G.I. Joe: Duke

The first time I did the G.I. Joe Collector's Platoon event, one complaint was confirmed: No Duke. I had four fantastic depictions of these iconic heroes and villains, and yet I failed to develop the iconic Joes field commander. That was something I had to rectify this year. What you see is the result. First Sgt. Conrad S. Hauser, Codename Duke stands before you armed to the teeth and ready to shout "YOOOOOO, JOE!" at the first sign of Cobra trouble. Rendered in mixed media on 11 x 17" hand-trimmed Canson, this was very challenging because Duke has that trademark look. I channelled Eastwood for the face and tried to make his uniform as realistic as possible. It's always the creases and folds that make or break a sketch. I really enjoyed the challenge of rendering the pants and the shirt with Copics in a different style. The gun provided a HUGE challenge, but thankfully a modified version made the grade. Done at that last possible minute down to the wire, I'm extremely proud of the final result.