RYDER.  I present here some of the covers for the series,  all with colourful and interesting variety.

Here are some web-found images of one of my fave cowboy actors,  Tim McCoy,  in a Mountie role,  from the 1935 picture FIGHTING SHADOWS.    I don't have this in the prodigious Mountie DVD collection yet (I have yet to find a copy for sale),  but I thought these great on-set images were pretty spectacular and worth posting.  Unlike some of the cowboy stars of his era, McCoy had real cowboy credentials,  having left his education behind to work as a ranch hand in Wyoming,  learning all the appropriate skills,  plus becoming conversant in the local Indian languages.  This is the only Mountie movie of his that I know of,  and info is relatively scarce.  When I find a copy, I'll review it here.  If you've seen it, let me know!

Here are some goodies by Greg Ruhl,  Chris Caldwell,  and Tom McNeely.   Ruhl's Mountie seems to be blessed in his choice of a lady;  I assume that this is the cover of a romance novel...I think his page lists it as such (new: I got confirmation from the man himself;  it was a cover for a Harlequin romance).  Chris Caldwell's "Hero in Serge" is a spunky take on our image of the Mountie,  and illustrator Tom McNeely magnificently brings out their legend in just a few colours and swishes of a pen.  Leif Peng,  an art educator in Ontario, and good friend of McNeely, had this interesting thing to say about two of these fun artists:  "Greg Ruhl shared a studio space with Tom McNeely (and several others) for a few years in the 1990s. I actually took over that space when Greg moved out."  Small world, wot?  Thanks to Leif for the comments and support.  This batch is really fun;  I dug around for some more illustrator-type goodies this time around.  Please follow the links below to find more about these artists.

I've been digging on making these 'memes' lately;  I thought the Mounties needed a few of their own,  so here's the first!

Another batch of non-Freberg Mountie images!  These are worthy of that great artist;  solemn and powerful,  and also gentle and inspiring.  I don't know much about the artists presented here other than Charles M. Russell,  but I think it's fine that these images speak for themselves.

The first of these great images is titled "International Commerce", by E. J. Boecher.   The second is by painter Robert William Addison (see more of his work HERE).  The third and fourth are stunning images by the famed western artist Charles Marion Russell; "Single Handed" and  "When Law Dulls the Edge of Chance".  Both are amazing scenes of conflict and courage.  You can see Russell's work at the website HERE, and read more about his amazing career HERE.  The final is perhaps the most intense;  it's called "Beyond the Law", by artist Franz Johnston.  It's guaranteed to put a chill up your spine...sometimes justice gets it's man before the Mountie!

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Arnold Friberg was an American painter and illustrator with an amazing eye.  Though in a similar style to Norman Rockwell's,  his material had it's own flavour;  his images are gripping and full of character.  He's best known for four  things:  his amazing painting of George Washington praying at Valley Forge (bottom left),  the pre-production promo paintings for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (bottom center),  colourful depictions of scenes from the Book of Mormon (Friberg was raised a Mormon), and finally,  he painted some of the greatest Canadian Mountie art ever produced.

His stuff sits squarely in the center of the Mountie ideal;  honest, strong, brave and capable, and each is chock-a-block full of stalwart goings-on and derring-do.  As a fan of the Mountie image, I'm really inspired by this stuff.  That's why this kind of heroic image exists;  in the face of an irregular and occasionally disappointing reality, they serve to remind us of what could be possible with some effort.  Friberg really had the touch for this kind of thing. 

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Here are three of my favourite images featuring scenes of Canadian Mountie action!  If I didn't already live on the wide open prairie with deep winters and expansive wilderness,  I might want to head just a few hundred miles north and join up with the R.C.M.P.!  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

The first of these stunners is by Dean Cornwell,  one of my top fave illustrators!  His stuff it usually a lot more action packed,  but says it all about the legendary Mountie; calm under fire, and ready for all!  I highly urge you to look for more of his work.  Read about him HERE.

The second is by illustration legend Harold "Hal" Foster,   taking time away from drawing the Prince Valiant comic strip to give us this great image of a Mountie and his team.

The third is by noted historical painter and pulp illustrator James Edwin McConnell; you can read about him HERE.

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