Fan Art

[Spideydude]

Now, look at the cover for the as-yet-unreleased Crawl Space Avengers #8:

I'm excited for everyone to see this gorgeous artwork.

[DarkKnightJared]

I'm not trying to be mean, but there is little to nothing in your style that works. Your anatomy in particular is awful, in terms of both body shapes and poses. Take it from somebody that's been there (and is still there, in many ways) -- you need to accept that you have a long way to go and start looking for help. The first thing to do is stop trying to color these pieces and just focus on tightening up your anatomy. A couple of books that will be very helpful are the classic How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema and another favorite of mine, Drawing Cutting Edge Anatomy by Christopher Hart. These two books focus on comic book anatomy, which is of course a departure from realistic human anatomy. To get a better understanding of more realistic human anatomy, head over to Barnes & Noble and check out their art section. There are dozens of books that collect quality images of models of all shapes and sizes that you can use as reference.

See, that's the thing--I've read up a lot on realistic human anatomy. I have a couple of the Loomis books on my computer, taken (and passed) a few art classes, and while I don't have those two books, I do have my share of "how to draw" books on hand. Also, a lot of my drawings DO use a lot of reference. I used a reference for that Catwoman drawing.

Do you block in the shapes first, or do you dive right in to the linework? At this stage, you should be focusing on getting your blocking correct to maintain correct proportions. I look at this Catwoman drawing and get the impression that you didn't block out the figure, causing you to run out of space and compress her legs to fit on the page. I used to do this all the time until I finally changed my habits and started blocking extensively. I can even prove this with a couple of cover examples.

Yes, I do block out the shapes--maybe it's not as extensive, but I do try to plan out everything when I draw.

The point of this little exercise is that these drawings were only done about four years apart, but they are practically the work of two different artists. You can get better, and you will get better, if you strip your style back down to basics and rebuild it from the ground up.

I guess it's true--I mean, I knew I drew some absolute SHIT four years ago too--but it feels like I've focused on NOTHING ELSE but the basics.

[Cbasfrench]

Don't be too hard on yourself DKJ. The best advice I can give you is to practice, practice, practice. And always take your time when drawing something. I used to try and be quick to put out new drawings, sometimes sacrificing quality in doing so. Now, I'll spend whatever time is necessary on a drawing, until I'm truly satisfied that I gave it my all. Case in point, my drawing above.

I kind of work backwards but the way I do it is similar to what spidertour2 explained, except I'm all over the place. For the above drawing, as an example, I started with the Hulk. I had no idea who he was going to fight until I had most of him pencilled in. I then decided on him fighting the Thing and proceeded to pencil him in. I had an idea of what I was going to do for backgrounds, but nothing was set in stone, which is probably not the best way to do it, but it works for me. I then proceeded to draw a grid, vanishing points, etc, and I sketched the other figures in there, then pencilled in the background partially. I then switched to inking the characters and whatever background I had pencilled in and I finished the background directly in pen, just to save up on time. When it comes to drawing debris and chunks of concrete, I find it easier to draw in pen straight up. Less erasing to do later. I guess the main danger with doing it this way is losing yourself in proportioning characters in relation to one another and screwing up on the depth of the background, which can make things look kind of weird when the whole piece is completed...

[DarkKnightJared]

Okay, here's the latest thing I drew, and I took pictures of every step to show you guys, see if maybe you guys might have any tips on what I may be doing wrong during the process.

Here's my wireframe:



This is my body, where I fill in the frames with human anatomy:



Then this is where I added the clothes and the face:



After that, I shaded everything in and got this:



So yeah. That's more or less my process. Let me know if I'm doing anything wrong--and don't worry about being too rough. If it gets to be too much, I'll simply say the safe word.

[spidertour02]

Well, here's your problem -- this wireframe has some significant anatomical issues. The biggest issue is that you drew his upper legs too short. The upper leg of a human is longer than the lower leg. (In fact, the femur is the largest bone in the human body.) This is commonly exaggerated in comic book anatomy, though they went a bit overboard with this in the 90s. Some artists even draw the upper leg to be about the same length as the torso. Here's an example from my work:



Check out Mayday's legs. (No, not like that, you creepers.) The length of the upper leg from the hip to the knee is longer than the length of the lower leg from the knee to the ankle. The upper leg is also roughly the same length as the distance from her waist to her clavicle. This is done more or less by feel rather than by measurement -- I'm not a big proponent of head counting and such, choosing instead to rely on my instincts as far as proportion goes.

This drawing is also a good example of the same principle gone awry. I drew Arana's upper legs slightly too short, so the legs come off looking a little stumpy. This is also a good example of how costume design can affect the perception of anatomy, as Arana's "borrowed" costume exacerbates the problem because there is no differentiation to the pattern. If she was wearing a costume with an indication of a belt or waist element (like her old costume, for example), it wouldn't look as off as it does. I should have extended her upper legs a bit to correct the problem -- but this just goes to show that despite all my strides, I still slip up from time to time. It's always a work in progress!

Here's another example:



The same analysis applies. I felt confident enough about this one to give it to Stella in person when she visited New York City, so it's safe to say I feel good about how the piece came out.

Now, let's move on to some legs in "action," just to drive the point home. Take a look at this example:



The Silver Surfer's upper leg is longer than his lower leg at about the same ratio as May's, but the action of bending them makes it look even longer. This is important, because if you draw legs contorting and bending, this will exaggerate the anatomy. Starting with straight legs and then advancing to bending ones will give you a good feel for it.

Another notable problem with the legs you drew is that you don't properly taper around the knees and ankles, making his legs unnaturally chunky. You need to taper the lower leg into the ankle a bit more to correct the problem. Using your system of ovals, drawing an oval for the calf and a separate block for the shin might alleviate the problem. The ankle is one of the flimsiest joints on the human body -- don't be afraid to draw some sissy-looking ankles on male figures. I did it with this drawing of the Silver Surfer, and it actually works.

Let's look at one more example:



The same concept with the Silver Surfer pose applies here, but even more so. Her legs are bent more severely, making the upper leg appear even more exaggerated. If you look closely, the ratios are about the same as before, but the pose "tricks" you into thinking the upper leg is longer. The ankle is worth looking at, too -- she's wearing boots here, but underneath the boots I drew her some thinner ankles. (In fact, you may notice that I cleverly indicated the ankles by inking parts of the boot where her actual leg would be. Follow the top part of her calf into the boot and you'll see that the shadowed part follows her leg.)

This post is already getting too long, so we'll get into more later -- I have one other major discussion to write about the finished drawing. I hope this helps so far.

[DarkKnightJared]

Well, here's your problem -- this wireframe has some significant anatomical issues. The biggest issue is that you drew his upper legs too short. The upper leg of a human is longer than the lower leg. (In fact, the femur is the largest bone in the human body.) This is commonly exaggerated in comic book anatomy, though they went a bit overboard with this in the 90s. Some artists even draw the upper leg to be about the same length as the torso. Here's an example from my work:

Check out Mayday's legs. (No, not like that, you creepers.) The length of the upper leg from the hip to the knee is longer than the length of the lower leg from the knee to the ankle. The upper leg is also roughly the same length as the distance from her waist to her clavicle. This is done more or less by feel rather than by measurement -- I'm not a big proponent of head counting and such, choosing instead to rely on my instincts as far as proportion goes.

I'll be perfectly honest, but I don't see the upper legs in your drawings being longer than the lower. But, I'll try to keep that in mind from now on.

Another notable problem with the legs you drew is that you don't properly taper around the knees and ankles, making his legs unnaturally chunky. You need to taper the lower leg into the ankle a bit more to correct the problem. Using your system of ovals, drawing an oval for the calf and a separate block for the shin might alleviate the problem. The ankle is one of the flimsiest joints on the human body -- don't be afraid to draw some sissy-looking ankles on male figures. I did it with this drawing of the Silver Surfer, and it actually works.

Okay, I get ya--tinier ankles, probably about a third of a head long.

This post is already getting too long, so we'll get into more later -- I have one other major discussion to write about the finished drawing. I hope this helps so far.

Yeah, it definitely is. Thanks a lot.

[tnr105]

I was looking through my old hard drive and found one of my favorite pieces I've ever done. Back when I still had photoshop, I made a digital "painting" for a friend's birthday. It's Erica Durance dressed as stormtrooper from the Smallville episode "Warrior", written by Batgirl writer Bryan Q Miller.

[Cbasfrench]

My latest, in honor of the new movie.

[spidertour02]

My latest, in honor of the new movie.

I like the angry Hitler portrait back there.

Also, nice touch making the Skull's head red.

[tnr105]

My latest, in honor of the new movie.

Love it.

[FSUSpiderFan]

That is a cool Cap drawing!

[spidertour02]

Here's a drawing of the Parker family -- Peter, Mary Jane, May, and Benjy. This is one I've had laying about for a while now, unfinished, until I dusted it off and finished it today.

It came out okay, but it's not one of my better pieces (which is probably why I hadn't finished it until now). Then again, I hate EVERYTHING that I draw ...

[Wombat 909]

If you get to see this Gerard, very nice drawing. I love little Benjy putting together "The Parkers" with his blocks. Only odd thing is it looks like MJ has Peter's walking stick coming out of her head. Apart from that, I really like it.

[Cbasfrench]

My latest piece, inspired by the upcoming Avengers movie, with some minor tweaks...

[FSUSpiderFan]

That kicks ass sir!