Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.!

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Micron pen, Copic marker and acrylic paint on cold press watercolor paper. Art by Coyote Duran

Just in case you missed this piece on my Instagram feed (or perhaps don't have an Instagram account yourself), this Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. piece was done for The Ring Magazine for a fantasy fight issue. I wasn't sure if I wanted to ultimately share this because I didn't think it was as good as it should have been. When I received my comp issue in the mail, I noticed the piece wasn't included as part of the published theme. The first thing that entered my mind: Thank goodness.

See, to me, not having a piece accepted by any publication or organization is like an actor not getting a gig after an audition. It happens. Doesn't mean something I do in the future won't get chosen or used. It just means this piece didn't quite pass muster. And that, Dear Howlers, is just another reminder that one should work harder at his or her craft. It also substantiated how I felt about this piece in the first place. I knew I could have done better, so I'll very likely render something new and completely different dedicated to these two. 

Also, very important, the site here now has a slight name change. Due to a domain name snafu, the website is now officially called www.coyoteduranart.com.  This wasn't my original intention, as I had the previous domain name for nine years but the new name actually emphasizes what's most important here: The art itself. I hope you continue to enjoy it!



Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at artofthepaw@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @CoyoteDuran, on Instagram @CoyoteDuran and on Facebook @CDCreationNation.

The Four Kings of Boxing: Part two (Or Coyote Duran invades Las Vegas...kind of)

The Four Kings of Boxing (Clockwise): Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, 18" X 24", Acrylic paint on stretched canvas. Art by Coyote Duran.

It's been a year-and-a-half in the making (yes, just about 18 months) but my "Four Horsemen/Four Kings of Boxing" painting is finally finished! Now before you get all judgy about my work rate/ethic, just know that this piece was never initially a commission. Originally this was just something to do between commissions and my regular work as an online editor for RingTV.com and UCNLive.com (free plugs for one and all, baby!) while working on a surface on which I hadn't in a while: a stretched canvas. All in all, looking back, the process was rewarding and easy as pie. I often work with acrylic paint on canvas panels and Bristol Board, so this wasn't really a stretch. (See what I did there?) However I don't own an upright easel, so I had to be mindful about how heavy my right hand and not lean on my surface in any way.

Who ultimately changed this piece into a commission the girlfriend of our cousin Allen Medina (whom everyone affectionately calls "Bud"), Cynthia Salinas, who actually does medicals for Top Rank, one of the biggest boxing promotional firms in the world.

(Bud and Cynthia are actually both steeped in Our Sport, as Bud's son is a rising amateur boxer, as well. They all really know their stuff, Howlers.)

Last year, as I was sharing steps in my penciling and initial paint processes, Cynthia contacted me about perhaps buying this piece to present it as a birthday gift to someone very special in her professional circles, some time in February.

That person? Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman.

Good(man) enough for me.


Now some of you who have seen the previous steps might have noticed that I shifted my process somewhat in certain details. My associated Instagram posts will actually clue you into the sections I've changed, specifically details in Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran's hair.

For a bit, I just couldn't see the overall balance and felt a little dismayed but couldn't figure out why. Well, adding the little light pockets in Sugar Ray's hair and the highlight slashes in Duran's hair just wasn't cutting it. Had I left them, I would have had to change the overall tone of the piece and that might have been too much work for too little impact. And sometimes, too many ingredients can way spoil the chili. Believe me; I know...and I also know chili.

So I took a risk and relied on my pop art sensibilities. I'm going to let less say more and allow the remainder of the piece help do the talking. So while I reinforced what I already had going on, my risk (or reluctance to take a further risk) paid off.

And now my Four Kings now has a new and happy home in Las Vegas with one of the finest players on boxing promotions. Thank you, Cynthia and Bud for your confidence and a new opportunity to show off my work. And I hope you Howlers love it just as much as I do!





Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at coyote@coyoteduran.com. You can also follow me at twitter.com/CoyoteDuran, instagram.com/coyoteduran and facebook.com/CDCreationNation.

Duran-Leonard I: 'The Brawl in Montreal' - Part two

Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard I: "The Brawl in Montreal." Watercolor paint and ink on 10" X 13" cold press paper. Art commission by Coyote Duran

When we last tuned in, then-undefeated WBC welterweight titleholder Sugar Ray Leonard was getting his head handed to him by arguably the greatest world lightweight champion of all time, Roberto Duran, fully rendered in 2H graphite on cold press watercolor paper.

Well, joy of all joys, this sucker is finished (watercolor paint and black ink) and getting prepped to send to its owner Mike Downie, in Texas. SO MANY apologies for this being so late! But it was so much fun to render! I'm so grateful for these challenge commissions!

If you don't follow me on Instagram, please check out the following process photos!

Duran-Leonard I: 'The Brawl in Montreal' - Part one

Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard I: "The Brawl in Montreal." Graphite (2H) on cold press watercolor paper, prior to watercolor paint and ink, 10" X 13", art commission by Coyote Duran

It was actually almost a year ago when I created the first piece in what now would become a series for one customer, a friend of mine, Mike Downie from Texas (a watercolor and ink rendering of the classic battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, seven minutes and 52 seconds of beautiful violence, known simply as "The War). Months later, Mike would commission a brand-new piece, evoking another classic battle from the early-1980s - June 20, 1980, to be exact - the first meeting between arguably the greatest world lightweight champion of all time, Roberto Duran, and then-undefeated WBC welterweight titleholder Sugar Ray Leonard.

The 15-round championship bout ended like few anticipated, with the villainous "Hands of Stone" holding his hands high in triumph before flipping off Leonard's then-wife Juanita. Although, Leonard would authoritatively avenge the loss, via eight-round stoppage, five months later in New Orleans, Louisiana, the ink in boxing's history books is indelible. Roberto Duran handed Sugar Ray Leonard his very first professional loss.

Now, regarding this piece, if this scene looks familiar but doesn't (if that makes sense) is because had I replicated the photo reference Mike provided, I would have had to render both Duran and Leonard much smaller, resulting in much unused space between them. So I took a little "artistic liberty" and shortened the space between the two, thus substituting Duran's long right hand, down the pipe, into something of a tight hook (more of a cross, since Duran is a right-hander). If it's difficult for you to visualize, just consider Duran's right elbow being at close to a 90-degree angle from his right fist, if that makes sense.

Again, I had to go full pencil rendering on this piece in its layout stage (with my trusty, true-blue Alvin Drafting leadholder, loaded with 2H lead on Strathmore cold-press watercolor paper), simply because it looks dope, Howlers.

Anyhoo, it's off to the paint and ink stage now but before you jet, if you haven't seen them just yet via my Instagram feed, here are the process photos:

The Four Kings of Boxing: Part one

The Four Kings of Boxing, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, 2h graphite layout on 18" X 24" stretched canvas to be finished in acrylic paint. Boxing art/painting by Coyote Duran.

On the heels of my two most recent boxing paintings (a watercolor Manny Pacquiao and an acrylic Denny Moyer), I thought I would tackle another boxing piece, prior to jumping on a commission, but I wanted to do something different, something surreal and reminiscent of a time in my youth that helped influence the artist I am today. And that time was all about comic books.

Remember the older Marvel Comics that has the panel in the upper left-hand corner that featured the faces of team members in the X-Men, Fantastic Four and the Avengers? Well, this approach somewhat reminded me of those issues in the 1970s and 1980s. This approach also features my four "comic book heroes" of boxing: Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns. These guys represented everything right about boxing during hat time and - get this - they all fought each other. That's kind of a difficult thing to ask for in this day and age, right?

With that in mind, I wanted to work BIG (well, bigger, that is. I decided to render this piece on an 18" X 24" stretched canvas). I think, when one works as big as he or she can, it allows for better and freer attention to detail. You can also take more chances.

Now I know you're probably looking at my floating heads and thinking, "Yeah, they do look more comicky than realistic." And you would be absolutely correct! See, when the paint goes down, that's when the fun begins, like working further with values and depths, past the maximum one can lock down with just mere graphite. And sure, I could have made these fellas look more realistic in graphite; however, I also wasn't working on a graphite-finish-friendly surface (like Bristol Board, for example) and wasn't using my typical graphite pencil for finished renderings (my trusty Ebony pencil).

So in the spirit of my previous Instagram-happy blog posts, howzabout we do a recap of what's been shakin' with this piece thus far?