Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.!

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Micron pen, Copic marker and acrylic paint on cold press watercolor paper. Art by Coyote Duran

Just in case you missed this piece on my Instagram feed (or perhaps don't have an Instagram account yourself), this Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. piece was done for The Ring Magazine for a fantasy fight issue. I wasn't sure if I wanted to ultimately share this because I didn't think it was as good as it should have been. When I received my comp issue in the mail, I noticed the piece wasn't included as part of the published theme. The first thing that entered my mind: Thank goodness.

See, to me, not having a piece accepted by any publication or organization is like an actor not getting a gig after an audition. It happens. Doesn't mean something I do in the future won't get chosen or used. It just means this piece didn't quite pass muster. And that, Dear Howlers, is just another reminder that one should work harder at his or her craft. It also substantiated how I felt about this piece in the first place. I knew I could have done better, so I'll very likely render something new and completely different dedicated to these two. 

Also, very important, the site here now has a slight name change. Due to a domain name snafu, the website is now officially called www.coyoteduranart.com.  This wasn't my original intention, as I had the previous domain name for nine years but the new name actually emphasizes what's most important here: The art itself. I hope you continue to enjoy it!



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.

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., 11" X 14", watercolor and acrylic paint on cold press paper. Art by Coyote Duran.

When the 164.5 pound catchweight battle between THE RING Magazine middleweight/WBO junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and former WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was made, quite a few fans laughed themselves into hysterics. With Canelo seemingly trying to find any excuse not to fight undefeated IBF/WBA/WBC titlist Gennady Golovkin, while Chavez is two fights removed from a stoppage loss to Andzrej Fonfara two years ago (not to mention having discipline issues), long-suffering fight fanatics looked to have had it, once and for all.

Now, two days away from the actual fight, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View (supported by what looks to be a solid undercard stacked with young talent), this fight doesn't sound so bad. In fact, especially being hosted on Cinco de Mayo weekend, the national pride is at an all-time high. Who wins? Who eventually rebuilds? With many fans, the question is, "Who cares?" The mutual acrimony should (keyword: should) conjure a bloodbath.

Duran-Leonard I: 'The Brawl in Montreal' - Part two

Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard I: "The Brawl in Montreal." Watercolor paint and ink on 10" X 13" cold press paper. Art commission by Coyote Duran

When we last tuned in, then-undefeated WBC welterweight titleholder Sugar Ray Leonard was getting his head handed to him by arguably the greatest world lightweight champion of all time, Roberto Duran, fully rendered in 2H graphite on cold press watercolor paper.

Well, joy of all joys, this sucker is finished (watercolor paint and black ink) and getting prepped to send to its owner Mike Downie, in Texas. SO MANY apologies for this being so late! But it was so much fun to render! I'm so grateful for these challenge commissions!

If you don't follow me on Instagram, please check out the following process photos!

Duran-Leonard I: 'The Brawl in Montreal' - Part one

Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard I: "The Brawl in Montreal." Graphite (2H) on cold press watercolor paper, prior to watercolor paint and ink, 10" X 13", art commission by Coyote Duran

It was actually almost a year ago when I created the first piece in what now would become a series for one customer, a friend of mine, Mike Downie from Texas (a watercolor and ink rendering of the classic battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, seven minutes and 52 seconds of beautiful violence, known simply as "The War). Months later, Mike would commission a brand-new piece, evoking another classic battle from the early-1980s - June 20, 1980, to be exact - the first meeting between arguably the greatest world lightweight champion of all time, Roberto Duran, and then-undefeated WBC welterweight titleholder Sugar Ray Leonard.

The 15-round championship bout ended like few anticipated, with the villainous "Hands of Stone" holding his hands high in triumph before flipping off Leonard's then-wife Juanita. Although, Leonard would authoritatively avenge the loss, via eight-round stoppage, five months later in New Orleans, Louisiana, the ink in boxing's history books is indelible. Roberto Duran handed Sugar Ray Leonard his very first professional loss.

Now, regarding this piece, if this scene looks familiar but doesn't (if that makes sense) is because had I replicated the photo reference Mike provided, I would have had to render both Duran and Leonard much smaller, resulting in much unused space between them. So I took a little "artistic liberty" and shortened the space between the two, thus substituting Duran's long right hand, down the pipe, into something of a tight hook (more of a cross, since Duran is a right-hander). If it's difficult for you to visualize, just consider Duran's right elbow being at close to a 90-degree angle from his right fist, if that makes sense.

Again, I had to go full pencil rendering on this piece in its layout stage (with my trusty, true-blue Alvin Drafting leadholder, loaded with 2H lead on Strathmore cold-press watercolor paper), simply because it looks dope, Howlers.

Anyhoo, it's off to the paint and ink stage now but before you jet, if you haven't seen them just yet via my Instagram feed, here are the process photos:

Welcome back, Manny Pacquiao (in watercolor and ink!)

Manny Pacquiao, 11" X 14" watercolor and ink on cold press paper by Coyote Duran

Last time on the The Coyote Duran Show (that has a nice ring; doesn't it?), I shared what started as a Periscope broadcast (sorry for not sharing the rest, gang. I got a little...uh, carried away) that morphed into a full-blown watercolor and ink piece (on 11" X 14" cold press paper) celebrating the inevitable return of eight-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. Since our last meeting, I shared the buildup on Instagram!

Manny Pacquiao: Part one...The pencil stage

The start of my latest Manny Pacquiao painting. (Pencils on 11" X 14" cold press watercolor paper.) NEXT: watercolor paint and ink!

So, currently, I have a couple of art projects in various stages around the Coyote Den and that's a good thing. It means I always have something artsy to do when I'm not working my gig as a boxing news editor.

However, I needed to do something bigger when we in the media learned that eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao was likely to cancel a very short-lived retirement after defeating Tim Bradley in their third bout last April. At the same time, it also gave me the opportunity to start using my Periscope (a live-streaming video application) account.

HOWLERS! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! You helped make my very first #Periscope #art/#MannyPacquiao #layout broadcast.a success! The best thing? My Baby, #MrsCoyote paying the live feed a visit. That meant the world to me, Honey. I LOVE You. ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ And the rest of you guys are awesome too! Stay tuned; I'm gonna make this a habit! #Boxing #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Illustration #Portraiture #Drawing #Portrait #Sketch #Champions #Artist #ArtLife #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation

A photo posted by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Jul 14, 2016 at 4:00pm PDT

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.

Superman in gouache (when he shouldn't have been!)

So I had a Superman piece brewing upstairs one day and I figured, I'm gonna knock out something new and different by doing something retro and familiar. These days, the mythos of the "Last Son of Krypton" is inundated with Henry Cavill's "Man of Steel" (I dig it) or what DC Comics' "The New 52" is offering as its latest version of Kal-El (Not digging it since 2011). I thought I would render something resembling the late Christopher Reeve.

As you can see, this piece isn't so much Christopher Reeve as it is an amalgam of Christopher Reeve and Matt Bomer (of the USA Network's "White Collar. Interestingly enough, Bomer, who looks like he could pass as Cavill's brother, almost got the lead for 2006's "Superman Returns" but ultimately, Brandon Routh scored it. However, Bomer voiced Superman/Clark Kent on 2013's animated "Superman: Unbound").

But that wasn't my biggest problem.

No, Howlers, the biggest problem was lack of commitment to a medium and original intent. See, friends, this painting (gouache and ink on 11" X 14" Bristol Board) wasn't even supposed to be a painting. It was supposed to be ink and Prismacolor watercolor pencil on Bristol Board but I thought I would be a wise-ass and use paint instead for the sake of time and coverage. Besides, that's how I rendered my Rowdy Roddy Piper tribute and that turned out OK, right?

Wrong. That one was also something of a pain-in-the-ass BUT not as difficult as this one would turn out.

Man, I was smearing ink (something I NEVER do) and when it came time to paint., I was everywhere on the map. Not combining and blending and experiencing the glorious texture and porosity that cold press watercolor paper offers but moving color from here to there ad everywhere. Yeah, it sucked and I actually got upset at a piece for the first time in my life.

But I stuck around and finished the job.

So here you have it, Kids. Not the best painting I have to offer (and you deserve and should expect better of me. I call it a six on a 10 scale) but I'm sharing it anyway because I have to be held accountable for my art. That said, I'm right back on the artsy-fartsy horse and ready to kick off my next piece, a portrait of the Marvel Family - Captain Marvel (the REAL Cap. Not some New 52 knockoff who calls himself "Shazam." What ridiculous horseshit), Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr./CM3.

And I won't puss out on my challenges in medium. I promise. :)



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.