Jeff Durham

@jeffdurham.bsky.social

675 Followers 1128 Following

Mercury News graphic artist/illustrator A.I. art hurts real artists. It is the death of meaningful art.

9x12in Sketchbook page of shoe drawings.
Sloppy little head sketches. Pen on cheap paper.
First two issues of Archie Comics’ The Fly. The first two covers were drawn by Jim Steranko.
Mangler of the Mist: Creature of the ethereal plane that can phase into the world of men on foggy nights with a full moon. They attack with +5 to surprise. AC 4. 12-24 HP.
Six head doodles that i created and posted over the last two days. I colored them this afternoon on the old iPad.
The cartoony head doodles. I really should draw something more substantial but at least I’m having fun while waiting for work to start.
Three head doodles. Drawn in about 25 mins with ClipStudio for iPad. They’re not supposed to to be anyone in particular; just throwing down head shapes and letting them form themselves beneath the tip of the pencil. Just for fun!
Cover of my copy of Elric and the Dreaming City, Marvel Graphic Novel #2. Bought it back in ‘82.
Rosie the cat, tuxedo with a half-stache, watching birds and doing nothing
A sloppy acrylic painting based on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man 33.
Beat up copy of Superman 233, signed “To Jeff NEAL ADAMS” i really should get a plastic bag for this.
Marvel Graphic Novel 13, Starstruck by Elaine Lee and Kaluta. Published in 1984, flipped through thousands of times so it’s a bit beat up.
Picture taken on the way down from the foothills Bay Area, California. Pretty clear morning , coming down through the parking lot at the college . You can see across the bay this morning.
This is a picture of the side of my Bat-Man comics short box. I’ve painted a loose swipe of one of Brian Bolland’s panels from “The Killing Joke.” It’s one of the panels of the rain falling on the ground with a beam of light reflecting off of the surface. On the lid is a bust of Batman with the bat-signal in the sky behind him. Hopefully it looks like the signal is the source of the beam of light in the puddle.
Cover of the completely made-up Science-Fiction digest-size magazine “Interesting Sci-Fi” The magazine that DARES to look ahead! This is the January 1947 issue of that never published publication featuring “A brand new visionary science fiction adventure by the highly acclaimed western author Bosco Helmut. The cover painting most likely illustrates that story. Also included is part two of “The Matadors of Venus” by Ernesto J. Cupps. No doubt a classic science serial novel that never was.
Sunday front illo about how the lack of some of the basic needs and services can hinder the engine of innovation that is the Silicon Valley.
Here is an extremely yellowed-by-age splash page. Steve Ditko draws Spider-Man and the Human Torch in battle with Sandman and the Enforcers. Looks really cool.
Cover of Challengers of the Unknown 40. The Challengers are trapped in a web. Multi-Man – with the body of a bee – and two giants bees are swooping toward our heroes. It sounds weirder than it looks, tho the story is even weirder than it sounds.
Batman 188, detached cover on the left and the splash page on the right. Both images depict the dastardly Eraser wiping out Batman and Robin; actually erasing the Dynamic Duo with his pink rubber head! I wish that Miller and Mazzuccelli would come back and give this under-appreciated member of the Batman Rogue’s Gallery the attention he deserves. (Maybe they’re doing it already…)
Page 3 of fantastic four no. 89 compared side-by-side with its 1977 reprint, page 3 of Marvel‘s greatest comics no. 71.
This is a drawing I found in my archives featuring a somewhat chunky vision of the Batman. Normally, he has a blue tape and cow but this time I colored them red. I don’t know why I did that; probably just messing around and it doesn’t really look like one of my drawings to be honest. Maybe you could read it as a Kirby/Mignola swipe.
My tuxedo cat, Rosie, resting and watching me and the computer screen. She sighed frequently.
Three people and a cat leaping or running through the air.
Charlton Comics’ Fantastic Giants! A 64-page All Steve Ditko comic reprinting Konga and Gorgo stories with two new monster tales.
Cover of a “Special Poul Anderson issue” of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1971. Illustration by Kelly Freas. Damn that sticker, though; it ain’t coming off cleanly. Gotta leave it.
A drawing referenced from a picture of Frank and Jesse James. I believe I put up digitally colored versions of all of these drawings on Twitter or my blog back in the aughts and early teens.
A photo of a comic book storage box I’ve been decorating. I’m going to use it for my Batman-related comics — Detective, Batman, Brave and Bold — so it has been painted with characters from my collection. On the side of the box in this photo you can see a sloppy recreation of the the first and last panels of The Killing Joke, rain drops falling on the wet ground. Quickly drew a GothamByGaslight style Bat-Man bust on the side of the lid top, but I’m not crazy about it. I could put and Olde-English style, foggy England environment behind him. I’m not sure I have the enthusiasm for it, tho. Perhaps painting over it is the way to go, or just leaving it. These comic-book box paintings are just for fun. I trained as a traditional illustrator but transitioned to digital early on in my career as an illustrator for newspapers. I regret not keeping up with analog art and I’m horrified by the use of A.I. in place of human artists. And I’m rediscovering the primitive fire of folk art, of fan art. I’ve always loved the marks made by enthusiasts and not necessarily by trained artists; these box paintings are my way of reconnecting with what made me want to draw in the first place.
Quick sketch of tuxedo cat Rosie.
This is a painting swiped from a Mazzuccelli drawing, a cover for a ‘Year One’ trade paperback. There is a retro-logo above it, on the side of the lid. This is my half-hour-before-bed project, and it’s taking a long time to finish the dang thing.
The Star Magicians, by Lin Carter. Cover by Jack Gaughan. It’s an Ace Double published in 1966. This is yellowed with age but otherwise is a pristine copy – well, until I dropped it whilst opening the plastic sleeve it was in. Seriously, I don’t think it’s ever been read. Kind of sad, really. Endless Shadow by John Brunner. Cover by Ed Valigursky.
Seven cartooned heads of women. They all seem to be pretty cheerful.
A sloppy acrylic painting of the Joker, adapted from the cover of Detective Comics 475, drawn by the late-great Marshall Rogers.
This is a drawing of the Joker based on the cover of Detective Comics 475, drawn by Marshall Rogers; the one with the Joker holding the Joker-fish! I sketched it in ClipStudio for iPad and superimposed it on a photo of a comic-book storage box lid. I might make a grid and use the sketch as reference when i draw and paint on the lid.
Eight issues of Electra Assassin resting on top of the four issues of Stray Toasters. Nerding-out over Bill Sienkiewicz art!
Head drawings, made with pencil, pen and markers, drawn on blank business cardstock.
Photograph of a wooden picnic table, taken in a dark, secluded spot; and there is a large bush that has sprouted from beneath and now takes up half of the benches on either side. It appears to be a bush, on a perpetual picnic, conversing with itself.
House of Mystery treasury edition.
The cover of Charlton Comics’ E-man 4, drawn by joe staton!
Corner box style head drawings of a few of my Favorite Marvel characters, including Ace Frehley in the middle.
The painting on the other end of the box is based on the cover story of Lois Lane 27, Lois Lane’s Super-Brain!
A picture of the box in action! (Meaning, sitting on a desk, full of comic books.)
Two books on a tabletop: Marvel Treasury Edition 5, “Hulk on the rampage” 1974 “The Incredible Hulk” Fireside trade paper back from 1978.
Six head drawings. All of them were referenced from pics or youtube thumbnails, tho I didn’t really try to do ‘studies’; just trying to have fun and draw faces!
Three cartoony, blue monster-people.
Two character busts. A lady partaking of fries and a shake, and a man holding a gun in a threatening manner.
Three head drawings. Drawn on the iPad.
Cartoony head drawing.
Three head drawings, made in ClipStudio for the iPad. No reference used for the top two; for the bottom I was looking at a photo but strayed far from the original, not really interested in a study, but enjoying drawing the relationship between head and hat. I don’t know why I gave her a black eye. Makes her look a little tougher, tho.
Three cartoon head drawings. No references, just freestylin’.
Three cartoony head drawings. At first they were just plain, boring heads, but I cleverly added fangs to each of them and now they are exciting vampires.
Three cartoony head drawings done in ClipStudio for iPad.
A photograph of the side of a comic book box with a drawing of Lois Lane turned monster holding Superman in some sort of behind-his-back arm-lock. Adapted from the cover of Action Comics 438.
Pencil sketch study, one of Degas’ absinthe drinkers
Four cartoonish head drawings, drawn and haphazardly drawn on the iPad tonight.
My corner desk, looking clean and organized. This picture is a cheat because I do not have my laptop, laptop stand, monitor or keyboard, or drawing tablet on the desktop. But it looks cleaner this way.
Drawing of She-Hulk, Invisible Girl and… Frankie Raye? I don’t recall if she had a comic book hero name.
Three cartoony people caricature drawings.