It takes a lot nowadays for me to trade a Michael Duron sketch from my collection. There's two situations where I'll consider it. Either 1) I'm trading a Duron for a Duron, or 2) a Collector is a specific character or set collector, AND they are willing to trade a different Duron to me for one(s) that fit into their collection. I've been working on a trade for some time- my good friend Brian collects Mike's pano sketches from the Star Wars Illustrated sets, and I had one. It's the sketch that is today's blog subject, and Brian has wanted to add it to his collection for awhile. I wasn't sure what to ask in return, and then I was talking to another Duron collector and his focus was on Mike's sketches from the 2012 and 2013 Galactic Files sets. Turned out my friend Brian had four sketches by Mike from those sets. This eased the pain of trading this great pano, knowing that I was trading a Duron (and a few other sketches) to Brian for 4 Duron sketches, even if they would only be in my possession for a short time, as I would be trading these 4 Duron sketches for different Duron sketches. Confused yet? Hopefully the blog posts the next few weeks will help. Today's sketch comes from Star Wars Illustrated The Empire Strikes Back and features Han Solo punching Lando Calrissian. This sketch is fantastic- great characters in a great scene, and Mike just nails every aspect of it.  Literally, they don't get much better than this one. But it will take a special place in Brian's collection, and the 4 sketches he traded to me will take a special place in another collection, and in return I'll get back some amazing Durons for my collection. I promise you, it'll all make sense in the end. As for today's blog post sketch, it's already off to a great collection, so this is my send off. A blog post send-off. 

   Well, that's it for this week. Be sure to check back next week as I reveal another piece to this triple trade between Duron fans. Thanks to all for stopping by and reading! 

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    Back to the Fellowship. The final two members were also the youngest members of the Party. This included today's subject.. Peregrin Took, aka Pippin. Billy Boyd played Pippin in Peter Jackson's trilogy. To be honest, Pippin is one of my least favorite characters. Not because of Billy Body's acting- he did a great job. Pippin is the group screw-up. When he knocked the bucket and chain into the well in Moria and alerted the whole place to their presence.. well, that was a cringeworthy moment. But he also has some great lines in the movie.. "What about second breakfast?" is probably my favorite. He breaks down and tells Denethor the truth about Boromir even after Gandalf tells him not to speak.. and ends up getting drafted into the Army of Gondor for his trouble. 

   As for the sketch, Mike does a good job of capturing what I call Pippin's "sleepy eyed" look, which I'm sure is more of a byproduct of Billy Boyd's physical features than anything. Or maybe it's his need for second breakfast. 

   Whatever the case, that's all for today. Thanks to all for stopping by and reading! 

#lordoftherings #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #lotr #pippin #peregrinetook #fellowshipofthering #thetwotowers #returnoftheking #lordelrond #frodobaggins #bilbobaggins #samwisegamgee #aragorn #legolas #gimli #boromir #merry #gandalf #billyboyd

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

 

    I got a late start so this will probably be a short entry. Today's sketch is an Anakin sketch from 2010 Star Wars Rise of the Bounty Hunters (some people call this set Clone Wars Season Two). I've never asked Mike about this set, but I think just from looking at the sketches his deadline was tight. Almost every sketch I've seen from that set by Mike are just inked and not colored, after he had done a lot of color sketches for previous sets like Clone Wars Widevision and Galaxy 4. Mike put a decent amount of detail in them even if they aren't as refined as some of his other work. Like on this sketch, I like that Mike includes Anakin's scar and that he's holding a lightsaber- great touches for this card. Another thing that I like about sketches like these are I can usually pick them up for a fairly reasonable price. Full color, highly detailed sketches by Mike can sell for high prices, especially in today's market, and I'm usually priced out of those sketches. I have a very cool (and very similar) Obi Wan from this set that goes very nicely with this sketch. I'll try to post it soon.

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

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #anakinskywalker #anakin #jediapprentice #sithapprentice #darthvader #vader #lordvader #haydenchristensen #obiwankenobi #obiwan #lightsaber #thephantommenace #attackoftheclones #revengeofthesith #clonewars #riseofthebountyhunters #ahsokatano #ahsoka

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio  

     I always thought Jedi Master Plo Koon looked cool and had the prototypical Jedi mentality. He was wise, he was always calm, he was a protector, and he was a leader. And I thought he was mega cool looking. Personally, my favorite thing about George Lucas' Prequels were all the cool Jedi he wrote into the stories. They're my favorite characters. If I could build my collection off of only one one type of character, it would be Jedi. Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi... on and on. If my collection only contained Jedi, I would be a happy man.

   This sketch is another from the Revenge of the Sith Widevision set. I say it with every Widevision sketch I blog about- I love them because they give the artist more room to work. This one appears to be another in Mike's series of (what I call) "up close and personal" sketches from that set- head shots. I do like how Mike added a lightsaber to this one, as lightsabers always make a sketch better! And if I never mentioned it before, I like how Mike draws lightsabers- a little detail like the specks that Mike scatters along a lightsaber to me show off the energy of the weapon. Mike is great with the little details. Plo Koon has a really detailed face, and although Mike didn't do fine detail on all of it, I like that he did on one of Plo's coolest features- his eyes.

   That's all for today so thanks for stopping by and reading!

#starwars #michaelduron #locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #plokoon #jedimaster #jedi #georgelucas #lukeskywalker #luke #Yoda #obiwankenobi #obiwan #benkenobi #macewindu #quigonnjinn #shaakti, #kitfisto, #kiadimundi #lightsaber #revengeofthesith #anewhope #empirestrikesback #returnofthejedi #thephantommenace #attackoftheclones #theforceawakens #thelastjedi #riseofskywalker 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

    Mike started transitioning to his Sugar Boogerz style I believe in 2012's Galaxy 7. That's the first set that I can remember firsthand seeing that style sketch cards. In fact, the last sketch that I blogged about in my original Locoduck blog was a Sugar Boogerz Darth Vader with two Snowtroopers.  

   Which leads us to this week's sketch, which ironically is a Sugar Boogerz Snowtrooper. This one is from 2014 Star Wars Chrome Perspectives. I picked this one up in a big sketch sale along with three other Durons. That was a great day for my collection! Normally I don't collect Trooper sketches, but I make exceptions for my favorite artist. And I like the fact that it's a Snowtrooper instead of just a plain old Stormtrooper. There are many cool things about the movie "The Empire Strikes Back", and Snowtroopers are one of them. George Lucas was a marketing genius with his Star Wars troopers. He had them for every weather condition and scenario. Me, I would have used Stormtroopers in every scenario. So thank you George Lucas. And I'll just say it now, Snowtroopers are my favorites. That being said, I'm also including a picture of that Galaxy 7 Darth Vader  w/Snowtroopers sketch that I mentioned earlier. 

   That's all for this week. Thanks all for stopping by and reading! 

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #empirestrikesback #snowtrooper #darthvader #vader #lordvader #sithapprentice #Sithlord #jamesearljones #davidprowse #sugarboogerz @michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio