The Frankenstein Monster in ink

 

   The Frankenstein Monster. Micron pen (03 and 05), Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, Faber-Castell PITT  B-Series Pen and Speedball Super Black acrylic ink in a 5.5" X 8.5" Daler-Rowney sketchbook. Art by Coyote Duran.

Once upon a time - I was in single digits; I reckon - my parents, younger brother and I were at a Halloween family gathering at my maternal grandparents' house in Romeoville, Illinois. My cousins Ryan and Darcy and their mom, my aunt Rita were there as well and we kids were watching "Frankenstein" on a UHF channel (probably 32, the most prominent in Chicago and its suburbs). I killed the lights in the living room and someone protested - I can't remember whether it was a cousin, my brother, mom, grandma or grandpa - but Aunt Rita interjected, "Oh, these movies are much scarier with the lights off!"

And although I've always thought that no old Universal Monsters film would ever be scary, with or without any lights, nostalgically, she was absolutely right.

See, the classic monster films were always best viewed in darkness because the manner in which they were filmed, produced and presented handled half the battle. Not unlike any other film enjoyed in the cinema, they were absolutely meant to be seen in the dark. And, honestly, who knew 94 years ago, that we'd either be watching this film in perpetuity, via reruns, streaming and home media?

No one.

Michael Hutchence of INXS in ink

Michael Hutchence of INXS. Micron pen (03 and 05), Pentel Pocket Brush Pen,  Copic marker, Japanese ink and Speedball Super Black acrylic ink on 11" X 14" Strathmore Art Bristol board. Art by Coyote Duran.

 

When I learned Michael Hutchence, lead singer for Australian rock band INXS, died by suicide, I was shocked and equally down, not unlike his and his band's legions of fans. The news came out of nowhere in November of 1997 and detailed that Hutchence, 37, was seemingly despondent about the inability to see his and partner Paula Yates' daughter Tiger Lily. At the time, Yates, who shared three children with ex-husband and Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, had to postpone a trip to visit Hutchence while the latter was on tour in support of the Elegantly Wasted album. The postponement was on the heels of Yates having to wait until after December 17, the date of a custody hearing between her and Geldof, to be able to take their daughters with her to see Hutchence.

This turn of events deeply upset Hutchence, who already had a history of drug abuse and mood swings, the latter due to a head injury he suffered after being assaulted by a cab driver in 1992. 

On November 22, 1997, Hutchence was found dead, a result of suicide by hanging, less that two hours after pleading with ex-girlfriend Michele Bennett to come see him.

Our Uncle Al Medina in mixed media

Uncle Al Medina. Micron pen (03 and 05), Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, watercolor paint, Sharpie marker, Sharpie acrylic paint pen, Copic marker, Prismacolor marker, Japanese ink and Speedball Super Black acrylic ink on 12" X 16" Strathmore cold press watercolor paper. Art by Coyote Duran. (Please click to enlarge.)

Back in 2015, Tracy, Makayla and I had the opportunity to drive across country to Fresno, California to visit Tracy's aunt and uncle, Helen and Al, and cousin Bud. This would be our first vacation as a family and we couldn't have picked a better destination.

We agreed to make the trip by car because it reminded us of our childhoods when every vacation was built upon our dads behind a wheel, often consulting a huge road map our moms would hold, unfold and fold back. Nowadays our mobile devices are far more valuable as substitutes.

After a couple of days making it through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah (the town of Green River is a trip, man. That's a story for another blog post!), Arizona and Nevada, we finally wheeled into California's Central Valley, landing at Bud and his girlfriend Cynthia's place, where they graciously asked us to stay. (And Bud makes one helluva breakfast. You should try it!)

Now I know every place in America has its detractors but we loved Fresno. There were plenty of amenities and we could get around easily. It felt like home, something we were seriously considering at the time, along with Las Vegas. The following day, I, Tracy, Makayla, Cynthia, Bud and Bud's younger daughters Noelle and Joelle all hopped into Bud's ride and spirited off to Santa Cruz to visit the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (home of "The Lost Boys"! Dude, it felt just like walking around in the movie!)

Dr. Valentine Duran: A tribute in ink

Dr Valentine Duran. Micron pen (.03 and .05), Sharpie marker, Sharpie acrylic paint pen, Copic marker and Prismacolor marker on 9" X 12" Strathmore Bristol board. Art by Coyote Duran. (Please click to enlarge.)

 

Makayla (in 2014): "Daddy, is Valentine a doctor?"

Me (in 2014): "Uh...YES! Valentine IS a doctor! A board certified physician, at that!"

That question came out of nowhere but it certainly was entertaining, considering it was asked by our then-four-year-old daughter. I mean, how could I answer otherwise, especially since we loved fueling our little girl's imagination from a very early age? The fact that Makayla was a big fan of Disney Junior's "Doc McStuffins," at the time, was a contributing factor; we're certain.

From then on, our newly adopted cat Valentine was known as "Dr. Valentine," or "Doc," as I liked calling her, for short.

We adopted Valentine in 2014 when she no longer fit in her previous home, with Tracy's cousin Jeremy, his wife Angie, her children and pets. For a while, we were looking into welcoming a pet into our family...well, one that wasn't a turtle, at least. At the time, we had two turtles: Shelldon, a three-toed Eastern box turtle, and Super Steve Irwin McQueen ("Steve" for short), a common snapping turtle. When Jeremy and Angie asked us if we'd like to give Valentine a new, permanent home, we jumped at the chance after meeting her.

Mitch Hedberg in ink

Mitch Hedberg. Micron pen (.03 and .05), Faber-Castell PITT "B"-series brush pen, Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and Copic markers in a Daler & Rowney sketchbook (8.5" X 11"). Art by Coyote Duran. (Please click to enlarge.)

"I bought a donut and they gave me a receipt for the donut. I don't need a receipt for the donut. I'll just give you money and you give me the donut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario where I would have to prove that I bought a donut."

                                                         - Mitch Hedberg

Late one night, a couple of weeks ago, while toiling away (and by "toiling away," I pretty much mean "staring at the wall if I don't have any entertainment") at my lonely third shift Joe job, I fell into one of my many YouTube wormholes when I came across a video of one of my absolute favorite stand-up comics, the late, great Mitch Hedberg. Naturally one video led to another, then another and staring at the wall was replaced by laughter. Good times, man.

I'd always been a big fan of Mitch's and his unique brand of humor, laced with one-liners and non-sequiturs, frequently taking the obvious to new levels of surrealism.

Consider:

"An escalator can never break; it can only become stairs. You should never see an 'Escalator Temporarily Out of Order' sign, just 'Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.'"

(I told that joke to my daughter Makayla, who wanted to know more about Mitch, a few mornings ago and she agreed that it just plain made sense.)

After a long artistic dry spell, watching these videos inspired me to dust off my trusty art supplies. I had the itch to draw some Mitch...