If Kevin Kibsey had been a character on Gunsmoke, he would have been Newly, the deputy marshal. The good-lookin’ good guy.
Kevin wasn’t born on a ranch, ropin’ calves and breakin’ horses, but his boyhood dream was to be a working cowboy. He got that chance, later on, at the Eagletail Ranch in Arizona; however, he’s spent more time painting cowboys than riding the range with them. For almost 33 years, Kevin has been our resident artist.
His first assignment for Arizona Highways was in February 1993, when he illustrated a story about an Apache warrior named Chato. “The art was scratchboard,” he says, “because that was my medium of choice at that time.” Since then, Kevin has done
several books and feature stories for us, and every month, until last month, he created the maps for our Hike of the Month and Scenic Drive.
“The first issue to feature my maps was April 1994,” Kevin says. “Gary Bennett, the art director, had asked me to apply for an assistant art director’s job. I was beat out, but Bob Early, the editor, asked if I’d be willing to do maps. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Like a lot of artists, Kevin is unassuming. “When I was in school, I wanted to do traditional art in the manner of the masters,” he says. “At the time, I figured I didn’t have the talent to be a painter or an illustrator.”
Turns out, he had a gift, and he quickly found his niche. “After I was out of school and doing freelance work,” he says, “I went to a two-week course on plein air painting, which is the traditional way in which the French Impressionists painted landscapes. That was a turning point for me. To this day, whenever I paint a landscape, I have to go out on location two or three times and do plein air studies before doing a studio-size piece.”
One of those landscapes is titled Blessings of a Cowboy — you might have seen it on our cover last month. Kevin calls it his “most personal work,” but he doesn’t have a favorite. “I have many favorites,” he says, “for uniquely different reasons: execution, design and composition, or the inspiration provided by the subject matter.”
Monet said nature was his source of inspiration. That’s been true for Kevin, too. From red-faced warblers to Rainbow Bridge, he’s painted so many of Mother Nature’s natural wonders. And he painted them masterfully.
“Throughout history, great art has been about more than just being able to represent something accurately,” he says. “The ability to direct the viewer’s eye to a focal point is so important. The focal point of a painting is like the climax of a story.”
Sadly, we’ve come to that point in Kevin’s story. He’s decided it’s time to retire, and he’s earned the opportunity. We’re happy for him. Sincerely happy. Selfishly, however, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye. Not many staffers have had a longer tenure — off the top of my head, I think only Cindy Bormanis and Raymond Carlson had been around longer.
Like Gunsmoke, one of the longest-running television shows in history, Kevin Kibsey has been a fixture at our magazine. It will be sad to flip through the pages and not see his work, and even sadder to not hear his booming voice reverberating down the hallway. I tend to measure people by whether or not I’d let them watch my children. Kevin measures up. Él es un buen hombre. He’s a good man.
On behalf of everyone at Arizona Highways, thank you, Kevin, for sharing your incredible talent. Like Ross Santee, Maynard Dixon, Jimmy Swinnerton, Ray Strang and so many other great artists, you’ve made our magazine something more than just words and photographs. May your horse never stumble, may your cinch never break.