2008 Indiana Jones Masterpieces was the third Indiana Jones product that Topps had put out that year ("Heritage" and "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" being the first two). People were burnt out so pre-sell orders were low, but when it was released something was immediately evident- the product was LOADED with sketches, including something new.. panoramic sketch cards. Double the size! So much room for an artist to create, so for an artist like Mike who absolutely loves Indiana Jones, I would think it was love at first sight.

   I haven't seen every panoramic sketch that Mike did for this set, but I will say this one is exceptional. Shortround is such a great character from "Temple of Doom", and when you add in the elephant and the jungle background it makes this card a homerun in my book. Shortround exudes joy with his smile and his outstretched arms. Mike spares no details, even giving Shortround his N.Y. Yankees ballcap. And how cute is that elephant with the big eyes? I also love how Mike did the elephant's trunk and his ears, and as always Mike does a great job with shading and defining details. 

   This card quickly became one of my favorite Indiana Jones sketches. Well, that's all for today. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

#indianajones #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch  #raidersofthelostark #indianajonesandthetempleofdoom #indianajonesandthelastcrusade #indianajonesandthekingdomofthecrystalskull #shortround 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

 

    I bought two return cards off Mike back in 2008 from the Clone Wars movie product- the Sith trio that I showed in this blog two weeks ago, and also one of Star Wars most famous droid pair- R2D2 and C-3PO. 

   I think if you asked Mike today, he would probably disown the original sketch lol. His art got so much more refined in the following years. But I really loved that original sketch. C-3PO is so cartoony, which I really like. Obviously his new stuff is better, but that early stuff will always have a special place in my heart. 

   As for the new comic book that he recreated from this card, he really upgraded the look and it came out fantastic. He also filled in the dead space behind the droids with the Death Star, which looks awesome. Mike also added a lot more detail on both R2 and C-3PO, and he definitely got the color spot on with C-3PO. I love it!

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

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #customcomicbook #r2d2 #c3po #artoo #threepio #deathstar

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio 

   There are so many great scenes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy that it's hard to pick a favorite. I could easily pick 20 or 30. Mike did a bunch of scene sketches for Masterpieces II, and today's sketch is a very cool one.

   Aragorn had been hesitant throughout the trilogy to step into the role of his lineage- being Isildur's heir he had claim to the King of Gondor. After Elrond visits Aragorn at Dunharrow and gives him the sword Anduril, forged from the shards of the sword Narsil, Aragorn finally embraces his heritage and enlists the Army of the Dead to fight against Sauron's Army. When Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrive with the Army of the Dead, Aragorn leads the charge. One thing that has always made me laugh (in a good way) about Mike's sketching a dead character is he always uses X's for the eyes. And as with any of Mike's scene sketches, you can look at it and be transported right to that scene in the movie. I love it!

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

#lordoftherings #lotr #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #aragorn #viggomortensen #armyofthedead 

@michaelduron @locoduckduron @michaelduronportfolio  

   

    I bought my first Return card off Mike in 2008 from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" movie that was released in August of that year. Actually I bought two off him from that set. I was newly into sketch cards, just having discovered them on Ebay earlier that year. I joined a message board called 'Scoundrel Art Community' because I needed help identifying artists and characters, and the people on Scoundrel Art were amazingly helpful. I quickly found out that a lot of the sketch card artists were also on there. I didn't even know what a "return card" was at first. What I found out was, part of Topps agreement with the artists for compensation was that the artists could designate a set amount of cards to be returned to them (instead of being pack inserted) and the artist could sell these cards for as much as they could get. To cut to the chase, Mike posted his returns for sale, and I was lucky enough to grab two of them. Now as much as I had appreciated the artwork from day one of seeing sketch cards, I didn't have the financial means to actually collect. I would rip a case of one product and sell the hits to finance the next product. For the longest time Mike's cards were the exception. Those I always planned to keep, always wanted to keep. But sometimes life gets in the way when it comes to finances, and I ended up selling a majority of those cards from Mike over the years. I have a ton of seller's regret and remorse, but I did take solace in the fact that I knew the cards were going to hard core collectors who loved the cards. 

   Fast forward to 2015 and I discover something new (for me).. custom comic book covers. Some issues of certain comic books are made with blank covers so you can get the artist of your choice to draw whatever you want on the cover. Cool! I bought some comic book blank covers when Marvel released Star Wars #1 in I believe January of 2015. First artist I asked for a cover.. Michael Duron. He did a great Luke Skywalker for me. Also got covers done by Katie Cook, Rhiannon Owens, George Davis, Kevin Doyle, Jeff Chandler and other artists that I like. 

   Fast forward again to last year. Actually I had been running this idea thru my brain for a few years, but it didn't get put into motion until last summer. I asked Mike if he would re-create the return cards that I had bought off him (and sold) onto blank comic book covers. That way I would have a reminder of those cards, albeit on a different form. Bonus was, these were BIGGER versions of those cards, so I liked that. Fast forward again 11 months and I have the first three in hand. I got Mike to do the two Clone Wars returns, and the Galaxy 4 return that I had gotten off him in 2009. Here's the first one- a Sith group portrait of Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, and Asajj Ventress! I loved the original card and I'll include a picture of it under the new comic book cover version. I think it's brilliant!

   I'll have a few more of these to show off in the upcoming weeks. Until then, thanks for stopping by and reading!

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #comicbook #blankcomicbook #sith #sithlord #sithapprentice #Palpatine #darthsidious #countdooku #asajjventress 

    There are many haters out there for the Star Wars prequels, but I took them for what they were- backstory for the original trilogy. Was the acting bad? Yeah, some of it was. Were a few of the characters annoying? Yeah, a few of them were. But there were also some very cool characters and backstories that came out of the prequels.

   Boba Fett has been a Star Wars favorite since the Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978. Boba Fett was one of the most feared Bounty Hunters in the Galaxy. And we find out in the prequels that he (and his father Jango Fett) were clones that were made on Kamino. In "Empire Strikes Back" we see Boba in his Mandalorian armor, a silent but ruthless Bounty Hunter. It's not until the prequels that we find out where and why he got his steely resolve. Boba watched his father Jango die at the hands of the Jedi Mace Windu. 

   This leads me to today's sketch- Jango and his young son Boba. I love the details, shading, and the color that Mike used in this sketch. I don't know if this is a specific scene, but if it is I would think it was when Jango and Boba were getting ready to flee Kamino in Jango's ship 'Slave I'. This sketch is from 2013 Star Wars Galactic Files Series 2. 

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

#starwars #michaelduron #Locoduck #locoduckduron #artistsketchcard #artistsketch #sketch #bobafett #jangofett #bountyhunter #kamino #slave1 #macewindu #jedimaster #jedi #prequels #thephantommenace #attackoftheclones #revengeofthesith

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