William A. Smith

With my soft spot for both westerns and mid-century illustration, I've seen a lot of fantastic 1950s and 60s paintings of cowboys from men's adventure magazines and pulp covers. Among my favorites is the work of William A. Smith. This piece is from the Saturday Evening Post, 1957. Smith's sense of drama and painterly style often had him compared to his contemporary, Robert Fawcett. Fawcett's a giant, there's no doubt about that. But just take a gander at Smith's composition here. Pretty smooth for a spot, I'll say. When it comes to composition, I'll take Smith over Fawcett. He's a sharp shooter.