Happy Halloweenie!

Jett is quite the comedian, but I'll get to that in a minute.
Jett got a package in the mail the other day. Somehow he knew it was his, because when we opened it, he practically dove into it. It was a box of new outfits from his Uncle Chris and Aunt Leslie. Among the cute clothing was a little bee costume for Halloween. We found it irresistible and had to dress him up in it and take photos.

We're not sure why, but between the bottom two legs of the bee, there is a small, horizontal slit in the fabric. Perhaps its for ventilation, but Jett found a funnier use for it. The picture shown above has actually been doctored in Photoshop a bit, below is the actual photo.

I'm pretty sure bees don't actually have five weenies, but I do know from now on, I'll never look at a bee the same way again.

VIKING!!

I don't know what inspired this. Maybe just a need to draw a more testosterone-laden picture for a change. It was fun though!

MegaCon 2011

It's official! I'm going to be an attending artist at MegaCon in Orlando, March 25th-27th 2011. I will be selling Chapters One and Two of Black Cat Bone as well as debuting the third Chapter, Black Cat Bone: The Devil's Music. In addition, I will be selling the updated Durkin's Dragons: Parodies and Tributes with over 20 all-new dragons. Also, I will be selling my new quasi-sketchbook entitled "SCRAPS". Finally, I will be selling original art and doing sketches and commissions per request live at the con. When I get my table assignment I'll let you know. In the meantime, check me out with some of the other attending artists here.

I'm the Dad, that's why.

There's a great review of Harry Hiccers and Ben Kachoo, the toys I designed for Fierce Fun Toys as well as the first Norman Phartephant book I illustrated at this great blog called,
I'm the Dad, that's why.Check it out here.

What are these "scraps" exactly?

From time to time, I post what I call scraps. Quite simply, they are small, quick, stream-of-conciousness sketches that I've done and post on the blog.

I plan to compile them into a book to be released some time next year. Someone asked me how big each sketch is. I prefer to work small, usually in the margins of paper or on whatever blank space is available. As you see by this example, the average scrap is not that big at all.

To see all the scraps I've posted so far, click the scraps button on the right.

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Kay Ness and Mount Dora

Today was a very important and busy day. We took Jett to Mount Dora FL to meet renowned neurodevelopmentalist Kay Ness. Kay is a legendary specialist in her field, and while we were looking forward to meeting with her and having her assess Jett, we were delighted that the location of our meeting was Mount Dora.

Mount Dora has a special place in our hearts. The day we got married, Andi and I decided we wanted to go to the best sushi restaurant in Lake County. A quick internet search pointed us to Mount Dora Sushi.

When we arrived in Mount Dora, we were instantly struck by its charm and beauty. It has been called "One of the Best Romantic Escapes in Florida", "One of the Top 100 Small Towns in America" and the "Friendliest Small Town in Florida". Mount Dora Sushi did not disappoint, and the town had such amazing atmosphere with its unique shops and restaurants. We vowed to return for our anniversary.

And return we did. For our one year anniversary this year we went to Mount Dora Sushi again, and decided to try a new restaurant, The Windsor Rose English Tea Room and Restaurant. Again, we fell in love with this quaint Old English tea shop. It was settled, Mount Dora would be an anniversary destination for years to come.

Little did we know that we would be returning only a few months later. We planned our day to have lunch at the Windsor Rose before the appointment with Kay. Here's what we had:

Tea, cakes and scones. Amazing!

Even John Lennon Statue loves Mount Dora.

After the Windsor Rose, we met with Kay. We spent several hours with her and learned so much. One of my favorite things Kay said, was that in her 25 years, she'd never seen a child with DS who had as amazing muscle tone as Jett and though he was behind on a few things, for the most part he was right on track and even ahead of where he should be for his age. His eyes, nose, mouth, jaw, arms, fingers, hips, legs, feet, toes, even his hair looked great. I was so happy that all of Jett and mommy's hard work was being validated. We have a lot of work to do still, a list of therapy and exercises for Jett, and we will be returning to see Kay in February, just before Jett turns 1.

After the appointment, we decided to try a new restaurant, The Frog and Monkey.

I had the mushroom and swiss burger and fries. Delicious!

I love the atmosphere in Mount Dora. What a charming little town. I highly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Central Florida. I can't wait to bring Jett back in a few months. Of course, you'll read all about it right here!

Oh noes!!

Do you know what this is?

It's the power button on my computer not turned on. Sadly, I believe my old computer passed away some time last night.

Fortunately, I was given an iMac by a family member, so I'm quickly getting "back in the game". The freelance art world waits for no man. I'll need to bring the old one some place to recover any old data if I can. The biggest challenge is trying not to panic!

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You know what these mean...

I've got a lot of work to do..

...and I can't show you any of it!

Not yet, anyway. But the second I have the clearance, I can share some of it with you. Stay tuned!

Jett: 8 months old

Jett is just a few days shy of 8 months. Here's some of the latest pics of him.

Jett practicing his cannonball for swim lessons

Jett and Daddy. They crack each other up.

Sketchbook guy: Ol' Hippie

I keep a stack of old paper by my computer to occupy me while I'm on the phone, or waiting for files to load. I just sketch randomly and let my pen wander. Usually they're nothing very interesting, but one of my latest turned out pretty cool. I guess I started sketching Willie Nelson from memory but he evolved into something different, a kind of aging hippie.

Denise Richards loves me.

That's right. Actress and former Mrs. Charlie Sheen loves me.
Well...not ME necessarily, but she does love my work, and so do her kids. Check out this note she gave to Fierce Fun Toys president Angela Larson about some of the books I illustrated.

Scraps 37: May contain peanuts

Don't forget, you can always check out previous scraps by clicking the "scraps" button to the right.

AK Gangsters

Originally, I had this sketched in for three gentlemen who wanted to be drawn together as gangsters. When they backed out of getting it done, I replaced them with me and my AK buddies.

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Sketchbook guy

Someone has a bad case of the "Mondays".Not sure if Joe refers to the guy's name, the contents of the mug or the name of the mug itself.

Scraps 36: Now with 75% more "OZ"

Step Up for Downs Syndrome walk.

We just got back from the Step Up for Downs Syndrome walk. The day was GORGEOUS! Perfect temperature, clear skies and the pretty park setting of Orlando's Lake Eola.

The event was very well-attended with hundreds of teams and families walking to support the cause.

Here we are taking up the rear. It was fun being able to walk down the middle of a normally busy downtown Orlando street without getting run over. Because were at the end of the pack, we were followed slowly by the police.

I felt like O.J.!

Alex found the music to be irresistible, and his dancing fascinated Jett.

We would like to thank everyone for donating. We well-exceeded our goal. We'll definitely be back next year!

Who Wants to be a Caricature Artist?

Kirby does, when she grows up.

One from the other night.

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Happy Birthday Beeka!

I'd like to wish my mom a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Her legal name is Anne Durkin, but she mostly goes by the name Beeka, a combination of the words "peeka" and "boo" given to her by my son Alex when he was a little tyke.Here she is with my dad. Also, it's 71 degrees.

AK coworker: Jason

Here is a caricature of one of my newest coworkers, Jason. His kids love to dress up like pirates and so I drew him as, well, you know...

"Snail see, snail do"

On occasion, people request to be drawn as their favorite animal. I've drawn tons of these "animaltures" over the past ten plus years but I've never drawn anyone as a snail. Until today:

Hannah loves snails. She even has snails decorated all over her room. When she asked me to draw her as a snail, I leaped at the chance.

She loved the picture, and so did a little girl named Kate who was watching me draw. She loved it so much that she also wanted to be drawn as a snail!

Kids these days...

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Durkin's Dragons is Stepping Up for Down Syndrome!

The Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida has been incredibly helpful to us in providing low cost therapy classes, free information, and lots of great local contacts to assist Jett. He even got a swimming scholarship and just had his second swimming lesson!

So, the Durkins: Kathy, Alex, Jett, Kenny, Andi & Honorary Durkin Teddy Johnson will be walking in support of the association this Saturday, October 16th. Our team name of course is Durkin's Dragons.

Our goal is to raise at least $100. The money raised goes toward the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida.

Donating is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to our fund-raising efforts. Many thanks for your support-- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too! Click here to donate!

Trinity Dragon: In Color

Here's the Trinity Irish Dancer Durkin's Dragon from yesterday in color. You can show Gabby now!

Trinity Dragon

Shhh...don't show this to my niece Gabby, it's not finished yet... I promised her I would draw a Durkin's Dragon as a Trinity Irish Dancer. Here it is in black and white. Color is coming soon.

Ahoy mateys!

I love drawing pirates. This time of year is especially great because the guests are dressing up for the Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom. Sara Kate was dressed as a pirate, and I was thrilled that she wanted her caricature done.







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Jett cracks up.

Jett seems to find most things incredibly funny.

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Scraps 35: Known to cause insanity in laboratory mice.

Some select caricatures from the last week.

Over the past week, I've taken some pics of some of the live caricatures I've done. Here's a sampling:

Family of three. Faces and bodies. No pencil. Scary.

Family of four. Faces and bodies. No pencil. Very scary.

He just wanted to be in his chair. I souped it up a bit for him.

Done this one a few times at gigs, but never at the retail stands.

Ryan told me he really caught a fish that big once. Fishermen...

Kay was very animated.

I really love drawing the "animaltures" at Animal Kingdom. Also, cheetahs look fabulous in purple glasses.