Back to the caricatures

I figured I hadn't posted any of my caricature work in a while so here we go....
We start with one of yours truly. This caricature represents the status of how my life is going.

I got to work my first abstract gig, and here are two I came up with....

I'm pretty sure this one got me in trouble, not because of the unintentional genital placement, but because he was holding bombs?!?

 I thought she had a great smile. She exuded confidence and was all about the yearbook...

Don't know why, he just seemed monkey like...

Well, his name was Walley

This guy was full of sunshine.....

A couple of super baddies.....

One really cute little super hero....

A few giraffes....

And the great Conan O'Brien!

Little Bodies

Been a while I guess.

I went out of town and visited with my little darlins which always takes priority over anything else. Everytime I go it gets just a little harder to say goodbye. 

But that's why I haven't posted much lately. I have tons of new stuff to post, but we'll have to start with some recent sketch card commissions featuring one of my more personal and favorite little bodies style. 

I actually have a webstrip in the works utilizing this style. I'll get to it as soon as I can get out from some of the sketch cards I am buried under.

Mike

Biggest Fattest Loser.

So the duck is on a diet. You know there tends to come a time when you should realize that you are getting a little too fat for your own good. I've known that I was at that point for a while now, but the tender allure of a double quarter pounder, or a half dozen twinkies always helped me to look in the other direction.
Enter the Biggest Loser.

By chance I happened to stumble across an episode and I was hooked and impressed by the weight that these people were dropping. I knew that I could do that too.

Of course I was delusional to assume that I could lose 40 pounds in a week the way some of the contestants did, but I was bound and determined nonetheless.

I became smitten with Jillian Michaels as well. Figuring she was worth training to anyway.
So I set a goal in mind. I figured 25 pounds in three weeks was reasonable.

My first course was to cut away soda. THAT task in itself has been the most difficult. Especially with my recent love affair with Pepsi throw back. But I was determined to make it water, milk, juice, and the occasional tea and very rare mixed drink. To this day I have been soda free for 2 weeks.

After that I started in on the diet. I cut my calorie intake dramatically. Now I am almost pathetic obsessed with it. I look at every think now for it's calorie count. Haven't had more than about 1200-1500 calories a day. Usually it's even less. But I learned that I needed to eat more to burn more. So I am allowing my body at least the 1500-1800 mark everyday. Still trying to eat healthy. Lots of veggies, fruits, and fish. ( I sneak in a few wings here and there, but my body seems to be okay with that)

Then there's the exercise.
I bought a Biggest Loser cardio Dvd, and have been faithfully hitting it everyday for the past 8 days except for one break day. I sweat like a monster though. But the burn feels pretty good.
I wanted to just apply cardio and not build muscle so I could drop the weight, and then build muscle. But after chatting with my buddy Keelan, I decided that I would heed his advice and try and build muscle, since apparently THAT burns fat faster.

The scale has been an up and down oddball of a ride. I started at 225 and change. Then in the first few days I dropped to 220. Then in the next few I gained 4, lost one, gained one, gained half. I'm not sure what the hell my body is doing. The good news is, that it seems to be doing what it's supposed to now.

I'm happy to report that as of today I am down to 219!
I'm not sure that I'll hit my three week goal. But I do have to say that I am feeling a lot better, and determined to keep the duck from looking like that picture.

I'll post an update on the Biggest Duckiest Loserist challenge on March 11!

Slave Leia .... gotta love her

It's so late tonight. Or early in the morning, whichever you want to go by. But I am sick as a dog, or my allergies are bothering the crap outta me. I tried to sleep but it's hard to sleep comfortably when your eyes feel like they are going to combust and breathing is a struggle. And since clinics don't open until later on, I'm trying to keep busy, without exerting myself.
So what does that mean? New Blog entry, Hooray.
Here is a Slave Leia done as a commission. I went full on watercolor with this baby with the exception of a few marker areas.
I also tried a toonier approach with her as well. Diggin the way old Dead Jabba came out too!
Anyway, more later, I am going to TRY and fall back asleep. Doesn't help that I have to work ALL day tomorrow.
That's all folks.

Strawberry Shortcake

Wish I could say she was all my idea, but my buddy Dennis suggested I do this piece. I had fun doing it. She's all growed up and she's packing heat. LOL.
I have a Rainbow Bright in the works as well.

Apologies to Charles Schultz

This would be one of those "cope" pieces. Often in life when I am in a mood, I draw something to convey that mood. Whether it be happy, sad, whatever. I guess enough time has passed to show this moment in life. When my now defunct marriage was going through it's stages of slow decline, my ex was making new "friends" on of all places Myspace. One of these friends was a guy way out in Riverside California. She had a huge thing for him, conveniently forgetting that she had a husband as well. They exchanged phone numbers and one day when her phone rang I saw the caller ID. It was him, he who she had so affectionately dubbed her "Snoopy."
If the punch to the face wasn't enough, she had to go and take one of my beloved childhood favorites and bastardize it by giving her forbidden Myspace love it's nickname.
Needless to say from that point forward I started to have a huge distain for Snoopy and the Peanuts in general. Everytime I saw them I saw the guy my ex was making a play for.
After things had seemingly resolved themselves, we were on vacation in Corpus Christi with her folks. Low and behold, we found ourselves eating at a seafood restaurant called, Snoopy's.
This drawing was a result of my feelings during that meal.

Since sometime has passed since that disaster has sailed it's course, I find myself coming back to terms with the Peanuts gang. But I figured it was a funny enough drawing, and now as I look back on it, an even more absurd tale.

The Indiana Jones Bunch

Here is another set of cards I did for a great collector in the UK. He wanted busts of all the major players in the Indiana Jones world. Needless to say, because of my love for the subject matter, I was more than happy to oblige. Check em out. Hope you like them.

Clone Wars Widevision Returns

Miss me? Wow, getting close to 2 months since I posted anything. Truth is I have been battling a bout of depression since after the holiday. Visiting my girls and leaving them is always so hard, and the holidays seem to add to that. It's nothing clinical, just a series of hard times and rough spots. Through it all I think the artwork has kept me somewhat sane. And I am hoping I see a silver lining in my future.
I wrapped up 200 Star Wars Galaxy 5 cards but I am behind in showing these, my Clone Wars Widevision returns. I have one more not shown here as well.
Enjoy, two of them are still available for sale. The Ventress, and the Grevious vs the Troopers. If you are interested in either of them, feel free to comment or contact me.
More soon.

Panels on Pages Calendar

I was one of 12 lucky individuals who got to hook up with a Fangirl and create a calendar geeks could adore all over the world. My fangirl was Jamie Doles aka Tripper McGee. She had some challenging but fun ideas for her pin-up. The tie-dye was the toughest, but ended up bringing tons of wonderful color to the final piece. I had a blast working on it, and you can order your very own copy by clicking HERE
The final piece features a slightly different logo and a blurb featuring the real Tripper!

Rocky Horror

These were a commission done for a Christmas gift. I guess the recipient is a huge fan. I remember really liking the music to the movie when I was in high school. And if you haven't ever experienced a live showing of it, I highly recommend it at least once in your life time. Very odd, and a lot twisted, this flick has a massive cult following. The fact that Tim Curry is the star just adds to it's appeal. I guess some folks might have been uncomfortable doing the pieces, but to me it was a delight and gave me a chance to think back to some good memories.

Time Flies when your in love

Happy Anniversary baby! Jaime cakes and I have been an item for a whole year now. Can you believe it? Time sure really flew. Have to admit it's been a ride, but I'm still head over heels for her. Wish I could do more for our one year, but the I.O.U that's going to be attached to it will make up for the lack of many gifts. I promise that.
Lots of love for you always my queen!!!!!

Zombies Vs Cheerleaders

Here is a teaser image for the other project I just wrapped for 5finity! The premise, Zombies take on Cheerleaders. That was all we had to work with, so boy did it leave things open to interpretation! I really had a blast with this set, and contributed 20 cards, plus 2 ultra rare battle worn clothing cards! The set is completely sold out before it's even been released.

Mandy Cards from 5finity

Steven Frank and 5finity productions opted to put together a card set based on Dean Yeagle's super sexy character Mandy. I was invited to contribute sketch cards to the set as a rare artist. Meaning I only contributed the above 8 cards. It was an awesome honor to be a part of the set, especially because of Dean's influence on my work and my love for the character. I put as much effort into the cards as I could and had a blast. the first three cards were my returns, and the other five went into packs. So needless to say pulling one of mine is tough chore. Of my returns, the Dino Mandy has been sold to someone attempting a master set, and I gave Dean Yeagle the Cheerleader card as a token of my appreciation. So that leaves me with one. The Mermaid Mandy. The card is not only my remaining return, but is also signed by Dean Yeagle. At this point I am keeping it for myself. But you know, money talks. LOL.
Anyway, this was great fun! The next one to be released was even more of a killer!

One of those bad nights

I came home from work tonight only to find that my girlfriend hadn't been home yet. So I tried texting and tried calling, but got no answer. Now she is a hard working teacher, always dedicating herself to her kids and her classroom, so staying late is no big deal, she does it often. Still, as 1 am trickled in, I started to become un-nerved. Was she okay? Was she cheating on me? Her daughter had not heard from her either, so I jumped in my car, and made the drive down to her school. Nothing. Then I swang by her mom's house. Not there either. I started to boil over, get a little angry. Lord knows based on my marriage and the infidelity that came from my ex-wife, that I have issues with insecurity.
So I made my way home, sat in the living room trying to work and waited. Waited, and waited more. Finally around 4 am there was a key jingle at the front door. As it opened I heard her speak, and then I heard a male voice respond. My heart started racing, I clenched my fists. How was I going to handle THIS? Then the door pushed open further, and I saw her silhouette and then HIS! WTF!?! She had brought another man into our home!? I was about to scream, when I heard her crying, and the I heard the man speak again. This time there was a familiarity to his voice. Then finally the light bulb hit. It was her step-father.
Come to find out she had stopped at the store on the way home from work, and evidently passed out in the parking lot. When she came to, she was in the hospital attached to an IV and all kinds of little electrode things. Her phone had died, and her mom didn't know my cell number. My sweet little bonehead of an almost step-daughter hadn't answered her phone when they tried her. I was relieved and horrified all the same. I kept picturing my baby sprawled out on the ground. Had she hit her head? How long was she there before anyone noticed? She said the doctors almost had to hook her up to a respirator because she was non-responsive.
I kind of wanted to kick myself for even thinking she'd strayed, but you know given my history, you may understand why I did.
Needless to say, I spent the last three hours by her side, and counting my blessings she's okay. But now I'm pooped, emotionally drained and in need of a nap.

Things to come

I've been slaving away over a portfolio/valentine book of sorts. It's all about Indiana Jones, and is in full color. It's called the Book of Jones, and it will be ready in time for Star Wars Fan Days 3.
So how can you get one? Well chances are you can't. See it's not a book I will be selling. It's going to have an excruciatingly limited print run and the only way to get it, is if I give it away. I am handing them out to a select few as gifts and I may give away a few extra to some customers. But it's totally NOT for profit. Just for fun, as a way to give something back.
I'll post more images from it as the show gets closer.

Saw

I can't really say that I have ever really been THAT big a fan of any franchise horror flicks. I think Freddy and Jason are cool. And I enjoy a really cool horror flick from time to time. The Descent and Drag Me To Hell were a few of my favorites. But other than that, aside from The Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies, no franchise has really stuck with me.
I watched the first Saw movie some years back, and was entertained and caught off guard by the twist at the end. But other than that, I never had much of a desire to see any of the follow ups. Then Universal's Halloween Horror Nights added Saw to the mix this year. They talked about the fact that the Haunted House based on it would feature traps and scenes from the Saw franchise. So I figured it was time to catch up. After all, I like to be in the loop of things I am going to see at HHN.
So I rented Saw 2 and 3, and was hooked. Damn, even more plot twists, a captivating villain, and a killer soundtrack. 4 and 5 didn't really let me down either.
So after I was caught up, I kept thinking about the movies, and had to go see the first one all over again to see the little twists and intricate story lines I had missed. And the movie grew on me even more.
A lot of folks complain that it's like torture porn. But I don't really see it that way. What gets me more about the movie is the characters, the plot twists, and yeah some of the mechanics behind the traps that come up. How people make the choices they do. And really that the damn movies are all about valuing your life.
It seems odd that I can go on for so long about a franchise like Saw, but I have to be honest, I rank these movies as my personal favorites up there with Darth Vader and Indiana Jones.
I want to play a game. Can there be much they have in common with Tobin Bell? Can you the reader make any connections? I actually can see several. Can you? Let the game begin.

Pissed Off Pato

Okay, so several months back I drew a cartoon of a messy pig to illustrate how gross it was to work at a caricature stand after a messy person. I posted this drawing on a private company blog and it too on a life of it's own. The powers that be ended up creating a few other animal toons as well. But my favorite of the bunch was Positive Panda. He was the animal we were supposed to focus on when things might not be as bang up at work as they could be. When sales were slow, or it rained all day, we should always stay positive.
So when September settles in and sales tend to slump it's expected that you may have a slow night here and there. Those nights become "learn nights" as opposed to "earn nights." Nights where we focus on our craft, hone our abilities.
Last week I had one of those nights at a typically good location. I drew 2 pictures. That's right, over a 5 hour span. 2. But through it all I remained Positive Panda. Chalking the night up to a September slouch. The very next night I saw the same thing happening, but I stayed Positive Panda. And after some chatting and laughing and free add ons, (I would color the black and white pictures free to keep a butt in the chair and effectively advertise to other guests) I had an okay night.
This week I was back at the first location for a second time this week. I had a fairly decent showing there a few days ago, and then tonight hit. I had one of the worst nights ever. There wasn't any level of positivity that could break through it. I spoke to the handful of people that did come by.

"So how long will one take?"
" 5 to 10 minutes."
"Great we will be back tomorrow."
"No one is here now, I can take care of you in a hurry."
"Well we have dinner reservations."
"I can start the pictures and finish them up while you eat, what a time saver."
"No that's okay, but we'll definitely be here tomorrow."

I had that conversation several times. Told people where the bathroom was, pointed out restaurants, and smiled. I smiled a lot. Positive Panda. Then I drew a little kid, free of charge to try and drum up some business. Nothing. Lots of compliments and aw how cute's. But no sales.
Then a pulled a demo, a fantastic face with a big mustache. His family took pictures and laughed.

"We definitely need to come back for this after dinner."

They never came back for it. But they got photo's of it for a nice prize.

As the night progressed and my poor back screamed in pain from standing there, I began to lose sight of that Panda, and inside I was growing a little pissed off. But I still smiled. Smiled A lot. I wondered how I could get stuck with the crappiest total two weeks in a row. Who had I pissed off? Was God giving me a sign that maybe I needed a new profession?

I ended up doing 1 picture tonight. One. But even while closing and answering one last question from a family of four who was "coming back tomorrow" I smiled.

Then I cussed like a sailor all the way to my car.

My nickname is Locoduck. Duck in spanish is Pato.

Tonight I created a new little animal. Sorry Panda, for now I'm just one Pissed Off Pato.

Oh that costume. Just a little sumthin sumthin.

Star Wars Clone Wars Widevision

Busy times are on the horizon. One card set I am working on is Topps upcoming Star Wars The Clone Wars Widevision set. These cards are a beaut as they give me a lot more room to work with. I'll be doing one hundred (Attempted full color) cards. The catch? Mine are only going to be available in retail packs this time around. Guess that will make them harder to track.
Either way, It's going to be a blast! I am working on a few other sets as well, but more on those later.

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

Did this 4 card puzzle for a collector. I'm really digging the way it came out, and am pretty sure I am going to make something close to it into a print type thing.

Wow.

Disney buys Marvel.

It's amazing what one wakes up to find out about on a Monday morning. So yeah, I now sort of work for Disney, and Marvel. Scrup. Not sure what to make of it, but I am sure it will be full of interesting developments. Please by all means, Discuss!

R2KT

This piece was originally simply a donation piece for the Marla Bea Benefit auction. I decided to do this one and the Black Cat piece as well. And while I am proud of both, I simply love and adore the Star Wars piece the best.
You see it started as me trying to draw something unique for the auction. The requirement was that we draw a strong female type from pop culture and feature the color pink. I thought about it for a long while and realized it would be cool to make a pink Artoo unit. So that was the plan.
Then this past weekend I was at Mini Megacon checking out the exhibitors. I came across the Florida Garrison of the 501st Legion. These guys are a class act all over the world. If I had a Stormtrooper outfit I would totally join. Maybe I'll start building one at the Star Wars Fan Days 3 show in October.
Anyway, I noticed a pink Artoo action figure at their booth, and struck up a conversation with one of the guys there. I apologize in advance for being too sloppy to get a name. I wanted to know if it was indeed a female droid? Low and behold there was, and she had a name, R2KT.
He went on to share the story in brief about young Katie Johnson. She was a beautiful little girl with an affection for R2, and a losing battle with Brain Cancer. Now if I have this a little off, I am sorry for my poor detailing. Apparently, her father was in the midst of building Katie her very own pink astromech droid when she took a turn for the worse. Some of the professional R2 robot builders then stepped in and created a real life pink R2 unit, and called it R2KT. Sadly, Katie lost her fight with cancer and passed away sometime after. So now R2KT has become a staple in the Star Wars world. She is an ambassador of sorts, making appearances at Hospitals, and functions, and continuing to bring more awareness to cancer. The droid was even featured briefly in the Clone Wars movie.
After hearing Katie's story I knew I had made the right choice to draw this piece.
This drawing became more emotional for me as well because of the fact that my little girls had just left me, to go back to Texas. But I guess I should thank my stars, that I can still call them or see them.
So my heart and thoughts go out to Katie Johnson's daddy, and it is very hard to now part with this piece. But the positive side is that it will help to bring us in someway closer to saving future Katie's.
You can read more about the MarlaBea Benefit auction by visiting the following link
MARLA BEA BENEFIT AUCTION

Personal Heroes: George Lopez

I'm not coping well with the fact that my daughters left me today, so in order to keep some sort of distraction I'll make a post about one of my personal heroes. George Lopez.

I'm not exactly sure where I first stumbled upon George Lopez. I'd heard of him before, and even seen him in Shark Boy and Lava Girl, but I don't think it was until I became aware of his show on Nick at Nite that I got a better appreciation for the man as a comedian. All I knew is that after watching the first episode in reruns, I was hooked. I don't recall ever laughing quite so hard at a sitcom as I had this one.

I'm sure there was some attraction to him ( and no I don't mean it like that, cochinos!) because of the obvious Chicano connection. After all I am LOCOduck, But I related to the humor as well because that's what I grew up around myself. It's odd to note as well that George Lopez seems to be the perfect mutation of two people, my step-father; a typical stereo-typical Mexican Alpha Male cut-out, who aside from the various bruises and fantastic insults, I gained two note worthy things from. A sense of perverted humor, (including a healthy addiction to porn, THANKS Orozco) and an appreciation for segundo barrio oldies. Then there is my biological Dad, ( who while yeah, didn't stick around for reasons that would require an entirely new blog post) was the nurturing, intelligent and supportive male figure in my life. Not to mention, that I think he and George Lopez do look oddly alike.

If you pushed my two hispanic father figures into one, I sincerely think George Lopez would be the result. In his situation and stand up acts, I hear the barrage of Mexican curse words my step father would use until I pissed myself laughing, some of the same mannuerisms are there as well. Hell the opening "Low Rider" song was a staple in my step-father's tape deck. But then there are samples of my bio-dad as well, George Lopez is one superbly intelligent man, goal driven, and family oriented, he seems like he would give you the shirt off his back, much like my father.

Therein lies more of the respect and connection.

But let's face facts, George Lopez is one really funny "buey." I have watched his HBO special "Tall, Dark and Chicano" about 4 times now. It was filmed live in San Antonio where any of my regular readers know my heart lives it's second home. I find something new to laugh at every damn time I see it. Whether it's the jokes about burritos and McCaca's, the latter of which just tickled my little girls, or his facial expressions, the man is comic gold.

He gives the Latino community a superbly respectable face, dresses like a modern day "Jaime Bond" and is cherished by so many. I think HE was the reason I was willing to sit through Beverly Hills Chihuahua, (which I ended up really liking and buying.)

As you can see I have a world of admiration and respect for the man. He remains high on my list of people I'd love to meet. And he's the kind of Latino I'd like to grow old and become.

Muchas Gracias George, you make one helluva man.

Sketch Card Goodness

Well I was having some issues with my scanner, but it's back in order now. Trying to enjoy the last few days I have with my babies until they go home, so I'll make it quick. Here ya go!






Well I was having some issues with my scanner, but it's back in order now. Trying to enjoy the last few days I have with my babies until they go home, so I'll make it quick. Here ya go!

Legends and Lore

I was invited a few months back to participate in a card set for sadlittles.com called Legends and Lore. But was even more awesome was I was given the opportunity to create a base card for the set. I have to admit I was a little bummed by the subject when I got it. "King Arthur!?" I thought. COme on, where was my chance to draw a cheese cake-ish red riding hood? I had no idea where I was going with it. But finally I came up with the most iconic (at least in my opinion) image of King Arthur. The Sword In The Stone. So this is what I came up! Have to admit I was pretty happy with the end result after all, and I can't wait to see it in print!
Snag up the set, by visiting sadlittles.com

The Greatest American Hero

I have thinned my commission and job list down once more. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just wrapped up a handful of sketch cards for Sadlittles.com Legends and Lore set. I need to now crunch down and move 40 cards out the door for The March of Dimes charity sketch card set featuring the Greatest American Hero. Here is a quick character study and reference I put together. While I love the show, and have the first season on DVD it's nice to have a quick study I can look at.
A few other items of note. I have a small webcam now and am setting up a ustream account so that anyone who wants to can watch what I am working on. More details and schedule to follow soon. On the right of my blog as well will be a current workload list. If you have work coming from me, refer to it.
Okay off to bed. Have to enjoy my last day at 33.

Rolla Coasta of Life

Hey gang. I know it's been almost a month since my last post. I have to admit that I knew they would be spread out, but this was a ridiculous length of time. So there have been a lot of positives in that amount of time, but it's been a proverbial climb. About two weeks ago I jumped on a plane to go and bring my little darlin daughters home. The trip was a 15 hour marathon consisting of me boarding a plane to Texas at 9 am and returning home with them that same night at 11 pm. Needless to say, I packed pretty light. And leave it to me to keep drawing caricatures of sort at 3500 feet. For whatever reason, I decided to draw Southwest Airlines flight attendant (And budding author) Angela.


She was so gracious in accepting the picture that I became somewhat of a mini celebrity on the flight out, at least with the first half of the cabin. My apologies to everyone else I didn't get to draw. Maybe I can exchange caricature art for airline tickets. LOL.
When I got to Bandera Texas I scooped up my lovelies and we made the track back home. It was so awesome to be bringing them home for basically the whole summer. They were superstars all the way home. At the airport in Orlando while waiting for their luggage I snapped a pic of what in my opinion has to be one of the best Star Wars weekends ads ever.



Wish I had gotten to attend this year. The next few days saw me finishing packing up my life, and the three of us heading to the house of Mouse. Got to meet Tinkerbell which was cool. Then move week started. And it was a nightmare. The second night in our new place, and there was a massive lightning storm that took out a house a few homes over. It caused havok to the electricity and cable, leaving me internet-less and air conditioned impaired. The cable company ran a temporary line and before the day was over, a lawn guy ran it over and disconnected my world wide web once again. A few days later we were back on-line and I had managed to move just about all the heavy stuff into my second story studio. I was ready to get set up and working. After all the heavy lifting I had done the week before, it was a small box that took me off my feet and effectively destroying my back and keeping me bed ridden and un-able to do almost anything but wince and cry like a 1st grade girl. I have managed to miss work because of the intense pain and the inability to sit for longer than a few hours. And once again my personal workload is piling up on me.
So here I lie still in bed, finally managing to put some thought together long enough to update you guys. I've managed to pull a little tray by my bedside so I can do some drawing to try and ease the load. So that be that. But ultimately all is well because I have my little mini ducks at my side for now.


Have a great weekend.

UP from here

Well yes, the post is about UP, (and so is the three minute cave art you see here) and it's about many other things. Beware my readers, it be one of them looong winded posts.
I had the chance to see a few movies over the past week. Some were with my hunny bunny in a theater, while others were playing on the tube while I was working. And although the race was tight, UP edged out Drag Me To Hell by a hair. What a beautiful flick Pixar has put together. I had heard that the first few minutes were better than any love story out there today. And it is so true, once again, the mix of music, beautiful animated human emotions and story that Pixar is so good at floored me. But more on UP in a bit. '



Drag Me To Hell was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. The fact that that my girlfriend wanted to see it was in itself a bit inspiring. To be honest I wanted to see it because the title amused me. So we made our way to a midnight showing, and I was instantly wrapped up in the grossness, the over the top moody sounds, the jump moments, the camp, the soundtrack, the delicious throwback to older horror flick films (right down the oddly grainy projection itself.) I had a really good time at this movie. My brother made a good point though, asking if it was a horror movie or a comedy. I couldn't really answer. I simply said, "It's a Sam Raimi." And a breath of fresh air.

Other movies I saw kind of ran together. Vickie Christy Barcelona, The Spirit, The Wrestler, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Max Payne. Yeah, honestly nothing to write about, (although I really had better hopes for liking The Wrestler)

I managed to get quite a bit of artwork done too. Finished all my Archie cards (scans to come soon), I got several commissions done. Including these delightfully foot filled cards


and the boat caricature below. And I continue to line up my never ending list. I finished a base card for Sadlittles Legend and Lore set (wish I could show it) But I am really enjoying my drawing time.

For those of you waiting on cards, please continue to be patient. I know how hard the wait can be. I am in the same boat, awaiting almost a year now for a sketch. I also must add that my schedule is going to become overloaded the next few weeks since my girlfriend Jaime and I have decided to move in together. We have a beautiful home lined up to rent, and one of the best parts is, I will be bringing my little girls home for the summer. Of course, the move, the trip to get my babies, yeah, it's all happening over the next two weeks. So I beg for your continued tolerance.

Hey by the way, there is a cool blurb about yours truly over on the raider.net. If you click this link and scroll about half way down, you can catch a glimpse of the duck in all his awkward Animal Kingdom gloriousness.
Locoduck on the Raider.net

Oh and side note two. I was at church with Jaime a couple of weeks ago, and this passage stuck to me, leading me to evaluate and recognize one thing, ( Corinthians 15:33 says, Do not be mislead. Bad Company corrupts good character.) I AM NOT BAD COMPANY.

Anyway, this I guess brings us back full circle to UP. For those who have seen it, you know the way it ends, with blessing of a new adventure. I have braved through my black clouds. And with my move, my babies, my new love.....the only place life can continue to go is UP. Onwards to adventure a new.

PS Also on a new Upward adventure is my brother from another mother Kenny Durkin. Congrats to he and his new blushing bride Andi. I love you guys!!!