Workshop 4 – Do It Yourself Two Face

Sadly we got very little in the form of promotional imagery of Two-Face from The Dark Knight but that hasn’t stopped many a photo manipulator from doing there darnedest in trying to create there own imagery. Here I’ll explain the process I went through with the Two Face gender swap I did a few weeks ago, but this can apply to any imagery really.

Scorpion Portrait

Another addition to my Mortal Kombat portrait gallery, I’ve had a few requests for Scorpion so I figure may as well do him next. Kept the painting a bit loose and rough, used the MK v DC Universe costume as the base for the design. Done in Painter using Gouache and Sponges, with a touch of Photoshop for some slight colour alterations, about 7 hours work.

Green Lantern Still

Well we’ve got our Green Lantern finally cast, perhaps a taste of things to come? I guess we’ll find out how close I get in about 2 years time.

WW Concept No.17

Picture, if you will, a US air craft carrier taken over by renegade servicemen loyal to Ares who then plan to launch an aerial bombing raid and start World War 3, our only hope is a lone pilot who’s military career is in tatters and a mysterious Amazon sent by the Greek Gods. Had some fun with this, I kinda like the idea of Diana ripping up a plane’s wing like it’s aluminum foil, about 3 hours work in Painter.

“She Looks Like Xena”

This is a phrase I’ve heard a couple of times when it comes to my interpretation of Wonder Woman, “She’s looks like Xena”, and to be perfectly frank it annoys me, especially considering the two outfit looks nothing alike. I’ve often wondered how people keep seeing Xena and I think it dawned on me this morning, I don’t think people really know what Xena looks like, that’s the only conclusion I can come too.

One thing I have noticed is that when ever someone in a forum or blog posts my design and brings up the Xena quote no one bothers to put up a picture of Xena for comparison, there just seems to be this belief that because she wears a hoplite skirt, because she wears leather, because it has Greek motifs, because it has seems, because she has (god forbid she has some support) straps that it must be similar to Xena’s outfit.

I get it that some fans don’t like the idea of ‘logic’ being applied to Wonder Woman in anyway shape or form, but that’s the way I’ve gone, the phrase ‘that’s just how it is’ doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve referenced many of WW designs throughout the years to ensure I’ve gotten the basics of the outfit right, colour scheme, stars, bracers etc, however I knew from the start of re-interpreting Wonder Woman with a more Greek design the costume would immediately draw Xena comparisons so I did the natural thing, I referenced Xena so that WW costume didn’t end up looking like Xena’s. And yet the comparison remains, damned if I do damned if I don’t. So I guess the question is, does anyone really know what Xena looks like?