The Legion of Doom/The Road Warriors: Road Warrior Animal, Precious Paul Ellering and Road Warrior Hawk. Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush pen and Copic Marker on 5.5" X 8.5" sketch paper. Art by Coyote Duran
It's been a while since I've posted anything substantial, art-wise here. Something about last year seemed to have sapped my creativity and I never saw it coming. I mean, I worked all year, for which I'm very grateful, and my family and I didn't get sick. Everything seemed great but 2020 still got its hooks into me and I still have no idea how or why. I thought I was too strong to be affected. I guess I was wrong.
I drew very little and every time I tried to commit to art, I would grab my supplies and change my mind. However something compelled me to render sketches of three of my favorite people in the world - two of whom are no longer with us - The Legion of Doom: The Road Warriors with their manager Precious Paul Ellering.
Last August, I grabbed a small sketchbook (5.5' X 8.5") and penciled, then inked and colored them with Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush pen and Copic markers. My plan was to ultimately group all three of their heads like those in the corner boxes of older issues of Marvel Comics (thus the variant black and red backgrounds, the latter for the color of blood, naturally!). This was fitting as these cats were my heroes when I was coming up as a pup. Billed from Chicago, Illinois, these brutal, painted-up wrecking machines showed me every weekend that if they could break bodies and invoke fear, I could do it too. (Of course, I didn't really want to invoke fear more than I wanted to beat the living shit out of my oppressors - and I did. Who said achieving 50% of one's goals was bad?)
One month later, Joe Laurinaitis - Road Warrior Animal - passed away suddenly. And I froze. Other than a sketch of Bendy, a weird character our daughter Makayla digs, I drew nothing. I blew an important commission. I stopped altogether.
But I kept those drawings. I had to. I had plans for them.
Road Warrior Animal. Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush pen and Copic Marker on 5.5" X 8.5" sketch paper. Art by Coyote Duran
As the raging dumpster fire splattered with diarrhea also known as 2020 - a year that took my friend Steve (our 14-year-old snapping turtle who was supposed to be Makayla's sidekick for years long after I bit the big one) and Tracy's uncle Al, a sweet-yet-tough gentleman with a bigger-than-life presence - turned the corner, I fought with creating once again. Hell, I have to. I have something huge this coming summer that I can't tell you about - and I've had it under my hat for nearly two years.
But if I couldn't find love in art, what good is even dreaming about it? I almost couldn't see the point anymore.
Precious Paul Ellering. Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush pen and Copic Marker on 5.5" X 8.5" sketch paper. Art by Coyote Duran
Then, like some sort of weird, girly blessing fueled by macaroni-and-cheese and chicken nuggets, entered Makayla. Out of nowhere and apropos of nothing, she became a drawing machine. Sketches, dolls, comic strips, clay sculptures and YouTube videos spilled out of this silly 10-year-old as if she were a broken Slurpee machine at 7-11. When I couldn't pull it off, she waltzed in and took over, as if she were holding my place until I got back. Like Hercules holding the world on his shoulders when Atlas broke camp.
If she could do it with such glee, grace and ease, then what the hell was my problem? And how could I continue letting her down when all she thought about was how much of a great artist her father is?
Road Warrior Hawk. Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush pen and Copic Marker on 5.5" X 8.5" sketch paper. Art by Coyote Duran
If I don't take accountability for my deficiencies, that's my fault. So here we are. And these are my renderings of three of the toughest, most inspiring sons of bitches I've ever wanted to be. And thanks to Road Warrior Makayla, I'm picking the pencil up again.
Do yourself a favor: When you find yourself lost, look to those you love and on whom you depend - and vice versa - to find you and bring you home.
Thank you, Pupperino. I Love You more than you'll ever realize.
Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at artofthepaw@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @CoyoteDuran, on Instagram @CoyoteDuran and on Facebook @CDCreationNation.
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