Lewis Black caricature

This guy cracks me up. He's a white hot ball of nervous/irritated energy.

Rex

Here's a dinosaur because, er..dinosaurs are cool.

Christmas 2006: The gifts

The kids got everything they wanted and more this year. They have been successfully spoiled rotten by all parties involved. Above are shots of Alex and Kathy Christmas Eve, opening presents from the family.

Below is Christmas Day; Santa was a complete lunatic this year.

I got everything I wanted as well. In an attempt to keep this blog semi art related, I'll share with you some of my more blog-relevant gifts.

Got some great books this year:Great book featuring a ton of artwork for Gorillaz, of whom I am a huge fan.

Never seen the movie, but the character design is excellent. Unique packaging and presentation as well. I love "The art of:" books. Sometimes the concepts are better than the finished result.

I've been waiting a long time for this book to come out, and I'm actually reading it instead of just looking at the pictures!

I got a lot of other stuff as well, and I appreciate everyone who thought of me this Christmas. I, on the other hand really dropped the ball. I got home made cookies from people, cards, photos and other gifts, but beyond my family I didn't GIVE much at all and I'm very disappointed in my performance. I have an amazing circle of friends who I love and adore, I need to treat them that way. So here it is, 2007 and I have a list of resolutions as long as my arm including being more giving, not just at Christmas, but all year. And update this blog more often...

2006 Christmas cookies

Every year the kids and I make cookies. Usually we make several kinds, but every year we make candy cane cookies and sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles. As with every tradition, funny patterns seem to emerge.

It seems while shopping to prepare for the the annual cookie baking, the red and green sprinkles are overlooked when I make my list of items I need or already have around the house. It appears that every year I buy the sprinkles, not aware that I had some left over from the previous year. This is what I found in my cupboard:

That's right, I have SIX YEARS worth of red and green sprinkles! The containers to the far right are the 2006 edition.

The candy cane cookies are made with regular cookie dough, half with red food coloring, the other half plain (or white). I usually make the dough and the kids twist it around into candy canes. Usually they start out strong, and then the kid's interest fades with each passing batch. The first wave of cookies are perfect, then they become candy cane colored lumps and finally blobs of cookie dough. This year was no exception.

Guess who had to clean all of this up?

Captain Jack sez....

Jekyll/Hyde

Not sure why I drew Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Once I started, I couldn't stop.

Old men

Caught some old guys having a heated discussion the other day, which inspired me to draw this. I draw people all the time and although I love kids and am a big fan of beautiful women, old men are definitely the most fun to draw. That doesn't mean I'm going to go out and try to BE one any time soon...

Some guy named Mitch.

I was doing some doodling and came up with this character. Not sure what his story is, or if he even has one, but I can tell you he's a lot of fun to draw. So far I figure he's an archeology major in college and despite his massive frame, he's a bit of a nerd (and he's a bit dense). He lives with his parents, has a cool utility belt, goes on secret worldwide missions and wears his little sister's pink backpack. ..and his name is Mitch.

What the heck have I been doing?

Haven't posted in about a month, although I have been doing quite a bit of drawing. First of all, Black Cat Bone is steadily moving along. I'll post some teaser stuff up here soon. Also, I've been involved in a weekly drawing challenge over at http://caricatureconnection.blogspot.com/ Caricature Connection artists are invited to submit artwork according to a theme introduced every Monday. It's not a contest, or even a competition. It's just meant to share your artwork with the other artists. I've been helping to run the challenges every week and participate. Here's my stuff.

Week 1: Trick or Treat.

One night at work a guest asked me what I was going to dress up as for Halloween. I told her "A caricature artist" Then I wondered what a caricature artist costume would look like...

Week 2: The Yeti.

Here's the yeti in a candid moment, early one morning retrieving the paper in his wife's bathrobe.

Week 3: The Politician.

Dubya.

Week 4: Whatcha' Watchin'?

My favorite new show Heroes, a very close second behind LOST.

Crockett/Boone, a king and a fool

Here's a couple of drawings from the past few days. They start out as scribbles and shapes and then I try to turn them into something. This is a Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett type guy, in marker.

Here's a king and a jester. The king started as three circles (like a snowman), the jester was an afterthought.

I like doing this stream-of-consciousness type drawing. It's fun just to draw something without "trying" to draw anything. Many of the drawings you see on this blog are done that way. I don't start with a specific idea, I just let my "little dot go for a walk"

NCN con wrapup

Finally I'm able to post about the 2006 National Caricaturist Network convention held recently here in Orlando. The con was a huge success, with the largest artist turnout ever. The guest speaker this year was David O'Keefe www.davidokeefe.com . Inspired by his work, I sculpted a 3-D piece for my studio submission this year.

I got to talk extensively with David (he's a great guy), and hope some of his immense talent and wisdom will rub off on me.

This is my wall space.

I only ended up doing 4 pictures, a new low for me. Good news is, I still won an award Best Cartoon Style, Second Place. Here's me with newcomer Jessica Plummer (who had a rockin' sketchbook) and Spumco artist Marlo Meekins. I'm the dumpy one in the middle. Needless to say, I'm all pumped up for 2007's convention, which will be in Reno the first week of October. My plan is to have some Black Cat Bone books to sell there and a very unique studio piece that I'm already planning...Stay tuned!

"This is NOT a good look for me!"

Every time I'm flipping through the movie channels late at night, I run across this movie (you know what it is). I always end up tuning in near the chest waxing scene. It's brutal and funny, and wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if Steve Carell wasn't ACTUALLY getting his real chest waxed. That's his own blood in that scene. Comedy is indeed all about commitment.

Primates of the Caribbean

Just another in what seems to be an endless series of posts regarding monkeys and pirates. They're just so much fun to draw! Don't worry though, I just about have it out of my system.

Arrrrrgh matey!

Avast me hearties! Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day. Shiver me timbers! Since I be such a pirate fan, I figgered I'd post some scurvy scallywags . Now where's me rum?

Memory sketch: Grandpa

This is a sketch from memory of a guy I saw at the park the other day.

Cheeky Monkey

The other night I was drawing a wonderful family from England. The mother kept referring to her son who I was drawing as a "cheeky monkey" which I think is an absolutely hysterical phrase. I crack up every time I hear it. So I was inspired to do this:

Here there be dragons.

Here's a dragon for ya. Because...I wanted to draw a dragon for ya. So there.

Sammy Hagar Caricature

My son Alex and I went to Green Bay to see Sammy Hagar July 18th. We had exclusive viewing ON STAGE behind the drums. You can view photos of the show here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EcMnLVq3ZMXHQ&notag=1

As with the Van Halen caricature I did for their tour in 2004, I prepared a special caricature for the show in hopes of getting it signed. Here is the caricature I did:

...Got it signed by Sammy himself.

The 6 Pack.

One of the great by-products of insomnia is the often strange ideas and bizarre concepts that can be realized.

Case in point... This is is a group of men who one night in a typical Wisconsin bar they frequent, decide they are fed up with their dull, predictable lives and decide to become super heroes. Trouble is, they have no super powers, no amazing gadgets and no special abilities. They call themselves "The 6 Pack" .

When the world is threatened by real villians, it is up to The 6 Pack to fight on mankind's behalf. They survive only on a little bit of guts and skill and a massive amount of dumb luck.

The Insane Genius of Alex Durkin

So I'm driving thru Chick-Fil-A with my kids today, and my 9 year old son Alex sketches out this gem...

Hysterical. I love that kid.

Speaking of pirates...

...I've got your MONKEY PIRATE right here! The monkey pirate is the product of a late night MSN instant messaging session between myself and a friend of mine (yeah, that means you, Chris) when we were getting tired and punchy. So here you go, Trump. At your request....

I was born on a pirate ship.

Just another random drawing, this time of a pirate (and hey, who doesn't like pirates?) In other news, I just got my Creating Characters with Personality book in the mail today. Let's see how this affects/improves my artwork and approach.

LOST: updated

This is the newly revised version of the LOST caricature. I wanted a more flat look, so I removed all of the drop and inner shadows. I also made a new John Locke, the original looked a little too "Brando-esque" (thanks Keelan!) This was meant to reflect the cast of the first season, although I may add a few of the second season characters.

Redneck

More random silliness for no reason.

Gangster.

Okay. So I missed the boat for MegaCon. I was supposed to have the first issue of Black Cat Bone done to debut the last week of February. However, those who know me, are aware that I'm still enduring a personal issue that has been taking up a great deal of my thoughts and sanity. It has made focusing on the book nearly impossible. The good news is, things are wrapping up in the "D-word" department, and a huge weight will soon be lifted from my shoulders. Then it's Black Cat Bone all the way, baby! In the meantime, here is a gangster interrogation, just for fun.

Caveman family

Just goofing around.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy V-D to everyone!

LOST

This is a caricature of the cast from LOST, my favorite (current) T.V. show. This was done as a promotional piece for me, after a bit of obsessive-compulsive tweaking it will be finished and sent out as postcards to prospective clients.

Supes.

What am I doing? I don't have time to draw this stuff. I've got a book to do!

Worker Cats.

Just trying to get one last post in before the new year. These are a group of random cats that will appear in the very beginning of the story establishing the father character. I'm finishing some rewriting of the first issue, then it's time to begin laying it out and artwork....gulp!

Big William Baxter

Back after a short absence. It's the holiday season, which means the updates are coming a lot slower. But I did manage to do a color shot of Kit's dad, Big William Baxter. I think I'm ready to start laying out the first issue. I've put it off long enough...

More Kits

Did a few more views of Kit including some profiles. Turnaround coming soon.

Faces of Kit

I wanted to do a "model sheet" of Kit's face. Trying to work out how he looks at different angles and facial expressions.

Kit poster

This is a piece based on real handbills and posters from the past advertising various music acts. It will eventually be used in part to promote Black Cat Bone. Also available in my cafepress store: http://www.cafepress.com/durkinworks