Happy New Year!

Got a gig later at Epcot and then back home to ring in the New Year. Have a SAFE and fun time tonight everyone!

Sick as a...

...pair of dogs.

I rarely get sick. I have to thank my wife for that. A healthy diet and ample rest has kept me like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable. But this morning I woke up at 5:30 dizzy and vomiting. I've been in bed ever since, and on my day off too. I've managed to keep down a slice of plain toast and some tea, but if I move even slightly, the room starts spinning. Not sure why, perhaps some crazy flu bug. So all I have to post for today is a pic I did last night for a guest of their two dogs.


I'm going back to sleep.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Little Drummer Boy.

Baby Shower.

How not to play with Legos.

Working man.

Have a Rockin' Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Return of the Jett-i.

"It's Time" Mighty Fine Muppet Shirt

 You can get the Mighty Fine Muppet shirt "It's Time" designed by me, Kenny Durkin. All the cool kids are wearing it!

Just click this link and order yours today!

http://www.welovefine.com/product.php?id_product=1234

A Life of Science: Mad Scientist

I've collaborated with electronic multimedia rock group A Life of Science to create a unique logo.

This logo used my artwork of the mad scientist as a stepping off point. The group added custom lettering and graphic elements based on my design. The logo is currently being featured on merchandise and apparel. This link sends you to the black hooded sweatshirt, but there are other items available. Check it out here:

http://www.cafepress.com/sundawgrecords.604122373

Caricatures from today.

Just finished a gig and I took a few photos...

The Big Bowwowski.

"I'm the Dog. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dogness, or uh, Doger, or El Dogerino if you're not into the whole brevity thing."

Jett's protien-rich diet.

Jett climbing stairs.

I took a few short videos on my iPhone today of Jett climbing stairs. I apologize for the black and white video, the app on my phone had the color toggled off and the magic was happening so fast that I couldn't adjust it in time.

It's the first time Jett has voluntarily approached and climbed stairs on his own. We've practiced before on hand-made stairs fashioned from couch cushions as we don't have stairs in our house. He saw these stairs while we were miniature golfing and he conquered them with fierce enthusiasm!

Next Muppet pic: Tease #2

I'm getting closer to finishing my next Muppet parody artwork. Here's a little tease of the final color:

Get your hot fresh poopcorn here!

Drama King.

Next Muppet piece: Sneak Peek.

Here's a sneak peek of my next Muppet art. 

 It's my favorite Muppet character parodying one of my favorite movie comedies. Final art coming soon!

Boys will be boys...

Nice aim

This is another hit-and-run caricature from a recent gig. The event had a lot of games for the guests to play, including darts. While the partygoers were focused on their games, I was able to draw them without their knowledge.


Thankfully this guy had a sense of humor when he saw his picture!

Shirt sayer.

Durkinworks Word Cloud

This is neat. I made a word cloud from the Durkinworks blog. A word cloud gives greater visual prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

 In this case, you can see the words I've used most frequently on this blog are largest in the cloud. This particular cloud suggests that the sampling of text was taken from the more recent posts, probably from the past few months or so.

Food critic.

The Pee-Wee Herman Art Show

2012 is already going to be an amazing year. In January, I will be involved with the Throwback Video Game Art Show. In February, I will be contributing to The Pee-Wee Herman Art Show, both in Orlando.

I will have more details and images to share in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Artist Spotlight: Johanna Veerenhuis

 I have to say, I was quite flattered when I saw a recent Facebook post by fellow artist Johanna Veerenhuis. She said,

 "I was inspired by Kenny Durkin and his dragon drawings. I realized dragons would give me creative freedom which is a delight in between the sculpting where you have to capture likeness etc. So there'll be more to come!"

Johanna posted a few pics of her latest sculpt, a cheeky she-dragon named Miss Letoe.

Inspiring Johanna is such an honor for me, and her work has inspired me as well. I know Johanna from the International Society of Caricature artists. Among her talents is 3-D caricature sculpting. You can see some more of her work here. Thanks Johanna!

Who you callin' lazy?

Throwback Video Game Art Show

2012 is already shaping up to be an amazing year. I can't share all of it with you yet but for starters,  I'm going to be involved in my second art show. 

 

I'm currently preparing a few pieces for the Throwback Video Game art show which will be opening at the Belle Isle Yacht Pub January 14th. The website is here, and I'll have more details closer to the opening date.

Santa and the only-slightly-cooperative Jett.

Last night we went to the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida's annual Winter Wonderland. This is our second year attending, and every year we plan to get Jett's picture with Santa. I took a ton of pics of Jett and there was another photographer taking pics as well.

This....

...was the best photo. 

Jett can be such a diva some times!

The Return of Geeky Friday: Nightmare Before Christmas part 2.

 Geeky Friday is back after a hiatus. There's just so much going on that I can't feature a Geeky Friday every week, so I'll just post it when I have an "open" Friday.

One of the previous Geeky Fridays featured my Nightmare Before Christmas figure collection. Normally housed in my Nightmare Before Christmas themed bathroom, it's currently in the "showcase" above my television in my living room. The showcase is a ever-rotating display of a part of my collection. Previously it was Futurama, but now due to the holidays I changed it to something more festive. For Halloween, it looked like this:

But now that Halloween is over, I've upgraded it to the Christmas version:

Special thanks to my curator and exhibit organizer Alex Durkin.

Oops the mouse: On sale now!

One of my favorite clients that I work for is Fierce Fun Toys. I've illustrated children's books and designed several toys for them, and I'll be working with them even more in 2012.

The large plush animals all have a unique feature. When you squeeze them, they make a funny bodily noise. Norman the Elephant (Phartephant) farts when you squeeze his tail. Harry the Koala hiccups, Ben the Hippo sneezes.

The latest character is Oops the Christmas mouse. It seems when Oops eats too much candy, he burps when you squeeze his tummy.

Oops is a 4 inch super soft plush with a key chain loop so he can travel with you.

I got to design Oops per the client's instructions.

Here's the turnaround.

This is the final product.

I also designed the art for the tag.

You can get Oops just in time for Christmas by clicking this link.

http://www.fiercefuntoys.com/toy/detail/oops.htm

 

Latest dragon commission

Here's a commission I did recently for a video game playing dragon.

I'm semi-retired from the video gaming world, but back in the day I spent a lot of time looking just like this guy.

Ice please...

The Muppets: Breaking Wind

Those of you who have seen The Muppets (or at least the trailers) and are aware of the box office rivalry between it and the latest Twilight movie will get the joke.

Contest: It's time to dress up right.

I'm starting to get reports from folks telling me that the Mighty Fine Muppet t-shirt that I designed has shipped.

I'm holding a contest for everyone who ordered the shirt. Just take a photograph of yourself wearing the shirt and send it to me at kennydurkin@gmail.com. I'll pick my favorite and send you a cool prize. I'll give you until the end of the year to get your pics to me. If you haven't ordered your shirt yet, you can get it right here:

http://www.welovefine.com/product.php?id_product=1234

Teeth "Hung over"

Two of my three pieces of artwork submitted for the Puppet, Muppet and Marionette art festival have found homes! The third "Teeth" is currently hanging at Club 57 West at 57 West Pine Street in Orlando. 

The painting is part of a show called "Hung Over" where select pieces from various shows that didn't sell are given a second chance. If you weren't able to see "Teeth" in person, this may be your last opportunity before some lucky person snatches it up! Thanks to my friend Rinaldo Stephens for the pic!

Nominate the DS Day to Day Guide

 Andi has a blog for parents dedicated to the treatment of Down Syndrome. It's called Down Syndrome: A Day to Day Guide. 

In a few short months, her exhaustive work on the blog has helped numerous families and continues to be a comprehensive resource for parents of children with Down Syndrome. Please take the time to visit her blog, and nominate her to be one of the Top 30 Down Syndrome Blogs by following the link here.

To nominate the blog, simply copy and paste this URL

http://dsdaytoday.blogspot.com/

into the box titled Website Address and click Submit.

Thank you for your support!

The Muppets: A review.

Yesterday I saw the new film The Muppets.

I'll spare you the plot points and synopsis of the movie, that info is everywhere. I also won't go into what a huge Henson/Muppet fan I am and what an influence they are to me. If you want to know, just click the Muppets tab on the right-hand column.

What I will discuss is the film, and I'll try not to give any spoilers away. I think writing for the Muppets is an incredible challenge. It comes down to the tone. The Muppets are sweet and nostalgic, yet chaotic and sometimes edgy. They are quiet and reflective, yet have explosive anarchy. There's so much warmth, heart and humor. A fine line needs to be walked. The Muppets are FAMILY entertainment, they are not meant strictly for children, nor are they geared only toward adults.

It's obvious to me, for one of the few times in 20 years, that the Muppets are in capable hands. The movie is a delight. I sat there with a smile on my face nearly the entire time. I even have a few goosebump moments and an occasional tear (dusty theater I'm sure).

This movie was a love letter to the fans. There were so many references and inside jokes and fun little details packed into the corners and backgrounds of nearly every scene. What surprised me, were the numerous call-outs to Jim Henson himself. In several flashback scenes, they even used his voice and performance.

I was also pleased that CGI was used as little as possible. The movie celebrated the art of puppetry, as well it should. There were even a few "how-did-they-do-that, moments, a hallmark of any good Muppet movie. 

Was the movie perfect? Well, no. The film was trying to accomplish so much in such a short running time resulting in some confusing, chaotic editing. Judging by the footage from the trailers and clues in the soundtrack, there's a wealth of footage on the cutting room floor. I would love to see a director's cut, or the deleted scenes when the movie comes to DVD/Blu Ray.

Regardless of its flaws, the Muppets are back and not a moment too soon. We live in a cynical and sarcastic time. The Muppets remind us that it's okay to be silly, sweet and goofy. We need their trademark gee-whiz optimism in our lives. 

I'm not sure that this review gave the movie justice. I have more that I'd like to say, but I want to give you a few days to actually see it for yourselves before I go into more detail, so look for some additional thoughts of the movie coming soon.

I should mention, give yourself extra time to get to the movie before it starts because there's a new Toy Story short before the movie, and it's terrific.

Just saw The Muppets!

The kids and I just saw the new movie The Muppets.

Check out Kathy's Kermit-green hoodie.

Alex gets into the act.

I LOVED the movie! My intention was to post a review today, but after seeing the movie, a botched attempt at putting up Christmas decorations, and having to take the kids to their mom's, I'm out of time and off to work!

After all this buildup, the movie deserves a proper review, which I'll have first thing tomorrow.

The Muppets: What the critics are saying

What the critics are saying:
"Effortlessly blending wised-up, self-reflexive humor with old-fashioned let's-put-on-a-show pizzazz, The Muppets is an unexpected treat! Justin Chang - Variety
"You can't go wrong with this one." Andrew O'Hehir - Salon.com
"The movie is just shiny, funny, and filled with songs." Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly
"Slam-dunk. The movie slaps a smile on your face you won't want to wipe off." Peter Travers - Rolling Stone
"Muppetational, a concept that's been in sadly short supply as of late." Elizabeth Weitzman - New York Daily News
"A generally charming exercise in nostalgia." Roger Moore - Orlando Sentinel
"A very welcome return for Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the rest of Jim Henson's creations after a 12-year big-screen absence." David Germain - Associated Press

"I'm fiercely protective of these old friends, and I believe that the great Jim Henson would be very pleased with this movie." Scott Weinberg - Twitch

"There isn't a single beat in the film that feels crass or opportunistic. This one is from the heart." Rene Rodriguez - Miami Herald
"They still have plenty of heart and smart a-s-s-ness to give to a new generation and beyond." Devin Faraci - CHUD
"A Muppets for our ironic age." Ann Lewinson - Boston Phoenix
"A vivid reminder of how much we all could use some Muppets in our lives." Eric Goldman - IGN Movies
"The movie world has been a lesser place without the Muppets." Geoff Berkshire - Metromix.com
"As funny, outlandish and sweet as ever."Marshall Fine - Hollywood & Fine
"A brilliant makeover." Pete Hammond - Boxoffice Magazine
"Remember that feeling you got in the cinema watching "The Muppet Movie" as a tyke? You'll feel it all again." Clint Morris - Moviehole
"The beloved gang's sweet reunion will melt nostalgic adults into laughter and tears." Bill Weber - Slant Magazine
"Makes superfans out of all of us." Simon Miraudo - Quickflix
"One of the year’s biggest, mostly effective attempts at franchise reboot." Emanuel Levy - EmanuelLevy.com
"'The Muppets' is not just one of the best films of the year, it is an affirmation that we can indeed occasionally find our way home again, and that some things shouldn't change." Drew McWeeny - HitFix

Lovingly stolen from James Carroll

Muppet Monday: See The Muppets this week!

Well, this is it. The last Muppet Monday before The Muppets hits theaters. I'm going to be seeing it Wednesday, and I'll give a spoiler-free review after seeing the movie. You have a week from today to see the film before I do the spoiler-rich version of the review, so plan your holiday weekend accordingly!

I couldn't decide what else to post today. There's just so much new stuff to choose from.
The Muppets have officially dominated the media. They've made the recent covers of magazines like Entertainment Weekly and Wired, there are articles in the New York Times and newspapers around the world, they're making the television and talk show rounds (including an appearance on Saturday Night Live) and their soundtrack just became available. This is a great time to be a Muppet fan!

The Fellowship of the Muppets

The Fellowship of the Muppets. That's Robin as Frogo, Bean as Samwise Bunny, Pepe as Peppin, Rowlf as Gandrowlf, Scooter as Legopher, Kermit as Arafrog, Fozzie as Bearamir, Gonzo as Gimzo, and Rizzo as Mizzo.