Mars Attacks!

Mars Attacks!

This time around, I thought it would be amusing to do a portrait of a martian from "Mars Attacks!".  It is more based on the card series, rather than the movie.  But, both are malevolently amusing in their own twisted ways.

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STEP ONE:  I used a mixture of size (glue) and gesso and primed a 8-1/2" x 10" piece of hardboard which I had cut down.  I then penciled the image of the martian from "Mars Attacks!" as if he were sitting for a typical portrait pose.

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STEP TWO:  I did a quick under-painting of the penciled image in Burnt Sienna.  I almost wanted to leave the painting in sepia-tone, giving it that old-tymey, daguerreotype feel to it.  Maybe I'll revisit this idea in the future...

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STEP THREE:  I began laying in some color over the underpainting.

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STEP FOUR:  I added finishing touches, highlights, etc...

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This was done with Acrylic paint on 8" x 10" sized and gessoed hardboard panel.

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The Breakfast Club (Fruit Brute)

Fruit Brute

Well, I **FINALLY** got around to finishing the last of the Monster Cereals.  For Fruit Brute, I decided to go in an opposite direction.  Rather than a monstrous werewolf, I figured having him as an effete and cultured character would be more amusing.

I hope Limpey isn't too disappointed... :-)

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STEP ONE:  To try and keep everything somewhat consistent, I used a mixture of size and gesso on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent illustration board.  I drew everything out with vine charcoal, charcoal pencil, and carbon pencil, and used my kneaded eraser to lift out highlights and sharpen any areas which got a bit smudgey (one of the dangers of charcoal, after all).  When I was finished with the drawing, I scanned it into PhotoShop.

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STEP TWO:  In PhotoShop, I created a new layer set to "Multiply" and did a gradient from orange to purple.

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STEP THREE:  I added the flat colors on the same Layer, which was still set to "Multiply".

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STEP FOUR:  Within the flat colors, I pushed some highlights and shadows, flattened the layers, and called it "Done!". 

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This was done with charcoal and carbon pencil on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent 215 illustration board, then colored digitally in PhotoShop.

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