Reference pictures

To say getting my mother to take a decent reference picture of me was an unpleasant experience would be a huge understatement. After about 20 attempts at 3 photos, I finally had some I could chose from.

Wearing my rugby compression shirt and shorts, I was able to get a better outline of the body, making it much easier when it comes to drawing the shape

Image number one. A picture of me at a desk. I'll be wearing a shirt for this one.

Putting the mask on. This will be MUCH closer.

The final pose.

 .....on to costume designing....

"It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum........ and I'm all out of guh"..........????????

More on the chosen quote, I've found a video/audio sample of Duke Nukem actually saying the line (kind of) in game...

I guess the audio sample shows what context it's said in and the attitude...... but I kind of guessed it anyway.

Anatomy

Since the beginning of this project, I've come to a conclusion that one of the most important things to consider when drawing the human form (in a realistic fashion) is the muscular system of the human body.

Although in Neal Adam's drawings. the muscles are often exaggerated to show that the superhero is in peak physical condition, I was lucky enough to come across a diagram for the muscle system but for body builders.

 Although this maybe slightly over-exaggerated, I think it is perfect for a reference to where the muscles should be and how big.

........I have an idea

A4 sized image with a storyboard divided into three sections (comic book style).


1st frame:

A shot of myself (drawn) in casual wear, possible sitting at a desk (ok, maybe office wear). Speechbubble or caption reading "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum..."

2nd frame:

A close up of my face as I put on the mask.

3rd frame:

A shot of me posing, caption at bottom right reading "... and I'm all outta gum"

My own designs....

After trying to develop my skills and techniques required to duplicate an original piece by Neal Adams, I finally bit the bullet and attempted to produce my own design...

Firstly I needed a reference image, so my dad took a picture of my posing as you might see a superhero pose...

The top was tight, and unflattering...

I began drawing in pencil, trying to get a general outline of the body shape. Once that was done, I began exaggerating everything. I made the arms bigger, the lats, chest, neck and also made waist smaller (a little too small.....).

I am quite happy with the result, though there are clearly a few things wrong with it, such as the waist size being too small, and the chest being relatively uneven. Apart from those issues I believe it is a good representation of me as a superhero. I am especially happy with the face/head/hair.

I shall proceed to colour this and post the outcome...

Captain America

 A sketch I did of Neal Adams' Captain America, fully in fine liner pen...

Original

My sketch

Second attempt...

With the same intent as that last blog post, I have copied another of Neal Adams' pictures. This time, it was of Superman.... here's the result.


Stage 1:

Again, on an A5 sketch pad, I sketched out the drawing in pencil, then went over it in fine liner and black marker.

Stage 2:

Same technique used as the last time. Brought the saturation down to 0 and using the Ctrl+L function in Photoshop, I altered the image so that everything drawn was completely black.


Stage 3:

Again, changing the drawn image layer blend mode to 'Multiply' enabled me to create layers underneath the image to colour without altering the drawn image. Six separate layers were used for the colouration of the suit, cape/boots, skin, belt, hair and the log.


Final Image:

 

Again by adding a layer with an 'Overlay' blend mode over the top of all the coloured layers, but underneath the drawing, it enabled me to use a medium grey for the shading, using different opacities for different strengths of shadow. After the shading was done, I added another layer to draw the highlights on top, again using different opacities.
Different from my last image, I added another layer titled "lowlights". Because I noticed that there were much more coloured shadows in the original picture, I did the exact same as the highlight layer, but with a dark grey. This dulled down the colour as well as making the area darker, as you can see on the abdomen.
Again, I added a gradient to the background to complete the image.

First produced image

Copying what Neal Adams produces is no easy task...

Getting ready to draw my own designs, I chose a Neal Adams image I liked and tried copying it. I believe by doing this it will help me to develop my skills at impersonating his style. Here is the outcome...


Stage 1:

 

On an A5 sketch pad, I sketched out the drawing completely in pencil. Once happy with it, I went over it in fine liner and black marker.

Stage 2:

Bringing the saturation down to 0 and using the Ctrl+L function in Photoshop, I altered the image so that everything drawn was completely black. Now the image was ready for colouring...



Stage 3:





































Changing the drawn image layer blend mode to 'Multiply' enabled me to create layers underneath the image to colour. This way you don't have to worry about going outside the lines. Four separate layers were used for the colouration of the suit, mask/gloves/cape, the skin and the belt. Now it was time for shading...


Final Image:

The image was brought to completion by adding a layer with an 'Overlay' blend mode over the top of all the coloured layers, but underneath the drawing. On this layer I used a medium grey for the shading, using different opacities for different strengths of shadow.
After the shading was done, I added another layer to draw the highlights on top, again using different opacities.
Once the image of Batman was complete, I added a gradient to the background to finalise the production.

Neal Adams Technique

After searching for Neal Adams' work and technique, I was lucky to come across an actually video of him working and explaining his technique. Though he video is of him painting, these techniques can most certainly be implemented into Photoshop, which I will be using to produce my image.

"Alien News Anchor: Our cities lie in ruin, but this is only a temporary setback! We will not be denied! We will--AGGHH!"

"Alien News Anchor: Our cities lie in ruin, but this is only a temporary setback! We will not be denied! We will--AGGHH!"

Above is the quote I have chosen for my image. The quote comes from the 1999 N64 and Playsation game, "Rampage 2: Universal Tour".

Personally I haven't played the game, but the quote was the one that appealed to me the most.
The next few blog posts will be images of my work, trying to impersonate the style of Neal Adams.

First Thoughts - 'Neal Adams'

After making a late start on this project due to illness, I've started off by making the decision of what artist to research.

After reviewing the work of all of the selectable artists, the ones that stood out for me personally were Banksy, who I've been a fan of for a long time, and also Neal Adams.

I really like Neal Adam's work. A cartoony, but almost life like style that stays true to the human form. I believe that if I used this style of art, I could produce good work, with a lot of options of different routes to take. The serious route or comedic. As the brief states that we must interpret our style into the image, I know that I'll most likely be creating a humourous image, as it suits my personality far better.


Back in 2007, I competed an art project for AS level that included cartoon like drawings in the same sort of style. During the course of the project I learned a lot of techniques I believe could prove useful towards this assignment, including drawing techniques as well as Photoshop techniques.

Spiderman image produced in Photoshop back in 2007

I shall use my time to study and use the work of Neal Adams to help bring this project to completion. As for the quote that I shall use, I will decide on it later when I truly understand the style of the work, and discover in what way I can use it to best the outcome of the final image.

I shall post some image work produced shortly.