Western Horseman’s February 2019 cover art by Billy Schenck combines an old-school feel with a pop of the unexpected.

The February 2019 issue of Western Horseman is sure to make a splash. It features a vibrant Western pop art piece by Billy Schenck, and Western Horseman has partnered with Schenck to use the image on new signage, merchandise and apparel in upcoming months.

“Our cover image exemplifies our other deviation from the norm,” writes Editor in Chief Ross Hecox in his monthly column, Leading Off. “The pop Western art by Billy Schenck, titled Looking for Sunsets, is ideal for this particular issue. And it’s an image you will see on future Western Horseman apparel and merchandise. The graphic, boldly colored painting is eye-catching, and at the same time it represents so much of what all of us aspire to do—ride a quiet, well-broke horse through a grand Western landscape.”

Senior Editor Jennifer Denison talked with Schenck about his contemporary Western art, and how it’s affected his life. “I got sucked into the Western lifestyle,” he says in the February issue. “I liked the idea of being a rodeo cowboy as much as having an [art] career, so I started riding bareback and saddle broncs and got thrown off every time. Here I was an established artist who’s had more shows [throughout Europe and New York], and I was trying to ride broncs—very unsuccesfully—in local rodeos.”

Schenck says that folks seem to be coming back to pop art and contemporary styles. “I’ve always had this formula this formula; it’s just now becoming more relevant to a younger generation.”

Schenck breaks down his creative process and more in the February 2019 issue.