Happy Halloween! - Zombie Dark Phoenix (Redux)

Happy Halloween!

OK, this one probably looks familiar to those who have visited the blog before.  It is pretty much the same as the drawing I did last year for Halloween of ZOMBIE DARK PHOENIX... but, this time, I flipped the pose around, did it in black and white acrylic paint, and got around to digitally coloring it.

For those interested in the process... well, you know the drill and keep readin'...  :-)

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STEP ONE:  Here is a real quick pencil layout on 9" x 12" sized and gessoed 1/8" masonite.  I wasn't completely happy with the pose and modified it a bit while I was painting it...

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STEP TWO:  Here is the black-and-white acrylic painting.  I took a digital photo of the painting and imported it into Photoshop to clean it up and to do some digital coloring.

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STEP THREE:  I added a MULTIPLY Layer and then put in a gradient.  I then added some flat color so I could create and Save some Selection Areas, which is why some of the coloring on the sash and Phoenix symbols are colored a little off-key--it is easier to select each part separately, and then recolor it once I save it as a Selection area.  I saved selections for the HEAD, BODY, GLOVES/BOOTS, SASH, and PHOENIX SYMBOLS.  I could then select them and add highlights without having to worry about the colors running over into something else I just colorized--I use the Saved Selections as a quick-and-dirty masked areas.

For fun, here is both MULTIPLY Layer with flat color over top the painting, and the colored MULTIPLY Layer by itself for comparison.

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STEP FOUR:  After looking at it a little bit, I thought it looked a little muddy and dark, so I decided to lighten and black-and-white painting a bit more.  I also digitally extended the top a little bit more, as the (undead) Phoenix Force was cropped a little close to the top-edge of the board.  

Here are the finished black-and-white layer, as well as the color plate.

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STEP FIVE:  And here is everything all put together.  I added another one or two layers for highlights and a few other odds and ends, then lightened the picture just a little bit more and Saved it.

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Done with acrylic paint on 9" x 12" sized and gessoed masonite panel, and digital coloring in Photoshop.

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Repaneled: Action Comics #544

Brainiac - "Rebirth"

Here is the original panel, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Gil Kane.

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And here's my submission to the REPANELED site.

Brainiac is one of the great Superman villains (probably my favorite, offhand), and the robotic version of Brainiac was awesome (although, I also have a great fondness for the green-skinned alien with diodes in his head, so I was glad to see his return of late, as well).  I may have to do some more panels from this story in the future...  :-)

And, for those interested, here's the process:

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STEP ONE:  I pencilled the image on 6" x 9" piece of Stonehenge (#140) paper, which was attached to a 6" x 9" piece of 1/4" medium density fiberboard with some size/glue.

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STEP TWO:  Here's a start on the watercolor, after about one hour or so...

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STEP THREE:  Here's the finished watercolor painting.  I then scanned it into Photoshop.

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STEP FOUR:  Using Photoshop, I added an air-brush effect to make the birthing chamber look more like glass.  I also darkened the edges to put more focus on baby Brainiac.  I also made the eye flat red in color as I think it give more emphasis to that area and draw the eye in to that focal point.

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STEP FIVE:  Here's the final image as it was when I originally finished it.  I went back-and-forth, but in the end decided to crop a bit off the top,  as it seemed extraneous (and put even more focus on baby Brainiac), and submitted it to REPANELED.

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Done with watercolor on 6" x 9" Stonehenge Paper and digitally touched up.

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