It's been close to 11 months since my last post, and to my 4 followers and anyone else who reads my blog, I apologize for that. My stock of new Duron sketch cards to post was getting low, and I had an issue that affected the blog that I won't go in to. But my love for Mike's art has never wavered- he's still my favorite artist and always will be. I've been lucky to have been able to pick up a few of his cards lately, so hopefully I can get back into the swing of things. 

     This one comes from one of my favorite sets- 2009 Clone Wars Widevision. It's from Season one, Episode 20 "Innocents of Ryloth". It features Obi-Wan and a young Twi'lek girl he helped to save named "Numa". Mike did a fantastic job with his Clone Wars Widevision sketches. I always liked his Widevision sketches because they gave him more room to be creative. I always thought his creativity was one of Mike's best attributes as far as being a sketch card artist. 

     So that's it for today. Hopefully I can make this more of a regular thing again. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #clonewars #obi-wan #jedi #jedimaster #twi'lek #davefiloni 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

 I've said this before, and I'll say it again... one of my favorite Star Wars characters drawn by Mike is Chewbacca (see my post from October 2020 for some of Mike's various styles of drawing Chewbacca). And I have been lucky  enough to have gotten a bunch of Mike's Chewbacca sketches over the years- some via Ebay purchases, or from the Facebook Star Wars groups I'm in, and some have come by trades. They just seem to find me. 

Today's Chewbacca sketch is a panoramic sketch from Star Wars Illustrated: Empire Strikes Back, and comes from a good friend who is always on the lookout for me for Duron and other cartoony sketches. I call this one "Hoth Chewy".

What's not to love about this sketch? My favorite thing about this sketch is how Mike drew Chewy's expression. Mike is exceptional at conveying emotions thru expressions. How he draws the eyes. How he draws the mouth. Even the eyebrows help to paint the picture in this sketch. Then Mike takes this sketch a step or two further by adding the windswept fur and the snow. Particularly the snow on Chewy's head. Who can blame him? Nobody likes that snow and wind combination! I feel lucky to have this sketch. Shout-out to my good friend Justin for trading me this beauty!

Well, that's all for today. Thanks for stopping by and reading! 

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #chewbacca #chewy #petermayhew #empirestrikesback #hoth #snow #anewhope #returnofthejedi #theforceawakens #thelastjedi #riseofskywalker #revengeofthesith #hansolo #milleniumfalcon 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

 Another sketch from the set that started it all with me- Lord of the Rings Masterpieces II. The first sketch card I ever bought was a Gandalf sketch from Masterpieces II by Mike, and any time I find one of Mike's sketches from this set I try to buy it. Problem is prices have been skyrocketing lately, and I don't have the deep pockets to win as many as I would like. So it thrills me when I get a card like this.. Gandalf, from my favorite set, by my favorite artist. 

I love that Mike's experience doing caricatures comes out in his art for this set. Yes, Ian McKellen has a big nose, but Mike exaggerates it in this sketch and does it flawlessly. Another thing he does in this sketch that some other artists may have not thought to do is the all black background. It's dark in this scene, and while other artists may have only focused on Gandalf,  Mike thought enough to let us know it was dark in the scene. I'm not sure if Mike thinks his way thru his cards or if it just comes to him naturally, but I think it's brilliant. 

Overall just a great addition to my Duron Lord of the Rings collection. 

I know this was short, but that's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

#lordoftherings #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #gandalf #ianmckellen #fellowshipofthering #thetwotowers #returnoftheking #minesofmoria

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

   Here's the other Star Wars PSC pano that my good friend Derek gifted me- one of the greatest duos in the history of movies- Han Solo and Chewbacca! I forgot to mention this in my last post, but this card (and the Yoda/R2D2 card from the prior post) were done by Mike on Derek's own personal card stock. That's right- Derek is such a dedicated sketch card collector he had his own sketch card stock made with a custom designed front and back. Too cool!

   As for the card, yet again Mike just knocked this one out of the park with such wonderful detail. The expressions on Han and Chewy's faces are sensational- especially Chewy giving his guttural Wookie growl/yell. Mike also nailed it on this sketch with the colors he used. I also love how Mike did the welding goggles on both Han and Chewy- they look perfect.

Sorry for such a long time in between posts. When I get low on sketch cards to write about I lose focus. Mike's cards aren't easy to pick up on a budget, so I get them when I can. Hopefully I can post more often. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and reading!

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #empirestrikesback #hansolo #harrisonford #chewy #chewbacca #milleniumfalcon

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

   Sorry that it's been a few weeks since my last post. I'm running low on inventory and Mike's cards aren't easy to pick up on a budget. Sometimes, when you least expect it, cards find you. Or in this case, it's nice to have great friends. I have a friend named Derek, he's a mega sketch card collector who's the biggest Empire Strikes Back fan that I know. I think he could quote the whole movie line for line if need be. He commissioned Mike to do two cards recently and he gifted them to me! Anyone who reads this blog knows that my favorite Star Wars scenes are the ones with Yoda (my favorite character) on Dagobah. So it's fitting that this first sketch card is just that- Yoda and R2D2 fighting over a light when Luke first (unbeknownst) meets Yoda on Dagobah. It's also on Widevision stock, which along with panoramic are my favorite card stocks. 

   Mike put a lot of detail into this sketch. I particularly like the shading, as I have always been fascinated at how great artists like Mike know exactly how to do the shading and highlights to enhance a sketch and make it even that much better. This scene always cracks me up in the movie- R2 staunchly defending his owner's stuff, and Yoda pushing the boundaries to see how Luke will react (hint: mostly like a whiny baby lol). Great stuff by Mike! 

   So thanks again to Derek for this week's card (and one more to be revealed soon), and thanks to all for stopping by and reading! 

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #yoda #masteryoda #jedimaster #jedi #r2d2 #artoo #droid #astromech #empirestrikesback #Dagobah #lukeskywalker #jediapprentice 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

 

    So, one last sketch in my big Duron sketch card trade. This one comes from another one of my favorite sets- 2009 Clone Wars Widevision, and it follows the same theme as the sketch in my last post- Bounty Hunters! This one is an awesome full color sketch of IG-88/Cad Bane/Aurra Sing. 

   Some background, that if you've read my blog you may already know. 2008 Clone Wars was the first Star Wars product I ever opened. I enjoyed the movie and when I found out Topps was making a card product for the movie that had sketch cards I ordered my first case. Cards were so reasonable back then. An 8 box case cost me $280. Down the rabbit hole of Star Wars cards I went. After the Clone Wars movie came the Clone Wars TV show. And in 2009 Topps put out their Clone Wars Widevision set. I had a few products under my belt by then- most notably Galaxy 4, so I went all in on Clone Wars Widevision. I ordered 4 cases from my local card shop. I loved the product. So being able to get this card in this trade thrilled me.

    Looking at the sketch, I love how Mike draws IG-88's head extra skinny while drawing Cad Bane's hat extra wide. And the looks on the characters faces show that these Bounty Hunters are all business. Speaking of the looks on their faces, is it just my imagination or do all 3 characters have the same scowl with their mouths? Also, it's great that this sketch was done on a Widevision card because the characters don't have to be bunched together. Mike also added the yellow background which gives the card some depth. Overall, just another great card!

    Well, that's all for today so thanks to all for stopping by and reading!

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #clonewars #bountyhunter #ig88 #cadbane #aurrasing 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

    Sorry for being a bit lackadaisical with the blog the past two weeks- I've been mega busy here and have done a bad job with time management.

   That being said, let's get down to business. I'm still working my way thru the cards that I got in the big trade I made. Today card is another amazing one. It's a trio of Bounty Hunters on a 2010 Empire Strikes Back 3D Widevision card- Bossk/Boba Fett/Dengar. And while it's not a color sketch (yet), it sure is badass! These guys are all business. Bossk with his toothy grin, Dengar with his quiet stare, and Boba Fett with his steely resolve. Bad guys always make for great sketch cards!

   As I have said many times, I love Widevision cards because they give artists extra room to work. Could Mike do these 3 characters on a regular size sketch card? Most definitely. But they'd probably be a lot more mashed together. And while many sketch cards collectors aren't the biggest fans of Widevision cards because they are harder to store, in my mind the bigger sketches outweigh the storage issue. 

   So still one more sketch to go from this trade for next week, and it's.. guess what? Another Widevision sketch! Thanks to all for stopping by and reading! 

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #widevision #empirestrikesback #bountyhunter #bossk #bobafett #dengar #hesnogoodtomedead 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio