DC Trinity Still

Ah, is this not the DC fanboy dream?

To be honest I don’t care much for the idea of having a JL film, especially one involving Nolan’s Batman (but that’s an argument for another day!). I actually started this a while ago but I got a bunch of jobs pre-Christmas that needed doing, so this and many other personal artworks got pushed back. One of the things I get requested the most is something Justice League related and whilst this isn’t quite JL, it’s DC Comcs’ Big Three, so here’s a Xmas present to all DC supporters!

This will be my last post and artwork for this year, have a great time over the festive season everyone, be safe and stay tuned for more in 2009!

Broncos Tribute

I was tossing up whether or not to put this illustration here or not, but I guess it falls under the tag of Sport Fan Art. Started this about 18 months ago, forgot about it, found it floating on a back up disk then started it up again. I guess this puts new meaning to the term ‘Sports Illustrated’ (cue howling laughter).

A bit of back story first, I’m one of the 12 Australians who actually likes NFL football, during the early 90’s when there was an NFL craze at my school and everyone else was supporting the Dallas Cowboys I decided to defy convention and choose a completely non-glamorous team, in this case the Denver Broncos, however I was the one laughing last as they won a couple of Super Bowls a few years later. I referenced an image of one of the Broncos cheerleaders, her name is Laura although it doesn’t look like she’s part of the Broncos cheer squad roster any longer. Done in Gouache in Corel Painter, the background done in Photoshop, hard to say how long it took overall to complete, I’d say at least 12 hours.

Workshop 3: Tweaking the Wheel

The age old question when Hollywood adapts a superhero is how much should you / do you need to change the costume? For some, the costume works OK as is, others don’t, even if fans don’t like it, some change is inevitable. The same thought process goes through my head each time. So how far does one go in order to give a more realistic interpretation? It’s a delicate balance, too close to the comic design and you risk the character looking silly, too far and the character is no longer recognizable. My philosophy is that the comic book designs should be used as the building blocks for a 3D world interpretation not the end result, what it comes down to is keeping the main elements of what makes the outfit recognizable, but shifting to give it depth and layers to make it feel less like a costume and more like something someone would actually wear.

For this example I’m going to focus on one of the worlds most famous comic icons Superman, in all seriousness the characters outfit not only is as boring as hell but it doesn’t translate well on screen. Time to change that!

Kitana Portrait

I’ve recently been reading some awesome books by the great fantasy artists Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, these book inspired me to try using Oils for the first time, needless to say this image of Kitana is nowhere near the level of what Vallejo and Bell can produce, I tried at best to copy the techniques both artists say they use in the books, I think I need a bit more practice before I reach their level.

The image referenced used is courtesy of http://tw1stedtruth-stock.deviantart.com/, probably about 13 hours of work, maybe more.

My support for The Dark Knight’s Oscar bid

All the way…..

What are the chances of The Dark Knight winning? Hard to say, but a nomination is thoroughly deserved.

This was from an older Oscar poster, didn’t really do much to it, just added some ears and did a bit of Joker scribble. This got featured on Dark Campaign.

Wonder Woman Concept – Terrorist Shootout

New film concept, a bunch of terrorists fighting against a military force when unbeknown to them a special visitor flies up behind them. Surprise! You just know their day is about to get much worse.

About 5 hours or so on this, using both Painter, Photoshop and a mixture of different brushes, was going more for feel and tone rather than anything really dramatic action wise.