Winter in Paris

This picture is a scan of the Holiday Card I made and sent to my family members and friends. I had originally wanted to draw Sacre Coeur in snow and I did a lot of Internet research on finding a proper assortment of images to create this illustration. The Eiffel Tower has a mysterious and magical hold over many Americans, and while clicking through about a hundred images of Paris, the Eiffel Tower began to call to me. I reasoned that I could quickly draw and complete this picture and then I would move on to a proper illustration of Sacre Coeur. (And wouldn't Sacre Coeur, a beautiful church, make more sense on the front of a Christmas Card? "Mais oui!")

Actually, this picture took a longer time to draw than I had expected. Once it was completed I had to hand paint all of the white details on each card. The number of Holiday cards I send out seems to have grown larger and larger each year. In the end, I found myself spending the holidays with my family in Chicago and still painting cards several days after Christmas- hoping that people wouldn't be too mad getting a very tardy holiday card. (As I write this I can still think of several people who I still owe a holiday card too... I'm sorry!) But this seems to be the refrain for every holiday- There is never enough time!

If anyone reading my blog would still like to receive "A Very Tardy Holiday Card", please send me your address. I will send you a blank Eiffel Tower card which you will be able to send out during the holidays next year to a friend or loved one. Happy Belated Holidays to everyone! Big Hugs!

Koi Pond

I love koi fish! It was just a matter of time before they ended up appearing on a card. My boxes of photographs have been filled with snap shots of koi fish from garden ponds for the last several years. Drawing koi also gave me the fun excuse to work with a very exciting shade of orange. If you like this card it is available on my Etsy page at http://www.etsy.com/shop/danieljosephdurkin .

Although this is an illustration of koi, I have to admit that lobsters and seaside port towns have been on my mind following my recent trip to Maine! Please stay tuned for new sketches and artwork!

(Titles for this posting that you will be GLAD that I did not use; "Koi to the World", "Let's Hear it for the Koi", "Babes in Koi-land", "Koi-es Don't Cry", "Koi Vey!")

Spreading like rabbits...

Isn't it just the way this always happens? I have one sketch of a bunny in my house, and then I draw a second bunny... (they meet, fall in love...) Before I know it, there are 77 bunnies! ...or to be more specific, I have had orders for 77 Year of the Rabbit Cards.

I'd like to take a few minutes and thank everyone who checked out my Etsy shop over the last few weeks. The conversations I have shared with Etsy customers have been wonderful! I have attached a map of the United States showing where the bunny cards are concentrated. (I love those red and blue political maps at election time... can you tell?)

The whole Pacific Rim of the US had a great reaction to the cards. Thanks to Darci and Anna in Seattle, Max from Bainbridge Island, Margie in Spokane, Emily in Portland, Cecilia in San Francisco, Mymy in Menlo Park, and my good friends Jarrod and Amnon in the Bay Area. Honorable mention goes to the very chilly Minnesota, Illinois, and Colorado. Thank you Karen in River Forest, Rebecca in Lincolnwood, Lora in Minneapolis, Jeni in Mankato, and Midori in Arvada. I was pleased as punch to receive an order from Texas, Ohio, and Washington D.C. Thank you Barbara, Bonnie, and Gillian!

This map does not even show a little red symbol in Melbourne, Australia, but thanks to Kerry our little bunny is hanging out with kangaroos.

Special mention and thanks to Annette in Toronto who is sure that this is going to be her year! Also, to Howard in Brooklyn for providing helpful design tips and for suggesting yummy, local restaurants. I was pleased to be in touch again with the Parson's Family in South Carolina. (Check out their Etsy page by searching their shop name MonkeysOnTheRoof.) Thanks also to my good friend and co-worker, Nora, right here in New York City.

My friend Tania gave me instructions on how best to celebrate the Chinese New Year on February 3rd. She recommended not washing your hair or sweeping up your house because that might inadvertently sweep away your luck. She also suggested that you buy a new item of red clothing and wear it that day. (Isn't this much more interesting than silly Groundhog's Day?)

Things I am thankful for

I have attached an image of a Thanksgiving card I am preparing to send out to friends and family. Everyone who reads my blog (all five of you) will be receiving a card from me. If anyone else is reading this and would like to receive a card please just send me a comment with your name and home address!

This is an image I have wanted to create into a card for several years. Over the years I have filled several sketch books with doodles in which I planned out this card. The sketches have never worked to my satisfaction and I always question myself and ask, "Does anyone actually send out Thanksgiving cards?" Each year Thanksgiving has passed me by making all of this moot. Happily, this year I managed to find one day to get all of the drawing done. Now I just need a few evenings to paint the white details.

The Thanksgiving Parade in New York was one of those things that I LONGED to attend when I lived in Chicago. Now as a New Yorker I just try to keep it in mind and avoid Times Square and Broadway on Thanksgiving. Often it is very cold and the street is always packed like a sardine can. One has to admire the Radio City Rockettes. Rain or shine they show up every year wrapped in short little fur coats and hats, but only wearing nylons and tap shoes. I'd have thought they'd have learned from the previous years and said, "Hey ladies, how about we wear pants this year?"

The card above is a scratch board illustration of the Dakota on Central Park West and 72nd in New York. This is the famous building where John Lennon and Yoko lived and where Mia Farrow as Rosemary cried out, "His eyes! What have you done to his eyes!?"

The large balloons in front of the building are stand-ins for the cartoon characters who float down the parade each year. I expected to run into legal trouble from The Networks if I put in Sponge Bob or Kermit so here is Nicky the Simple Squirrel, Georgie the Over-Indulgent Turkey, and Wilhelm the Aggressive Penguin. (All the names come from a non-fiction book I'm reading on the lead up to World War I.)

Later this week I will be posting some of these cards onto my Etsy site. Please check them out there along with some of my other work. I am thankful and proud to say that I have sold two items off of Etsy. The two images of the vegetables below were sold and will soon be hanging in someone else's kitchen.

Stationary Show at the Javits

Today I took a trip to visit a friend of mine at the Jacob Javits Center on the West Side in New York City. She was in town representing her company for the Annual Stationary Show. This show is always a great way to see what is new in the stationary, paper, greeting card, and gift wrap business. She suggested that I should bring my portfolio to show to other business owners. I put something together quickly. Once I arrived I realized that I had essentially brought a "knife to a gun fight". (...A very New York Metaphor!)

The Javits Center seemed like several football fields end to end with miles and miles of booths showing beautiful cards, artwork, and gifts. I was over stimulated to a point on par with a walk through Times Square or the Strip in Vegas. (When I told my friend I was overwhelmed she asked "But can you ever be just 'Whelmed'?")

After several hours walking through this environment (which felt larger than some American cities I have visited) I had a collection of promotional material from companies I admire, business cards from companies I would like to submit my work to, and a small mountain of promotional crap that was forced upon me by over eager vendors. Some very nice vendors agreed to look over my portfolio and I left my email address for a few company owners. I do not seriously expect to hear anything from them but my field trip today gave me a MUCH clearer sense of what is being created and bought in this market.

Along with this post I have uploaded an illustration I created of the south east corner of Central Park. This bridge is one of my favorite spots in Manhattan. It appears in the movie "Sweet Charity" and is even mentioned at the end of Orson Well's broadcast of the "War of the Worlds". The building to the right is the Plaza Hotel. I might go back and add a few layers of color to this illustration in the near future.