Scottish punk trash living in California
Darl McKenzie is one of my newer characters and probably the best thing to come out of 2018, which was a terrible year for me....or towards the end it was. I had the idea for Darl floating around in my head for a while, developing, before I even attempted to draw him. I had seen punks with similar coloured hair in a couple of TV shows, which I think was the inspiration for him. Also the Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction song, "Prime Mover", from the 80s, a song which I absolutely love. I imagined him singing it. Other inspirations were drawn from friends and their tattoos and my love of punk fashion.
So it was that I finally got to drawing some concept pieces for him and never looked back. His biography and life, personality and everything else wrote itself. Literally. Anyone can ask me anything about him and I can tell them (and ramble on for hours about it). He also became a kind of muse, drawing him helped a lot when my life came crashing down around me and in a way has helped me cope with it all. He's fun to draw.
So, a bit about him. He is an only child, born in October 1980 and raised in Scotland, his parents moved to California when he was 7 when his father found a job opportunity there (also the climate was warmer!). Sadly for Darl, he was picked on a lot at school because of his accent, his heterochromia (odd coloured eyes) and the fact that he was new. He forced himself to adopt an American accent, causing his general accent to be a sort of broken hybrid of American and Scottish. His parents got him a pitbull puppy called Butch when he was 9 to toughen up his image but sadly the dog would kill people with friendliness and not with toughness and the kids picked on him more for having a "wuss" for a dog.
It was then, around the age of 12 that Darl started to take his own steps to toughen up his image. He started by smoking and dressing more punk, styling his hair in a short mohawk after he turned 13. His natural hair colour is black.....the rest he bleaches. But he didn't start out with the bleach.
When he was 15 he lost his virginity in a trailer park with a girl who was also a virgin. By the age of 16 his look was full on punk. He spiked his hair and started to bleach it as well. He also got his first piercing in his left ear lobe and painted his nails black. He got two more piercings when he was 17, both in the same ear, a double helix with silver studs (he later starts using black studs for these from the age of 27). For his 18th birthday he got his first tattoo, a star on the left side of his chest, near the center and he also got his tongue pierced. He was actually expelled from school when he was 16, having to go to highschool in a school that was further away from home, much to his parents' annoyance. He would pick fights with any kids who even thought about looking at him funny, to the point that when a gang of three of them started on him, he didn't back down.
He got his head tattoos when he was 19, as well as the hand tattoos that spell out "GAME OVER" and he moved out into his own small ranch house. His parents were happy to be rid of him, though of course they still love him, they are aware he's a bit of a waster and for that are disappointed.
When he turned 21, he got himself a birthday gift...his tribal arm sleeve of tattoos as well as his eyebrow studs. He also started wearing his hair larger and adopted the big mohawk he has today (although he changes style sometimes but always goes back to that one).
He got into a bar fight (of his own creation) and ended up getting bottled across his chest when he was 25. The scar goes from his upper right pectoral all the way down to just under his ribs on the left and he likes to think up crazy and heroic lies about it when women ask how he got it. Because of this and also because of his lack of confidence in the size of his own dick (which by the way isn't undersized but some men seem to think theirs is), the Metal Monster was born. He got a frenum piercing and a three bar Jacob's ladder put into his penis.
When he was 26, he got the tribal leg sleeve tattoos to match the arm ones. At 27 he got the last piercings, both his nipples and a nostril ring as well. He started vaping when he was 31 because he enjoyed the flavours. He also sometimes mixes weed into his vape liquids; he can get high and no one else can smell it since the scent is masked by the e-juice.
In his early 20s he was in a band called BunnyGutz. They ended up splitting because of monetary arguments (yes, Darl was part of the cause) and he lost touch with two of them. But the other two, Gaz and Mick are his best friends and he still keeps in touch with them. Darl had become the lead singer in the band (much to the current lead singer, Hal's chagrin). Ever since he was young, he loved to sing, modelling his voice on that of Zodiac Mindwarp, the lead singer of his fave band from the 80s, Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction. As a result, his voice is the spitting image of Zody's. Fortunately for Darl, few have heard of the band so they are unaware that he is essentially copying another man's singing style. So if you want to know what Darl sounds like, I suggest listening to "Prime Mover"! He still speaks with his native Scottish accent when he is around his parents. He also likes to piss off the Americans by speaking with a Scottish accent so heavy that they can't understand him.
Darl has an attitude problem, as a result of his childhood and the things that shaped him. He is not a bad guy but he won't take shit from anyone. He can't keep down a job because he is rude right back to the rude customers. For a similar reason he can't keep a relationship either. He's an affectionate boyfriend without being over the top and he's great in bed but women aren't keen on a guy who drives a beat up Cadillac and has a new job every other week. So he plays the field a lot, having accepted that no one will love him anyway. He was married at one point but she left him, through (weirdly enough) no actual fault of Darl's. As a result, he will never marry again and has trust issues. But he has no qualms about one night stands or short flings.
His house is covered in graffiti. He likes to change the look of it every so often, even going to the length of using UV paint and a black light to show it off at night. His neighbors hate him. He is a singer, an artist, can write lyrics but not music and he can play the guitar although he hasn't much since the band broke up. He sometimes likes to do karaoke at his local bar and pick up women.
He walks with a cocky, confident and threatening air. He won't back down from a fight even if he can't win and he owns a hand gun. He tells people he killed a man with it. He didn't. He likes to go to his friend's shooting range and mess around though and his aim is fair. Women love his singing, his voice making them moist in a similar way to its inspiration; Zodiac Mindwarp. He sometimes drives drunk, which is why his car is in a bad shape. Deep down he knows he's trash but he covers it with an air of confidence and showing off.
Darl McKenzie is one of my newer characters and probably the best thing to come out of 2018, which was a terrible year for me....or towards the end it was. I had the idea for Darl floating around in my head for a while, developing, before I even attempted to draw him. I had seen punks with similar coloured hair in a couple of TV shows, which I think was the inspiration for him. Also the Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction song, "Prime Mover", from the 80s, a song which I absolutely love. I imagined him singing it. Other inspirations were drawn from friends and their tattoos and my love of punk fashion.
So it was that I finally got to drawing some concept pieces for him and never looked back. His biography and life, personality and everything else wrote itself. Literally. Anyone can ask me anything about him and I can tell them (and ramble on for hours about it). He also became a kind of muse, drawing him helped a lot when my life came crashing down around me and in a way has helped me cope with it all. He's fun to draw.
So, a bit about him. He is an only child, born in October 1980 and raised in Scotland, his parents moved to California when he was 7 when his father found a job opportunity there (also the climate was warmer!). Sadly for Darl, he was picked on a lot at school because of his accent, his heterochromia (odd coloured eyes) and the fact that he was new. He forced himself to adopt an American accent, causing his general accent to be a sort of broken hybrid of American and Scottish. His parents got him a pitbull puppy called Butch when he was 9 to toughen up his image but sadly the dog would kill people with friendliness and not with toughness and the kids picked on him more for having a "wuss" for a dog.
It was then, around the age of 12 that Darl started to take his own steps to toughen up his image. He started by smoking and dressing more punk, styling his hair in a short mohawk after he turned 13. His natural hair colour is black.....the rest he bleaches. But he didn't start out with the bleach.
When he was 15 he lost his virginity in a trailer park with a girl who was also a virgin. By the age of 16 his look was full on punk. He spiked his hair and started to bleach it as well. He also got his first piercing in his left ear lobe and painted his nails black. He got two more piercings when he was 17, both in the same ear, a double helix with silver studs (he later starts using black studs for these from the age of 27). For his 18th birthday he got his first tattoo, a star on the left side of his chest, near the center and he also got his tongue pierced. He was actually expelled from school when he was 16, having to go to highschool in a school that was further away from home, much to his parents' annoyance. He would pick fights with any kids who even thought about looking at him funny, to the point that when a gang of three of them started on him, he didn't back down.
He got his head tattoos when he was 19, as well as the hand tattoos that spell out "GAME OVER" and he moved out into his own small ranch house. His parents were happy to be rid of him, though of course they still love him, they are aware he's a bit of a waster and for that are disappointed.
When he turned 21, he got himself a birthday gift...his tribal arm sleeve of tattoos as well as his eyebrow studs. He also started wearing his hair larger and adopted the big mohawk he has today (although he changes style sometimes but always goes back to that one).
He got into a bar fight (of his own creation) and ended up getting bottled across his chest when he was 25. The scar goes from his upper right pectoral all the way down to just under his ribs on the left and he likes to think up crazy and heroic lies about it when women ask how he got it. Because of this and also because of his lack of confidence in the size of his own dick (which by the way isn't undersized but some men seem to think theirs is), the Metal Monster was born. He got a frenum piercing and a three bar Jacob's ladder put into his penis.
When he was 26, he got the tribal leg sleeve tattoos to match the arm ones. At 27 he got the last piercings, both his nipples and a nostril ring as well. He started vaping when he was 31 because he enjoyed the flavours. He also sometimes mixes weed into his vape liquids; he can get high and no one else can smell it since the scent is masked by the e-juice.
In his early 20s he was in a band called BunnyGutz. They ended up splitting because of monetary arguments (yes, Darl was part of the cause) and he lost touch with two of them. But the other two, Gaz and Mick are his best friends and he still keeps in touch with them. Darl had become the lead singer in the band (much to the current lead singer, Hal's chagrin). Ever since he was young, he loved to sing, modelling his voice on that of Zodiac Mindwarp, the lead singer of his fave band from the 80s, Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction. As a result, his voice is the spitting image of Zody's. Fortunately for Darl, few have heard of the band so they are unaware that he is essentially copying another man's singing style. So if you want to know what Darl sounds like, I suggest listening to "Prime Mover"! He still speaks with his native Scottish accent when he is around his parents. He also likes to piss off the Americans by speaking with a Scottish accent so heavy that they can't understand him.
Darl has an attitude problem, as a result of his childhood and the things that shaped him. He is not a bad guy but he won't take shit from anyone. He can't keep down a job because he is rude right back to the rude customers. For a similar reason he can't keep a relationship either. He's an affectionate boyfriend without being over the top and he's great in bed but women aren't keen on a guy who drives a beat up Cadillac and has a new job every other week. So he plays the field a lot, having accepted that no one will love him anyway. He was married at one point but she left him, through (weirdly enough) no actual fault of Darl's. As a result, he will never marry again and has trust issues. But he has no qualms about one night stands or short flings.
His house is covered in graffiti. He likes to change the look of it every so often, even going to the length of using UV paint and a black light to show it off at night. His neighbors hate him. He is a singer, an artist, can write lyrics but not music and he can play the guitar although he hasn't much since the band broke up. He sometimes likes to do karaoke at his local bar and pick up women.
He walks with a cocky, confident and threatening air. He won't back down from a fight even if he can't win and he owns a hand gun. He tells people he killed a man with it. He didn't. He likes to go to his friend's shooting range and mess around though and his aim is fair. Women love his singing, his voice making them moist in a similar way to its inspiration; Zodiac Mindwarp. He sometimes drives drunk, which is why his car is in a bad shape. Deep down he knows he's trash but he covers it with an air of confidence and showing off.
Disclaimer: All artwork is © Lara Ryan. DO NOT take, redistribute, alter or claim the characters as your own. Ask permission if you would like to use my images and always give me credit if you do. Lack of imagination is not an excuse, plagiarism is a crime.
Darl McKenzie is © Lara Ryan 2018-2024.
Darl McKenzie is © Lara Ryan 2018-2024.
