I would be remiss if I didn't include one of Mike's favorite sketch card genres in an early post of this blog. Mike LOVES Indiana Jones. Topps put out three Indiana Jones sets in one year- 2008- the year that "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was released. I don't know this for an absolute fact, but I'm pretty sure Mike enjoyed doing those 3 sets as much as any he has done.
   This particular sketch came from the first set from that year- "Indiana Jones Heritage". Mike used a few diferent styles over the 3 sets, all of which I found very cool. I like all of Mike's sketches from these sets, but particularly the ones with Indy. I was very happy to be able to pick this one up as the square head style just cracks me up.
   I have more Indiana Jones sketches but I'll save them for future posts. Until then, thanks for reading!

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   I make no secret that Yoda is my favorite characters from Star Wars. I love how he was introduced in "Empire Strikes Back", his wisdom, the way he talked, and the way he trained Luke. Luke came to Dagobah looking for this mighty Jedi Master and instead finds this little green creature. Yoda proved that sometimes great things come in small packages. I thought the most poignant moment of Empire was when tiny Yoda lifted the X-wing out of the swamp using the Force after big, tough Luke couldn't.
Luke: "I can't. It's too big"
Yoda: "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you?"
Luke: "You want the impossible."
(Yoda lifts X-wing from the swamp and moves it to solid ground)
Luke: "I.. I don't believe it!"
Yoda: "That is why you fail"
   Although we see these glimpses of Yoda's power in "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi", we don't really see how much of a badass he is until the prequels were made. All I'll say is Yoda's lightsaber battle with Count Dooku... classic!
   Enough of my admiration for Yoda for now. Thanks for reading!
#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #yoda #masteryoda #jedimaster #jedi #jediapprentice #empirestrikesback #returnofthejedi #Dagobah #xwingfighter #r2d2 #lukeskywalker 
@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio

   If you read any of my original blog, you know that I'm a big fan of both "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars". I consider them the two greatest movie series of all times (no offense to "Harry Potter" fans as I am one of them, but it comes in at #3 on my list). I run a Lord of the Rings group on Facebook called "Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Collectible Card Group" for people who enjoy Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trading cards. The first sketch card I ever bought was a Gandalf sketch by Mike- and it's featured in the first post of my original blog. In fact, looking back a lot of my posts from that first year (2008) were about Lord of the Rings cards by Mike. So it's no surprise that any chance I get to pick up Lord of the Rings sketches by Mike, I do it.
   Today's post is about two such cards that I picked up last year, both from "Masterpieces". I got them in a blockbuster trade with a Duron mega-collector. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse for one of Mike's "Star Wars Illustrated: ESB" panoramic sketches.
   The first one is from a scene in "Fellowship of the Ring" where Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin hid under the roots of a tree from one of the Nazgul- also known as Ringwraiths or Dark Riders. I love how Mike drew it.
   The second one is of "Denethor" the Steward of Gondor. It's a great depiction of Denethor who always had a sour look on his face. I'm not sure how many sketches Mike did in that style, with the character's name written in block style under the sketch, but I like the few that I've seen. 
   More to come soon. Thanks for reading!
#lordoftherings #michaelduron #Locoduck #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #hobbits #frodobaggins #frodo #elijahwood #samwisegamgee #sam #seanastin #meriadocbrandybuck #merry #dominicmonaghan #peregrintook #pippin #billyboyd #fellowshipofthering #Nazgul #ringwraith #darkriders #denethor #stewardofgondor #returnoftheking #minastirith #johnnoble @michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio

   The last time I knew I would be seeing Mike I asked him to draw a special Return card for me- a Panoramic sketch from Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope. I've always been a big fan of the original trilogy, and I had never asked Mike to draw me old Obi-Wan (who I still refer to as Ben Kenobi). The blank was a Panoramic (double the size of a regular sketch card), so why not get the ultimate scene- Ben Kenobi vs Darth Vader? Master vs Padawan. The duel that would shape Luke Skywalker's life. 
   "You can't win Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." 
   These words probably meant very little to the Sith apprentice who had his legs chopped off by his one time Jedi Master and was left burning like a marshmallow for a s'more.
   What Mike drew was way more than I expected. Ben and Vader with lightsabers crossed, another set of lightsabers, and each character drawn even bigger in each corner. That's why I love panoramic sketches- so much room for an artist like Mike to be creative.
I also picked up 3 other pieces of art off Mike that trip. Another return card and some custom art. I'll share those in another post. Until then, thanks for reading!
#starwars #michaelduron #locoduck #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #anewhope #obiwan #obiwankenobi #benkenobi #obi #jedi #jedimaster #jedicouncil #darthvader #vader #anakinskywalker #anakin #iamyourfather #sithlord #sithapprentice #lordvader #lightsaber #lightsaberduel #deathstar @michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio

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   It's been exactly 8 years since my last post on my original blog "The Locoduck blog- for fans of Michael Duron". I wanted to continue with my original blog but I had two problems. #1 I forgot my password (seriously.. it's been a long time lol), and #2 Mike's art was getting very popular, very expensive, and harder for me to get. So I didn't really have much to write about. I still followed Mike's art, I still loved Mike's art, but I wasn't able to buy much of it. 
   So what changed? Well I think the biggest change was Disney bought Star Wars and they told Topps they wanted photorealistic sketches in all their products. Now I think Mike could do photorealistic sketches, but it wouldn't be his type of art. So in the past 4-5 years Mike has only done one or two Star Wars set. He has done sets for Marvel, which has a big following, but not as big as Star Wars. So in the past few years his sketches would show up on Ebay and prices became more reasonable. I think it was a case of "out of sight out of mind". I was able to start building up a new collection of Mike's cards. 
   So I wanted to start off this new blog with one of my favorite sketches. Why is it one of my favorites? Well, #1 It's from Galaxy 4, one of the first Star Wars products I ever opened and one of the best, and #2 It's Han Solo and Chewbacca!! One of the greatest partnerships in movie history. Just look at Chewbacca in the background and how simple he looks yet drawn so brilliantly. I love it! 
   So I have a stash of Mike's cards and some custom art pieces, so I'll try to be diligent about posting. Thanks for checking this blog out and for reading!
#starwars #michaelduron #locoduck #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #hansolo #han #chewbacca #chewy #milleniumfalcon #anewhope #empirestrikesback #returnofthejedi #revengeofthesith #theforceawakens #thelastjedi #riseofskywalker @michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio
   

   I've been lucky enough to be able to have Mike do some original art pieces for me for specific projects. My favorite is this piece of John Rhys-Davies as Gimli the Dwarf, one of my favorite characters from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. When I found out he was going to be at a Con a hundred miles from me, I knew I wanted something special for him to sign. Anyone can buy an 8x10 photo of an actor and get it signed, but I think a custom piece makes it so much more special. I originally asked Mike for something 5x7 size, but he surprised me with this awesome piece that was 8x10. He also put a great panel at the bottom for the signature. John loved the piece, signed his full name, added the character name (Gimli), where the Con was at (Altoona, PA), and dated it (11/6/2016). You may think the Con was in November, but it wasn't- it was in June. In England they put the day before the month, and I guess he did it out of force of habit. It was June 11, 2016. Extremely unique piece and one of my absolute favorite pieces of Michael Duron art. 

Thanks for checking out my blog and as always, thanks for reading!

#lordoftherings #lotr #michaelduron #Locoduck #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #locoduck #originalart #gimli #fellowshipofthering #thetwotowers #returnoftheking #gimlisonofgloin #legolas #gandalf #aragorn #frodobaggins #samwisegamgee #boromir #merry #pippin @michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio