Showdown

Showdown is an oil painting that uses one of my favorite angles—a high vantage point. This perspective turns the viewer into an observer rather than a participant, placing us at a distance from the tension between these two cowboys.

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I chose to depict the silent moment before the draw, when both gunfighters stand still, locked in observation, measuring each other. Their faces remain unseen, but their shadows stretch clearly across the ground—sharp, silent omens of what’s to come. In a split second, one of them may fall, crossing over into the darkness, their fate decided in a flash.

 

​The barn in the composition, worn by time yet standing firm, adds a sense of scale—a stark contrast to the fleeting nature of the duel. As the gunfighters face their moment of truth, the barn remains indifferent, a silent witness to lives that come and go.​