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!

Holiday Card for 2010!

Hello Friends!

I am pleased to post my holiday cards for 2010! After I posted the Thanksgiving card on Etsy.com I received the greatest response possible; People bought them! I'd like to shout out to my friends Opera-John and Shawn and thank them for buying. Also, Jordan on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Rose in Florida, Jen in Maine, Melissa in Texas, and the Parsons Family in South Carolina! The boost to my confidence was incredible!

Here you see images of the card and two images of the envelope. My initial idea was to create a three image joke. The front of the envelope serves as our "establishing shot" and shows Grand Central Terminal, here in midtown New York. The person receiving the Holiday Card will (hopefully) flip it over and will see an image of an invitation, inviting someone to a Holiday Party that evening hosted by Orion. Upon opening the card the viewer will find that the Holiday Party is being thrown on the underside of the ceiling of Grand Central Station, with all of the Zodiac signs invited. (Taurus the Bull has a present, Pegasus has three gifts, and Cancer the Crab is bringing gifts and wine!)

The illustrations were created from scratch board and they are printed on a natural toned piece of recycled paper. I used a gold marker to try to recreate the gold leaf and stars in the Grand Central Ceiling. It is disappointing but the gold is impossible to scan into the computer. (Please pretend that each figure shimmers a bit!)

If I don't get a chance to post a message before the Holidays, I would like to wish everyone my very best for the last few weeks of 2010 and joy and peace for all of 2011!