A Little Bit of Process

I found some pictures I had taken to show process for a few projects and thought it might not be a bad idea to post them up here.

Here are a few shots of the spider-man/venom painting I did a while back. This was me just starting the final pencils on the illustration board. I stick very closely to my pencil rough, seen on the left, for this portion in order to maintain the composition I planned in the thumbnail. Afterwards I will fix up my drawing by looking at any photo reference I might use. (For example: to get subtle anatomical details.) Please excuse the disgusting photoshopping on the final pencils on the right, the drawing wasn't very visible in the original photo...

Here you can see the drawing as it's coming to a finish. I'll be posting up the final art soon.

This next project required a bit of touch-up with the background and smoke, as I really hated the look of it as it was. This consisted of color matching and painting the area that was originally smoke, obscuring his face, which was then followed with airbrushing the background and smoke as well as a few effects. I had done some digital airbrushing after the color matching portion of the painting was done, but I really wanted this to be a completely traditional piece.

At this stage I had only done the color matching on his face and then placed a sheet of paper frisket over the entire painting, making sure to cover the entire live area.

After the frisket is down on the board, I took a VERY sharp blade and started to cut around the shape of the figure. This can be very time consuming depending on the shape you are cutting around. You also have to make sure not to cut into the board or damage the paint in any way.

I laid down a flat layer of gouache to serve as the lighter area of the background. A nice thing about using the airbrush is being able to get perfectly flat tones while also keeping the surface texture of the paper or board you like. I always enjoy seeing the texture in paintings.

I then laid in some sepia mixed with black in a gradient. I wasn't going for a perfect transition, because generally I feel like that is too mechanical and stiff for my work. Notice you can see the reflection off of the transparent paper frisket.

After the background was laid in, I worked on my favourite thing with airbrushes. Highlights, gleams and effects. They are so fun to do, especially with a painting that is utilizing dramatic and harsh lighting. Obviously, the paper frisket is gone by this point, so you have to be really sure of what you're doing. This is the finished piece.

Mowgli Sketch

Here is a quick sketch I did prepping for an illustration featuring Mowgli. I'm a big fan of FABLES, and the Jungle Book in general, and have felt compelled to explore some of the more nostalgic inspirations from my childhood. I'm considering this future illustration as a sort of FABLES tie-in, featuring Mowgli and Shere Khan. I'm going to do more facial, clothing, and weapon studies for Mowgli, so stay tuned!

Another small update

Here are a few Iron Fist head studies. I find it really fun to work in a more "marker" style approach. Working very quickly, using more vibrant and saturated colors and only a few different values while letting line work do a lot of the talking. I also did a few hand studies to think about different ways to represent the "Iron Fist" power that Danny has.

Iron Fist Marker Sketch

Iron Fist will be the feature of my next illustration. I really like the character and feel that for how cool he is, he's fairly underused. Although, admittedly, sometimes in comics, it's better left that way. 'Immortal Iron Fist' was one of the last super-hero books I kept reading after I got really burnt out on the others. If you haven't ever checked it out, it's kind of like a Kung Fu movie, but with superpowers! I think it's also just an interesting angle on the whole superhero thing.

This was a quick sketch I did to practice drawing the mask and general face shape. Drawn in my sketchbook, "marker" was done in Sketchbook Pro (which is a great drawing program!) More sketches, concepts and paintings to come soon for Iron Fist!

Black Cat Sketch

Here is a colored thumbnail for my next project. I did it fairly quickly in Photoshop over my little thumbnail drawing in my sketchbook. I'm real excited about working on this one. I'm really keen on expanding my color range as far as exploring temperature, color relationships, and indulging in the use of light.

It's really past due for me to thank everyone that is always willing to give me feedback, as well as help out with posing, props and everything else. Thank You!

More progress from this project to come. Please stay tuned!

New Stuff!

While I'm waiting to get my painting back so I can post it up, I'll just talk a bit about my next one. Actually, I'll just give a few key words:

Felicia Hardy, Spider, Jewels...

I'm real excited about this one and can't wait to start on the final. More info and images to come!

And while you are so patiently waiting, I'll post this color rough from my last project.

Thanks for stopping by!