The Four Kings of Boxing: Part two (Or Coyote Duran invades Las Vegas...kind of)

The Four Kings of Boxing (Clockwise): Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, 18" X 24", Acrylic paint on stretched canvas. Art by Coyote Duran.

It's been a year-and-a-half in the making (yes, just about 18 months) but my "Four Horsemen/Four Kings of Boxing" painting is finally finished! Now before you get all judgy about my work rate/ethic, just know that this piece was never initially a commission. Originally this was just something to do between commissions and my regular work as an online editor for RingTV.com and UCNLive.com (free plugs for one and all, baby!) while working on a surface on which I hadn't in a while: a stretched canvas. All in all, looking back, the process was rewarding and easy as pie. I often work with acrylic paint on canvas panels and Bristol Board, so this wasn't really a stretch. (See what I did there?) However I don't own an upright easel, so I had to be mindful about how heavy my right hand and not lean on my surface in any way.

Who ultimately changed this piece into a commission the girlfriend of our cousin Allen Medina (whom everyone affectionately calls "Bud"), Cynthia Salinas, who actually does medicals for Top Rank, one of the biggest boxing promotional firms in the world.

(Bud and Cynthia are actually both steeped in Our Sport, as Bud's son is a rising amateur boxer, as well. They all really know their stuff, Howlers.)

Last year, as I was sharing steps in my penciling and initial paint processes, Cynthia contacted me about perhaps buying this piece to present it as a birthday gift to someone very special in her professional circles, some time in February.

That person? Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman.

Good(man) enough for me.


Now some of you who have seen the previous steps might have noticed that I shifted my process somewhat in certain details. My associated Instagram posts will actually clue you into the sections I've changed, specifically details in Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran's hair.

For a bit, I just couldn't see the overall balance and felt a little dismayed but couldn't figure out why. Well, adding the little light pockets in Sugar Ray's hair and the highlight slashes in Duran's hair just wasn't cutting it. Had I left them, I would have had to change the overall tone of the piece and that might have been too much work for too little impact. And sometimes, too many ingredients can way spoil the chili. Believe me; I know...and I also know chili.

So I took a risk and relied on my pop art sensibilities. I'm going to let less say more and allow the remainder of the piece help do the talking. So while I reinforced what I already had going on, my risk (or reluctance to take a further risk) paid off.

And now my Four Kings now has a new and happy home in Las Vegas with one of the finest players on boxing promotions. Thank you, Cynthia and Bud for your confidence and a new opportunity to show off my work. And I hope you Howlers love it just as much as I do!





Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at coyote@coyoteduran.com. You can also follow me at twitter.com/CoyoteDuran, instagram.com/coyoteduran and facebook.com/CDCreationNation.

The Four Kings of Boxing: Part one

The Four Kings of Boxing, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, 2h graphite layout on 18" X 24" stretched canvas to be finished in acrylic paint. Boxing art/painting by Coyote Duran.

On the heels of my two most recent boxing paintings (a watercolor Manny Pacquiao and an acrylic Denny Moyer), I thought I would tackle another boxing piece, prior to jumping on a commission, but I wanted to do something different, something surreal and reminiscent of a time in my youth that helped influence the artist I am today. And that time was all about comic books.

Remember the older Marvel Comics that has the panel in the upper left-hand corner that featured the faces of team members in the X-Men, Fantastic Four and the Avengers? Well, this approach somewhat reminded me of those issues in the 1970s and 1980s. This approach also features my four "comic book heroes" of boxing: Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns. These guys represented everything right about boxing during hat time and - get this - they all fought each other. That's kind of a difficult thing to ask for in this day and age, right?

With that in mind, I wanted to work BIG (well, bigger, that is. I decided to render this piece on an 18" X 24" stretched canvas). I think, when one works as big as he or she can, it allows for better and freer attention to detail. You can also take more chances.

Now I know you're probably looking at my floating heads and thinking, "Yeah, they do look more comicky than realistic." And you would be absolutely correct! See, when the paint goes down, that's when the fun begins, like working further with values and depths, past the maximum one can lock down with just mere graphite. And sure, I could have made these fellas look more realistic in graphite; however, I also wasn't working on a graphite-finish-friendly surface (like Bristol Board, for example) and wasn't using my typical graphite pencil for finished renderings (my trusty Ebony pencil).

So in the spirit of my previous Instagram-happy blog posts, howzabout we do a recap of what's been shakin' with this piece thus far?

Hagler-Hearns: 'The War' - Part two

As you saw in my last blog post, I was working on a commission for a good friend of mine that depicts a famous scene from the April 15, 1985 bout between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas "Hitman" Hearns. The fight was for Hagler's undisputed middleweight championship and is now regarded as one of the most thrilling, violent fights in boxing history.

This finished piece was done on 10" X 13" cold press watercolor paper in watercolor paint and black ink. The sweat flying off both heads was popped in with a Sakura Jelly Roll white ink pen.

I posted some of the steps in the process (not a tutorial but just to show one and all - especially boxing fans - how things were looking) on my Instagram account, so go ahead and pop on over there if you missed it (no pressure)!

I hope you all dug the penciled product as well as the finished piece! And thank you, Mike, for your, support and patronage!



Questions? Comments? Complaints? Hit me up at coyote@coyoteduran.com. You can also follow me at twitter.com/CoyoteDuran, instagram.com/coyoteduran and facebook.com/CDCreationNation.

Hagler-Hearns: 'The War' - Part one

On April 15, 1985 (my dad's 35th birthday and four days before my 14th), undisputed middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler ventured into Las Vegas, Nevada to meet the challenge of WBC junior middleweight titlist Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in a much-anticipated defense coined, "The War." What transpired was seven minutes and 52 seconds of brutality and violence that went down in history as one of the greatest battles in boxing history, resulting in Hagler stopping Hearns in under three rounds. Absolutely and equally destructive and beautiful.

So when I earned a commission from a friend depicting one of the most famous scenes in boxing history, I was more than happy to oblige. This particular piece is done on 10" X 13" cold press watercolor paper and will ultimately be finished with watercolor paint and black ink - but, as I was working on my layout (in 2H graphite with my trusty leadholder), I got a little carried away.

As you can see, a (what should have been) simple, loose layout took on an identity of its own when I started filling in areas in which needed a certain amount of depth so they would look right to me at the moment. Next thing I knew, I was completing a full-blown piece before the final piece. I don't blame you if you're a little confused.

Long story short, I spent way more time on this than I should have but it turned out really cool and I had way more fun than I'm typically entitled to.

I posted some of the steps in the process (not a tutorial but just to show one and all - especially boxing fans - how things were looking) on my Instagram account, so go ahead and pop on over there if you missed it (no pressure)!

Stay tuned in a few days for the finished result. I'd totally appreciate it, Howlers!



Questions? Comments? Complaints? Hit me up at coyote@coyoteduran.com. You can also follow me at twitter.com/CoyoteDuran, instagram.com/coyoteduran and facebook.com/CDCreationNation.