Danny Trejo

Born Dan Trejo in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California,Trejo is the son of Alice Rivera and Dan Trejo, a construction worker. He is of Mexican descent. He is a second cousin of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, though the two were unaware that they were related until the filming of Desperado. Trejo was raised in the Harriman Historic District neighborhood of the Bristol, Pa. As a youth, he roamed the streets around his home area, committing various petty crimes with his uncle, and eventually became addicted to heroin. He was arrested numerous times as an adolescent.

While on the streets, Trejo developed talent as a boxer and considered taking it up as a profession. That ambition was dashed by a lengthy prison sentence. He served 11 years for drug and robbery charges in the Holmesburg Prison. While in Holmesburg, he became the Pennsylvania state prison champion in both the lightweight and welterweight divisions. During this time Trejo became a member of a twelve-step program which he credits with his success in overcoming drug addiction. He also served time in Folsom State Prison. Trejo was released in 1972.

While speaking at a recovery meeting in Los Angeles Trejo met a young man in the movie business. His newfound friend invited him to the set of Runaway Train where Trejo was offered a job as an extra in the film's prison scenes. Edward Bunker, himself a former convict and well-respected crime author who was writing the screenplay for the film, recognized Trejo, with whom he had done time at San Quentin. It was widely misreported that Trejo was actually serving time in the prison where filming took place. Bunker remembered Trejo's boxing skills, and offered him $320 per day to train Eric Roberts, one of the movie's stars, for a boxing scene. Director Andrei Konchalovsky liked Trejo's work and decided to offer him a prominent role in the film.

Since then, Trejo has become a prolific actor in both films and television, acting alongside some of Hollywood's most famous actors, including Jean-Claude Van Damme, Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Charles Bronson, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Val Kilmer, and Antonio Banderas. Trejo has often appeared in five or more movies per year in various genres. Major releases in which he has acted include Machete, Blood in Blood Out, Animal Factory, Bubble Boy, Anaconda, Marked for Death, xXx, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Heat, From Dusk till Dawn, Con Air, Six Days Seven Nights, Spy Kids, The Replacement Killers, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Predators, Urban Justice, The Devil's Rejects, Valley of Angels, Delta Farce, Grindhouse, Rob Zombie's Halloween and Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror.

Here is my caricature of this very inspiring latino who was able to do a 180 degree turn in life for the better.

Pacquiao Vs. Marquez

Having fun exploring the different brushes in Corel Painter 12. I decided to do a caricature of two of the baddest fighters of this generation, Manny "Pac-Man Pacquiao and Juan Manuel "Dynamita (Dynamite)" Marquez. This was the third time these two met in the ring, and as always they went to war leaving fans torn as to who actualy won. Personally I felt Marquez pulled off the win even though Pacquiao got the decision. Here is a caricature of the two warriors followed by a process shot and two pics of the real men.

R.I.P. "Smokin" Joe Frazier

Form wikipedia:
Joseph William "Joe" Frazier (January 12, 1944 – November 7, 2011), also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981.

Frazier emerged as the top contender in the late 1960s, defeating opponents that included Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo, and Jimmy Ellis en route to becoming undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970, and followed up by defeating Muhammad Ali on points in the highly-anticipated "Fight of the Century" in 1971. Two years later Frazier lost his title when he was knocked out by George Foreman. He fought on, beating Joe Bugner, losing a rematch to Ali, and beating Quarry and Ellis again.

Frazier's last world title challenge came in 1975, but he was beaten by Ali in their brutal rubbermatch. He retired in 1976 following a second loss to Foreman. He made a comeback in 1981, fighting just once, before retiring for good. The International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) rates Frazier among the ten greatest heavyweights of all time. He is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Frazier's style was often compared to that of Henry Armstrong and occasionally Rocky Marciano. He was dependent on bobbing, weaving, grunting, snorting as he grimaced with all out aggression wearing down his opponents with relentless pressure. His best known punch was a powerful left hook, which accounted for most of his knockouts.

After retiring, Frazier made cameo appearances in several Hollywood movies, and two episodes of The Simpsons. His son Marvis became a boxer — trained by Frazier himself — although was unable to emulate his father's success. Frazier continued to train fighters in his gym in Philadelphia. His later years saw the continuation of his bitter rivalry with Ali, in which the two periodically exchanged insults, interspersed with brief reconciliations.

Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer in late September 2011 and admitted to hospice care. He died November 7, 2011.
Rest Easy Champ, You'll be missed.
Below is a caricature I did of Mr. Frazier ( I hope I captured his spirit somewhat), along with two shots of him with long time rival "The Greatest" Ali.

R.I.P. Heavy D

Dwight Arrington Myers (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011, better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American actor, rapper, record producer, singer and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz. Here is an homage I did today for this Hip Hop legend.

Sketchbook post

A couple of animal character designs from the sketchbook.

More caricature exploration

Here's a couple of process shots of another caricature face study.  I chose this subject because of his weird head, huge nostrils, and reseeding hair, LOL.  I thought it would be a good practice and challenge.

Animal caricature

As always , Daily warm-up sketches. This time I decided to do a few animal caricatures, experimenting with pushing and pulling to explore the shapes and lines. I highly recommend David Coleman's books on this subject matter. His animal art is great and he has awesome insight on his technique and execution.

Animal Caricature

This guy reminds me of Frank the Pug from Men In Black 2. I did this to force myself to work in Corel Painter more, and the wrinkles on the pug's face are good practice.