Vintage Valentine

Valentine's Day is almost upon us! This is an image I created of two lovers on one of the many boats in New York harbor. (Perhaps the Staten Island Ferry... not usually the most romantic boat in New York but who can say...?)

My inspiration for this card actually came from the Eiffel Tower Winter card in the previous posting. I wondered why I had not drawn some of the totally beautiful, breath-taking locations in New York City. Every day on my commute the subway train that I ride rumbles high above the New York Harbor and I can catch a quick glimpse of the Statue of Liberty (for about ten seconds!).

The card is meant to look old fashioned in the style of clothes and in the very restrained color palette. I tried to recreate the old sepia toned photographs in everyone's attic. The only color used in a light pink wash in the sky and brown and flesh tones for our two lovers. If you like it you can find it for sale on my Etsy page at http://www.etsy.com/shop/danieljosephdurkin . Happy Valentine's Day, my friends. Hug to all!

2011- Year of the Rabbit

The Lunar New Year is almost upon us! For the last several years it has become a favorite holiday of mine. My birthday is on Valentine's Day and my boyfriend and I have thrown parties at our apartment in the past. We figured out that if we called it a Valentine's Day Party single people would feel excluded. I also felt that throwing yourself a birthday party is self-indulgent... we finally decided it would be easier and more fun to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Last year was the year of Tiger. Any thoughts? I thought it was an okay year... But now we are heading into the Year of the Rabbit. According to the dependable people at a web site called theholidayspot.com we can look forward to a relaxed year in which, "Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force." Sounds good to me!

This illustration is something I've been itching to do since the year of the Horse! I have a fasination with paper lanterns and I've wanted to try to create the warm, beautiful glow that you get from them when they are lit. Thanks to my buddy Jen who approved the rabbit illustration in advance to make sure he was cute enough... You can't quite tell but this little rabbit is thinking, "This is going to be my year!"

As always this card is available on my Etsy page. Best wishes to my friends!