Fight Owens Fight! Kill Steen Kill! (in ink!)

When NXT champion Kevin Owens (real name Kevin Steen) showed up on last week's episode of "Monday Night RAW" to interrupt United States champion John Cena's open title challenge, WWE fans everywhere marked out like you wouldn't believe (trust me; I'm one of them). So how could I not be inspired to commit ink to my sketchbook in its third entry, Kevin Owens himself? Sure, I might not be able to deliver a pop-up power bomb to the leader of the "Cenation" but the leader of the "Creation Nation" can do an ink study of the hot-tempered Canadian, who never fails to excite the WWE Universe with his brutal antics.

This particular piece might look a speck choppy but that's because I tried different pens with different results. My initial detail inking was done with a size 01 Micron and I continued filling in the larger areas with a larger Micron (05) to attempt consistency. Well, that proved time-consuming, so I went with my large Faber-Castell brush pen (Black 199) but the coverage was too light. I decided to do another layer of brush pen black to darken what I had already laid down and eliminate stroke marks. From here on out, I'll continue using the large brush pen to fill in the larger areas (and also break out my brand-new Pentel pocket brush pen I scored yesterday from Blick Art Materials. The closest was in Wheaton, Il. but damn well worth the drive!). The little, "Terminator"-style gleam in Owens' left eye? A single drop mark of Bic "Wite-Out" correction fluid.

"Fight Steen Fight!" or "Kill Steen Kill!"? Why not both? I hope you dig it!

Oh, if you love pro wrestling/sports entertainment, make sure you tune in to NXT every Wednesday on the WWE Network. If you don't, you're seriously missing out.



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.

The Lunatic Fringe, Dean Ambrose!

Because cats like Evan "Doc" Shaner, Mike Allred, Jerry Ordway and the late Mike Wieringo laid it all down in a "Less is more" manner, so will I. I could have done a little less detail in the hair department here but I still dig it. Here's my cartoon of one of my absolute favorite WWE superstars, the "Lunatic Fringe" himself (and former member of The Shield),  Dean Ambrose (the first entry in my brand-new sketchbook, done in Micron pen).

Seth Rollins in Ink!

Those of you who are fans of the WWE will recognize this cat, ex-Shield member Seth Rollins. Between projects, I figured I'd give the inaugural NXT champion/former WWE tag team champion the comic-style portrait treatment complete with funky speed lines, white highlights and paint (or blood. Take your pick) drip action. Of course I started this about a week-and-a-half after he left his teammates, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, so his new ring gear was revealed after I began inking this. It's Faber-Castell PITT artist pen and Sharpie on 9" X 12" Bristol Board. I hope in some way, it captures the spirit of the high-flying architect of the WWE. Enjoy!

The Shield's Roman Reigns as Superman!

As a reborn pro wrestling fan, it's been a lot of fun to get pulled back into the weekly WWE programs and experience the relatively new personalities performing today. Amid the cool-ass characters of Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, the Usos and the Wyatt Family prowls a six-man unit (really a three-man team but competition has always been referred to as a "six-man") called The Shield. The Shield, comprised of the unpredictable and wild current WWE United States champion Dean Ambrose and former WWE tag team champions Seth Rollins (the "architect" of the team) and Roman Reigns (the "powerhouse"), have become breakout stars and consider themselves a group which serves to eliminate "injustice" in the squared circle.

Furthermore, Reigns, has become somewhat a curious anomaly himself, garnering a serious following, even being bandied as a future world champion (rumors of The Shield eventually dissolving definitely help the fun in imagining the cool storylines involving the respective futures of each member of the team). What has made Roman Reigns my favorite WWE superstar are his air of intimidation, an "I'm cool and I know it" antihero attitude and one of his signature moves (the other being a leaping shoulder spear), the "Superman Punch."

Thus, the piece featured here, a comic-style sketch of Reigns in a Superman get-up, inspired by Kal-El's "The New 52" suit but with his "classic S" insignia (also considered a "shield" itself! Hey, that worked pretty well; didn't it?).

(Oh, lest I forget, the piece was done in Micron pen, Sharpie and Prismacolor watercolor pencil on sketch paper.)

And what timing! Today (one day after the "Elimination Chamber 2014" pay-per-view, in which the Wyatt Family emerged victorious over the "Hounds of Justice"), the WWE Network in is full effect. And you can count on seeing much more of Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose on the network for years to come.