So this summer, because of the impending (and now current) NBA lockout, a lot of NBA players have been playing in streetball tournaments to stay in shape and keep their skills sharp. It’s been a fun surprise for basketball fans to see NBA players popping up unannounced all over the country. Kevin Durant is one of these guys and has been playing in multiple leagues this summer. He’s been lighting it up everywhere he’s played (check him out going for 66 at the famed Rucker Park!)

This past weekend was a rematch of two of the best streetball teams in the country: The Drew League (Los Angeles) and the Goodman League (Washington DC). My brother was fortunate enough to get courtside seats to the game! He’s a huge NBA fan and brought all sorts of memorabilia to get signed: shoes, jerseys, pictures, etc. He thought it’d be cool to have me do a drawing of Durant and bring it to the game. So I did!

I approached this piece like I was trying to draw a figure from the All Star Vinyl line by Upper Deck as I have done in the past (check my gallery!). All of the All Star Vinyl illustrations have the player standing with a basketball, in their team jersey and player shoes (based on the shoes they wear in real life on the court). In the case of Durant, it was fun to do the research and see that he often plays in high socks (or they look high cause his legs are so long!). I put him in his #35 jersey from the Oklahoma City Thunder and added the details of the Adidas and NBA logos. Also, I tried to draw him in his KD IV shoes (didn’t have the best reference for them so I had to approximate).

Also, since Durant is nicknamed the Durantula and he’s been playing streetball, I thought it’d be fun to do a “Streetball variant” of this piece – which I will upload in another post!

Oh and my brother did get this art in time. He was able to print it out and take it with him to the game. After the game was finished, Durant did sign some autographs for some fans. Apparently, my art was the last thing he signed that night and when he saw the art, he said ” ‘ppreciate the support”.

…I just realized, I think my brother got the credit for my work…

Hahahahahaha! 😛

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[11″x17″] Col-Erase Pencil -> Micron Pens -> Photoshop (for coloring) -> InDesign (for design & typography)