Bret 'The Hitman' Hart in ink

 

Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Micron pen (03, 05 and 08) and Pentel Pocket Brush Pen in a 5.5" X 8.5" Daler-Rowney sketchbook. Art by Coyote Duran.

A couple of weeks ago, Tracy and I were re-watching Vice TV's "Dark Side of the Ring," this time re-packaged as something tantamount to a "director's cut"-style limited series featuring cutting room floor scenes, new interviews and commentary by host Conrad Thompson and series creators Evan Husney and Jason Eisener.

The topic was legendary Canadian professional wrestler and three-time WWE Hall-of-Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart, son of the late patriarch of the Hart Dynasty and founder of Calgary, Alberta's Stampede Wrestling, Stu Hart.

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...

Mari Loves Lucy

In the spirit of my last blog post, this is the second in a series of gift portraits to family members (to be specific, my wife Tracy's sister and her kids, comprised of a new (to me) method involving Prismacolor watercolor pencils on Strathmore's toned tan paper.

Tracy's niece, Mari Van Dyke, is a huge Lucille Ball fan and, with a little inspiration and encouragement from my own favorite redhead, we have a finished 8" X 11" portrait complete with my trusty paw print signature, itself inspired by the "I Love Lucy" heart logo.

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.

Jerry Fredricksen, Lori Van Dyke and something entirely new

Apologies for the gulf between posts! Just been a whole lot of non-artsy work that took priority but I promised myself that art gifts would be given to to my family as well as my wife's family this Christmas. Hey, it helps keep me in practice, as well as allows me to try new techniques. This first piece back was a doozy...

First of all, Tracy suggested I create a portrait celebrating her father (who, very unfortunately, is no longer with us) for her sister, Lori's, gift. Well, it's my belief that folks you don't know personally or family are much more daunting, stressful subjects than, say, celebrities, athletes, etc. to render. Mess up a loved one's likeness and, well, you simply mess up and might not be taken serious later.

I had something of a mildly hazy photo reference of Jerry (and a teeny-tiny Lori) going into this (mind you, the original photo is from 1969 or 1970; the date escapes me), so I might run the risk of over-detailing my rendering from imagination. I thought, "I'll go watercolor on cold press paper."

Enter even greater stress.

I didn't offer myself enough time to work on the piece (completely my fault) and didn't take into consideration that some pigments are thinner than others and require studious layering, not to mention that I didn't take the time to mix my own custom colors (something of which I'm extremely fond). No matter how hard I worked, I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I was getting nowhere - and fast.

At that point, I just threw my hands in the air (and was so irritated with myself that I didn't even wave them like I just didn't care) and vowed to start anew. At that point, I was gonna try something completely different.

A few months ago, I bought a pad of Strathmore toned tan paper (9" X 12"), knowing I was going to attempt a different kind of portraiture, something that, with the natural color of the paper, would accentuate lighter colors. And the tooth (texture) of the paper is remarkable when it comes to using colored pencil (which I've seen more artists use, other than charcoal). At that point, I felt a weigh lift off my shoulders.

So, our finished rendering is Prismacolor watercolor pencil on Strathmore toned tan paper. What I really feel good about is not just nailing the likenesses but developing something close to pop art with this one.

And when you're drawing someone's pop, I'd say that's pretty cool.

Rest in peace, Jerry.


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.

My wife, Tracy Duran

When something or someone inspires you to do great things, whether it's living a responsible, just life or aspiring to be better at everything you do, it always makes sense to give back in some way, shape or form. For my wife, Tracy's birthday, I put together a portrait of her comprised of Copic marker, watercolor paint and a smidge of acrylic on cold press watercolor paper (10" X 13"). I think the playful pose and whimsical comic approach add to the piece's general beauty - but nothing beats the real thing. And I have no doubt in my mind that I will do other renderings of Tracy (and our daughter, Makayla) in various mediums to the point of when I'm dead and gone, those who find my works will think, "This cat was really into this chick, wasn't he?"

Yep.

I Love You, Baby. 

Manny Pacquiao in ink!

The second entry in my sketchbook is an ink sketch of eight-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. From what I hear, "Pac-Man" didn't look half this mean in his recent "super-fight" against undefeated welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. Oh, well. Boxing indeed lives on.

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).

Gennady "GGG" Golovkin!

Damn, I love portraiture. And damn, I love boxing! But I especially love combining both. And regrettably, it's been a bit since I've done a portrait of any fighter, much less one I really enjoy watching. That's why, in getting back on the horse (and I'm gonna do a lot of these in graphite and paint), I decided to render WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady "GGG" Golovkin. A power-punching badass in a piece that was totally fun to draw (2H lead on 9" X 12" Bristol Board).

So, Howlers, who would you like to see me render next? Comment here, on Facebook or tweet me and let me know!