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Jeff Durham

@jeffdurham.bsky.social
713 followers 1.2K following 440 posts

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

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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 1h
A few more head doodles. Just goofing around, as usual. I should give myself a larger project but it’s easy to make fun little drawings in ten minute bursts in between long stretches of worrying about the world and making dinner for the kid.
Guy in the middle was loosely based on a YouTube thumbnail, the rest were improv.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 5h
Yknow? That pre-Miller era of DD was really good. Shooter was writing a bit; Sal, Carmine, GilKane inked by Jansen were killing it, some real good comics going on there. This is one of my favorites, tho I pretty much like all of the old DDs.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 22h
A few more head doodles. Top one done a while ago, the others made tonight while sitting on the sofa with cats.
Four head drawings. One lightly referenced from some i saw on YouTube, the others were invented.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
A couple of quick head drawings just before bed last night. They were inspired by characters in some Charlton Steve Ditko comics.
Two cartoon head drawings.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Just cartooning and goofing around. Drew a couple of dwarves and elves… at least that’s what I think they are.
Two dwarves, two elves. They are just bust drawings – head, neck and shoulders I mean; not like, well, you know, busts.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Ladies wearing hats! New doodle-drawings made the other night during a sleep drought.
Head drawings that are recreations or adaptations of characters I drew back in the late 90s/early aughts. I’ve been scrolling through the old blog and a couple of external drives rescued from the back of the closet — just curious about what’s on them. Junk, mostly. But a couple of stray, forgotten doodles tickled my funny bone and I wanted to draw them again.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
One of last night’s insomnia sketches. Improv doodle characters. Just some mindless messing around…
Two cartoonish character drawings. A couple of ladies with their phones in hand. Drawn in the middle of the night with ClipStudio for iPad; colored by dawn’s early light.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Found some of my art school homework from the early 90s. Iirc we had to pick a famous work of art and use the theme to make small illustrations in different styles/mediums. Clearly I picked “The Kiss.” There were at least three other squares but I don’t know where they’ve gone.
Four illustrations based on the theme of Gustave Klimt’s The Kiss.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A few head drawing of characters that I designed back in the mid-aughts. Mostly concocted for portfolio pieces but I think a couple of them may have been rejects from professional projects. I found old images in the musty recesses of a musty external drive and wanted to draw them again.
Head drawing of assorted made-up characters.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A few cartoony head doodles; most done tonight, tho a couple were drawn a while back. Sketched in ClipStudio for iPad.
Six cartoony head drawings. Loosely inspired by faces seen online, but none of them are true likenesses.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
ASM Ann 2. Got it at a flea market when i was a little guy but it disappeared. Found it several decades later in a trunk in my parents’ attic (with a few more books and mags that i had forgotten about.) DrStrange and Spidey crossover by Ditko. Maybe my favorite comic book ever! Well, one of ‘em.
ASM Annual 2.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Trying to revive my interest in a neglected and deteriorating half-finished cheap-ass sketchbook that’s been around for a few years. I should decorate it! Made a couple of acrylic head studies last weekend and attacked the lower part this morning. At least it’ll be colorful lying there on the floor.
Painted cover of a sketchbook i started in August 2022. it was a very inexpensive book I bought at target. Nevertheless i still used it now and then and it’s half-finished so i feel obligated to keep going and repairing as I go.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
There’s a #BatManDay ? Well, a neighbor asked me to draw a Batman for her son’s birthday so I gave her this pen&ink. Put it in a frame and he liked it. Scanned & colored for my blog back in the day. Jeez. About ten years ago. Time flies.
A drawing of Batman. Stylistically, I think it has a Bob Brown in the Adam West era vibe. Given as a gift in B&W and colored in ClipStudio or somesuch app later for presentation on the olde blog.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Credits have it as pure Trimpe! It does have a Marie S feel, tho. Love her work, too but Trimpe’s my fave Hulk artist (says me, who only has, like, 10 Hulk comics in my pile.)
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
What an incredible Hulk collection! I only have five non-Byrne issues, but I found this in a $2 box a few years ago. Maybe my fave comic book fight! Saw it in OriginsOfMarvelComics in the 70s and little Me was amazed that a fistfight could result in tidal waves and devastating mass destruction.
A beat up, beautiful copy of the incredible Hulk 118. 
Herb Trimpe pencils, inks (and probably writes most of the) 
Story credited to Stan Lee! 
It is a perfect Hulk comic book.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Flip thru mine often so I keep them in easy reach.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In 2004 the OaklandTrib ran a months-long series of stories pertaining to the 1918-04 Olympics focused on BayArea athletes and significant news stories of the times. I did dozens of small illustrations. Found a few of them the other day. Early digital drawings made in P-shop; some of my first, iirc.
Digital drawings made in 2004.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Four head doodles – mostly drawn a month or so ago – colored around 3am last night when I couldn’t sleep. Just doodling.
iirc West and North heads were invented, East and South were loosly based on found portraits. I tweaked them all a bit more while coloring.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Thor King-Size Special 4! It’s an annual w/reprints but I think the off-model logo on a classic kirby cover makes it a must for top-shelf displayin’!
The cover of the mighty Thor king size special number four.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Picked up this Kirby book when it was new! Wasn’t crazy about the first issue but when there’s a Kirby comic with a peculiar Ditko backup story you don’t ask! You just buy it! Even then it seemed a throwback; recalling the age of Marvel monster comics, but even stranger. Absolutely loved it.
Silver Star issue 2 by Jack Kirby.The Mocker! Ditko’s backup story in that issue. Pretty much 16 panels a page; super dense, almost unreadably strange yet very,  very cool.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
When the first patch of sun hits the patio deck on a #caturday Daisy-Do greets it with a roll-over and a wiggle-fest.
Daisy the cat rolling around on a rotting patio deck.Daisy the cat rolling around on a rotting patio deck.
Daisy the cat rolling around on a rotting patio deck.Daisy the cat rolling around on a rotting patio deck.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Walking on a hill, listening to Tweeter and The Monkey Man. Breezy and cool so far. Perfect morning. Try not to think about work.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Have half an hour before work, might hang out on the patio with the cat and crack open a book. John Brunner double feature. Might take half an hour to figure out which one i want to read…
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Finished a flurry of shoe drawings in the #sketchbook this morning. Brush pen on paper, scrolling for reference amid all of the ads on Pinterest. God that site has turned to shite, hasn’t it? #art #drawing
9x12in Sketchbook page of shoe drawings.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Doodling some heads in the sketchbook this morning, killed a smidgen of time before work. #art
Sloppy little head sketches. Pen on cheap paper.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Picked up 8issues of TheFly when I saw most featured Ditko art. It’s a quirky series, almost like a TV variety show. You got Vic Catan and Rudy Nebres doing elegant pen&ink illustration masterpieces, Boltinoff with cartoony gag-comics; Ditko, Buckler & others making 70s mainstream comics. Great fun!
First two issues of Archie Comics’ The Fly. The first two covers were drawn by Jim Steranko.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
This morning’s doodle. A spot-illustration style concoction. I guess it could be a sketch for the old D&D monster manual…
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I colored these cartoony heads this afternoon – I managed to do it for about 90% of the time without disturbing the cat on my lap. Hate to bother Rosie when she’s in such a friendly mood.
Six head doodles that i created and posted over the last two days. I colored them this afternoon on the old iPad.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Sat on the patio with the cats this morning; doodled on the iPad and drank hot tea. A little chilly but felt good. Three improvised cartoony heads are all I have to show for the effort.
The cartoony head doodles. I really should draw something more substantial but at least I’m having fun while waiting for work to start.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Really been spinning my wheels in the mud and haven’t put a pen or paintbrush to work for a few weeks. Feeling blah. Probably a combo of health, stressful travel and the news (that worthless asswipe MF, etc) Anyway. Cheer up! Managed to cartoon a few heads on the iPad tonite. That’s more like it!
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!
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Elric and the Dreaming City, MGN #2. I had just discovered the Elric novels when the first part of this was published in Epic magazine. Perfect timing. Spent an entire summer tracking down the paperbacks obsessing over the character. Wonderful adaptation!
Cover of my copy of Elric and the Dreaming City, Marvel Graphic Novel #2. Bought it back in ‘82.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Lazy moment of the morning for me and Rosie. We’re both resting on the concrete of the courtyard, watching the early-morning birds scour the grasses and weeds for worms. She and I have breakfasted and pose no threat, though we occasionally crawl birdward several inches on our belly.
Rosie the cat, tuxedo with a half-stache, watching birds and doing nothing
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Just for fun I’ve been painting my comic boxes. I’ve been flaking on my Spider-Man box but had a late-night burst of creativity and finished both ends. Top is almost done, as is one of the sides. Haven’t decided what to paint for the other one yet. Will try to keep it simple, tho. Maybe just webs!
A sloppy acrylic painting based on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man 33. 
Another sloppy acrylic painting featuring Spider-Man and Doc Ock.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
I keep this battered, tattered old thing hanging on my cork board. Have I posted this before? I don’t think so; I have very few autographed books so this’ll have to do since I can’t think of another… but this the best one anyway!
Beat up copy of Superman 233, signed “To Jeff NEAL ADAMS” i really should get a plastic bag for this.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Aint no fancy hardcover but my favorite(?) MGN: Starstruck ‘84! Very strange. What’s the story? IDK; it’s almost a stream of consciousness piece. Continued as a standard comic for a short run. Has been reprinted/updated/expanded/recolored(meh) and is a cool experience if you like that kind of thing.
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Lovely morning here, walking down from the foothills, listening to “all that meat and potatoes” by Fats Waller.
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Thank you! Just acrylic paint. The ends and top are below. It’s turning into a slow-motion painting hobby. Kind of fun but I feel bad when I put the boxes back under the stairs, in the closet or up in the attic.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Finished painting my Batman comics box. It’s been almost done for two months and tonight I broke the procrastination barrier. I was so satisfied that I started a Spider-Man box; it should go faster because I have a few simple designs in mind and I’m not going fuss so much this time.
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.This is a picture of the other side of my Bat-Man comics short box. It’s based on one of the interior panels of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns. I put that iconic lighting bolt from the cover in the sky behind him.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Good morning from The Umbo; hilltop location of several underage drinking sessions attended by someone who looks a lot like me, but much much younger. There will be no drinking here today, but only because I forgot to bring water. I’m dyin’ up here.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Found this old (2005-ish) digital painting on a Flickr account I forgot about. I made a few faux Sci-Fi digest covers back then because that’s what I want to do for a living when I grow up! I even wrote short stories to go with them, but those might be on old ZIP disks, and therefore lost to time.
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
A few recent in the job illustrations, dragged out into the daylight for #portfolioday
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.Tax.The. California. Rich.The integration of drone technology into law enforcement. Yikes.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
A totally coverless copy of Marvel Tales 14 ‘67 (ASM 19 reprint) Spider-Man and the Human torch fight Sandman and the least intimidating Spider-Man villains, The Enforcers! I really dig those guys – nostalgia!– but I can’t vouch for them. Backups by Ayers, Heck and the always awesome Russ Heath.
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Challengers of the Unknown 40 (Oct 64) has two fun stories behind that well-worn cover; barely holding on by one rusty staple. Both goofy tales are drawn and inked by Bob Brown, an artist I wasn’t fond of back in the day but he’s grown on me. Not sure I’ve seen him self-ink before; it’s really good!
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I’m on a mission to rescue damaged, malodorous and unlovable comics from the flea market. Batman 188 (Dec.‘66) with a torn, tattered and detached cover, spots of mold and a completely forgettable villain that out-stinks the aging yellow newsprint; his head is the ass-end of a giant No. 2 pencil.
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…)
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
I think it’s fun to see how they fixed the problem in the 1977 reprint, “Marvel‘s greatest comics“ number 71. On the left is the original, FF 89; on the right is the reprint. They correct a major plot hole by changing just one word balloon. Brilliant!
Page 3 of fantastic four no. 89 compared side-by-side with its 1977 reprint, page 3 of Marvel‘s greatest comics no. 71.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Found a Bat-Man doodle on an old MangaStudio file the other day. I put it on the iPad and tidied up the drawing. The color layer was like this; don’t know why. I made a new color layer and “corrected” it, but it looked wrong to me, so I restored the old layer and cleaned it up slightly. There we go!
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.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Went for walk in the hills, did some chores, made lunch for the kid, and now I’m just going to chill & play Caves of Qud. Rosie: “This is boring. I’m going purr and yawn until you take me out on the patio or work the laser pointer.” We went out on the patio. I read a book, she bothered bees.
My tuxedo cat, Rosie, resting and watching me and the computer screen. She sighed frequently.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Lazy morning spent cartooning on the ipad in bed. Found a few old rough figure sketches, tightened them up and put some clothes on ‘em. A dash of color and there we go! Now I’m off to make breakfast for the wife & kid. And cats. (They’ve been waiting.)
Three people and a cat leaping or running through the air.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Had this when I was a li’l guy and lost it early on. Some panels haunted me but I could never recall where I saw them. Saw the cover online 10 or so yrs ago:Ah-HA! Bought it immediately. I rarely put it back in its bag because I’ll be looking thru it again in a day or two. Indispensable book for me.
Charlton Comics’ Fantastic Giants! A 64-page All Steve Ditko comic reprinting Konga and Gorgo stories with two new monster tales.
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Jeff Durham @jeffdurham.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Purchased today: Always carry one of these with me, in case I run into a quiet, idle moment. I’ve read a few Poul Anderson stories and enjoyed the ones I can recall, but I LOVE the illustrator Kelly Freas, so I can happily pass time simply looking at the cover.
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.
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