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Big Rig Boy
By Bill Hudgins
Drawing trucks is more than child's play for Michael Duffy. Just barely 8 years old, this pint-sized Picasso has packed his portfolio with precociously precise portraits of big rigs.
According to his parents, Mike and Liz Duffy, who own Mike Duffy's Trucking in Belle River, Ontario, Michael began drawing trucks when he was around 5. "He started with our 1997 Eagle," says his mother, Liz. That was his favorite until they moved to their new lot and Michael saw terminal manager Randy Brady's 1985 359 Peterbilt. It was love at first sight.
The Duffys started attending truck shows in 1999, which for Michael was like arriving at the doorstep of heaven. When Road King met him at last September's Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show in St. Ignace, Mich., the young artist was hard at work.
Earlier, he had helped his parents clean up their tractor, then went off to inspect several other rigs. One of his favorites was a 1987 Peterbilt 359 owned by Larry and Kim Dyck, of Jade Transport in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "I'm sure he questioned Larry fully about all the details of his truck, then sat down to draw [probably the only time he was quiet!]," says Liz.
When Michael is at work, he hunkers down over his pad, with a ruler close at hand to help make straight lines. He works hard matching colors as closely as possible, as he did with the Dycks' jade-green and bright orange color scheme. "Michael notices differences between trucks you wouldn't think someone his age would pick up, subtle differences between hoods and breathers, for example," Brady says. "But Michael seems to look at something and then he can put it down on paper."
The youngster's talent comes naturally - one of his grandfathers is an artist. Older sister Sabrina, 10, doesn't care about trucks but also loves to draw, says proud father Mike.
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