Norman Phartephant: Norman Down Under

Norman Phartephant: Norman Down Under (Volume 2), the second Norman Phartephant book I illustrated, is back from the printers and will be yours to buy very soon. I'll let you know when it's available for sale, and have a link on the right as well.

Live retail caricatures.

This first one is from around Halloween of last year. Ashley was dressed up like the Phantom of the Opera and wanted to be riding a black horse. I was happy to oblige, but went through an entire black marker in the process.Far too often, I get a kid in my chair who is eating, or has a pacifier, or in this case, sucking their thumb, but the parents want me to draw their child WITHOUT those things. I like when the parents encourage me to draw their kids the way they ARE.
This one was from less than a week ago. She was from the U.K. and wanted me to draw her "as

cheeky"as she looked. Again, it's so refreshing to have your subject know what a caricature is and still want to be drawn that way.

Work in progress: Beatles Dragon

Here's a dragon for my upcoming book, Durkin's Dragons: Parodies and Tributes. This dragon is based on one of my favorite groups, The Beatles. I wanted to show you the final inked stage before I color it with watercolor.

Alex, Kathy and Jett

Alex and Kathy got to meet their new little brother for the first time yesterday. They were so excited!

Jett really likes girls, even his sister!

I'm still in the "new baby daze" and have been busily cooking, cleaning and spending time with the family. I appreciate you indulging my proud papa posts these past few days. But the freelance artist world waits for no man, so I'll be returning to more art-related posts very soon. Stay tuned!

Jett Durkin: Birthday

Seriously. What a beautiful little boy, and what an amazing birth experience! Jett was born at the Birth Place in Winter Garden Florida. Founder and midwife Jennie Joseph and her staff has been working with us throughout the pregnancy toward a safe, natural delivery of our child.

The Birth Place, where Jett was born, strives to create a birth environment that is more like a home. Jett was born in the very bed you see in the shot below and we were welcome to stay with him in "our" room for as long as we wished. Family and friends were encouraged to visit, bring food, stretch out on the couch, and contribute to the baby's first day in the world.

Here's mommy and baby. Absolutely gorgeous!So here's the stats. Jett is 6 pounds 2 ounces and is 19 inches long. He was pink and healthy when he was born. His APGAR (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration) rating is 9/10. We were only at the Birth Place an hour and a half before delivery (less than a half hour of pushing). Mommy had absolutely no medication and was actually laughing at one point during the labor. She was astounding!

I have to thank Jennie Joseph, midwife Onidis Lopez and the rest of the staff at the Birth Place, hypnobirthing practitioner Michelle Smith, and especially our family and friends for their love and support.

Finally, I had to laugh when I noticed the design on one of Jennie Joseph's socks. A jet.

Meet Jett Durkin

Born this morning just before 11 a.m. 

 

Somehow, I managed to capture a very brief video of him soon after he was born. That's the amazing Jennie Joseph's voice you hear in the background.

Another AK co-worker.

Here's a caricature I did yesterday of another Animal Kingdom co-worker. Hey, it's Tim Mike Ufferman!

Insects

So for no reason, I sat down and drew some bugs.

Norman Phartephant at Toy Fair 2010

Earlier this month, all the major toy companies introduced some of their new products at Toy Fair in New York . Angela Larson with Fierce Fun Toys was there with Norman Phartephant. Pictured below is a photo of the table at the Norman Phartephant booth, and you can see one of my drawings from the Norman Phartephant book In this video, Angela Larson introduces Norman. You can see another of my illustrations on the right hand side of the banner behind her.
I have to say, it's pretty amazing for me to see my artwork utilized at such a huge event like this. Stay tuned for more Norman Phartephant news.

Social Media

I've always believed that if you want to be a thriving artist, you need to have a strong presence on the web. These days, artists have the ability to share their artwork with people and acquire new clients from all over the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Websites themselves are great, but the best way to reach as many people as possible is through social media in the form of blogs, and applications like Facebook and Twitter. This video shows quite entertainingly, the impact and ramifications of social media.

By the way, I stumbled across this video on Tom Richmond's blog, stole it from him directly and put it on my blog, thus illustrating one way that social media works. Thanks Tom!

Links Spotlight: Jan Op De Beeck

It was January 2003 at the NCN (now ISCA) convention in Orlando, when I first encountered master caricaturist Jan Op De Beeck. Jan was the guest artist with Sebastian Kruger, who I spotlighted here. Jan has an incredible eye for likenesses and a unique talent for exaggeration. In a few short minutes, he produced what continues to be one of my all-time favorite caricatures of myself. It's on my wall of fame in my studio.

Genius! Over the years, I've got to know Jan and his work even more and not only is he an incredible artist, but a great person as well. He continues to attend the ISCA conventions every year he can, teaching and inspiring all of us. Check out his blog here, or click the link to the right.

ISCA Promotional Video

I've been a member of the International Society of Caricature Artists for many years now. I've found it to be a vital tool in my artistic growth, and has been essential for networking with other artists. The ISCA has just released a promotional video taken from footage from the 2009 convention and it's great. Check it out.

Another Valentine's Day commission.

Here is another commission I did for Valentine's Day. This one was a caricature of the client's girlfriend and their dog. They like mountain climbing and he wanted a mountain range in the background. I kinda like the way this one turned out...

Proposal Story

Here's another of my recent projects. This client wanted a comic strip depicting his marriage proposal to his girlfriend. They're married now, but the proposal was such a meaningful event to both of them, that he wanted to commemorate it for Valentine's Day. (I'm sorry, I can't figure out why you can't click the image to make it larger, but you get the idea.)The client's response:

"Just thought I'd let you know that my fiance LOVED the gift! Thanks for all your hard work. She said it was the best present she has received (except for the ring itself :)"

Guess what I found out today...

So my very pregnant wife and I went for an ultrasound today. She's due March 5th, and up until this point, we wanted the gender of the baby to be a surprise. However, we couldn't contain our curiosity any longer, so we told the technician that we wanted to know the sex of the baby. It's a... ...BOY!

I can't tell you how shocked I am. I was convinced all this time it was a girl. Not that it matters, I'm just glad he's healthy. The tech estimated that he's 7 pounds. Heart and organs look great, he even has all of his fingers and toes. This picture is his face from the front. You can see his right eye, nose and mouth and what's probably his forearm and hand. Hang in there a few more weeks little dude, we'll meet you soon!

LOST: More character sketches.

The final season of ABC's LOST is in full swing. I've been keeping a sketchbook by the television, and as I watch (and re-watch) the new episodes, I've been sketching the characters.

Here's Sawyer, Jack and Kate.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Especially you, Babes!

Another Dinoboy by Alex

Alex drew another picture of his character, DinoBoy. Check out the cool shading!

Sneak peek, upcoming project...

...and that's about all I can reveal about it right now!

Scraps 6: The Legend of Curly's Gold

I am now "labeling" all my scraps posts. You can check out the previous entries on the right.