Superman: Super Grover

SUPERMAN:
Super Grover

He is faster than lightning, stronger than steel, and smarter than a speeding bullet--Oh, and he's cute, too!  Look, up in the sky!  It's a bird!  It's a plane!  It's (said disappointedly after he crashes) Super Grover...

Yes, that's right, it was one of my favorite segments as a kid watching "Sesame Street" because, y'know, it involved Super-Heroes.  I figured it was a fun way to end the unofficial Superman Week.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the really quick, first pass with digital paint, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.  Once again, I used the Oil Palette Knife brush rather than the Oil Filbert Brush.

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STEP TWO:  Here it is a little further along and more blended.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting.

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Superman: Superman (2025) with David Corenswet

SUPERMAN:
David Corenswet

Of course I went and saw "Superman" (2025) the opening night, and I thought it was generally a great movie.  People have described it as the most comic book of comic book movies and I will agree with an emphatic "Hell, yeah!"

Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen were perfectly cast; Mr. Terrific was, well, terrific; Guy Gardener was exactly what you would think he would be; Hawkgirl was fun for the little bit she was in the movie; Lex was just a straight up villain; Jonathan and Martha Kent were perhaps dialed up a bit too much on the corn pone level but were still good people who raised a good son.  Krypto was also great fun (the part with Superman looking for Krypto and saying "He's not even that good of a dog" amused me, but he kept looking).

David Corenswet is a great Superman (so was Henry Cavill, but I felt he was failed by the dour story in which he was placed).  Gunn really got Superman right for the screen--and this is probably the best Superman alongside Christopher Reeve, full of hope, kindness, and there always being a way--although there were a few story plot points which rubbed me the wrong way (particularly the motivating action of the movie involving a Kryptonian video--I'll leave it at that).

Overall, I enjoyed it, had fun, found the funny parts funny, enjoyed the action and easter eggs; there were a couple plot points that I didn't care for, but those were mentally put aside for the good time and good vibes I had for the rest of the movie.

Hmmmm, one more digital Quick Paint and it would be a full week/seven pictures.  Ah, I have an idea related to Superman that should tie everything together.  Well, probably not that far, but it will amuse me (and hopefully y'all) nonetheless.  Stay tuned for tomorrow to see how we end this Super-Week!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the really quick, first pass with digital paint, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.  Once again, I used the Oil Palette Knife brush rather than the Oil Filbert Brush for those of you who are curious.

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STEP TWO:  Here it is a little further along and more blended.  After a little while, I realized that I had the face a little off, so I did some quick Selecting and moving around--moved the face up here, shortened the nose a bit there, and then did some more blending and painting to fix it.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting.  Once again, I was a bit too quick on the draw (heh, pun!) and should have corrected the placement of the eyes/nose/mouth much earlier, rather than rushing into the fun stuff, building up the shading on the face, trying to finish as soon as possible, etc.  There's a lesson in there that I am sure I will fail to heed.  But, I did get mostly there in the end... mostly.  Then again, these are just Quick Paints, so won't be perfect.

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Superman: Superman Lives with Nicolas Cage

SUPERMAN:
Nicolas Cage

Hey, it's turning into Superman Week here at the Blog, why not?  This time, let's go off script and go with something completely wacky: Nicolas Cage as the Superman that almost happened but never was collaboration with Tim Burton.  I will admit, that I was not vibing with this when it was announced, so wasn't too disappointed when it wasn't made (although, the movie 'The Death of 'Superman Lives'" did make me wonder...).  Sure, I would have gone to see it, but there were so many things which gave me pause, primarily the casting.  Then again, I may have been wrong and it could have been up my alley.  Heath Leger's Joker gave me pause before I actually saw it in the theaters and it was perfectly done; Nicolas Cage's Superman could have done the same, who knows?  (But, odds weren't favorable, if I had to guess.)

Cage did sort of get his chance to finally fight that giant spider at the end of "Flash" (2023) movie, which was not a very good movie, either.  Side Note: The Speed Force and running effects were just terrible after seeing them done right with Quicksilver in the "X-Men" movies (ironically, not very well done in the Marvel "Avengers: Rise of Ultron" (2015) movie).

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STEP ONE:  Here are the really quick, first pass with digital paint, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.  This time, I used the Oil Palette Knife brush, rather than the Oil Filbert Brush for those of you who are curious.

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STEP TWO:  Here is the digital painting a little further on and doing what I can to correct initial errors when doing the general layout.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting.  I did color correct it, as there was a green color to the screen grab from the "Flash" movie.

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Superman: Superman: The Movie (1978) with Christopher Reeve

SUPERMAN:
Christopher Reeve

Ah, "Superman: The Movie" (1978).  The tagline was "You will believe a man can fly," and while I wouldn't go that far, it had a profound effect on me watching it as a kid.  Superman is a truly totemic character to me--probably to an embarrassing amount--and this movie fully captured the inherent kindness and humanity to Superman as I understand the character and will always compare to other versions of Superman.  Of course he's an absolutely wholesome, big Blue Boy Scout and goody-two-shoes who will try to help everyone: He's Superman.

The sequel, "Superman II" (1980), was pretty great, as well, but I overlooked the silly, "Three Stooges" slapstick comedic parts Lester directed which really stand out like a sore thumb when I watch it today.  Ah, well, it's a good enough movie to overlook it.

Needless to say, the quality of the Christopher Reeve movies went down sharply thereafter, but let's not talk about that...

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STEP ONE:  Here are the really quick, first pass with digital paint, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.  This time, I used the Oil Palette Knife brush, rather than the Oil Filbert Brush for those of you who are curious.

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STEP TWO:  Here is the digital painting a little further on.  Mostly, it was just blending and adjusting what was laid down in the First Step.  I realized that the chin was creeping into Frank Quietly territory, so I lassoed it and moved the face down a bit.

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STEP THREE:  After moving the face down, that seemed to correct something which was nagging my subconscious when doing the painting.  It mostly looked alright and seemed correct, but there was something about it which was making my Spidey-Sense tingle, if you will forgive me mixing my comic book franchises. 

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Superman: Adventure of Superman with George Reeves (1952 to 1958)

SUPERMAN:
George Reeves

Now it's the ubiquitous Superman of my childhood.  Every once in a while, it would be syndicated on a local channel and I would get to catch some of the episodes of "Adventures of Superman".  Reeves version of Superman was more square-jawed and avuncular.  As cool as it was to see Superman on the small screen, I was always disappointed he wasn't able to battle the villains from the comic books.  Instead, it was Superman fighting other middle-age men in suits... Granted, they are probably the true bad guys in society, but I wanted to see his fighting Brainiac, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and assorted aliens and monsters.  Granted, I was a dumb kid with no understanding of TV Budgets or Special Effects limitations of the time (as opposed to now when I'm a dumb adult with only a marginal understanding of TV Budgets or Special Effects limitations).

Still, it was from a time when beggars couldn't be choosers when it came to super-hero fare on the ol' television, and I took everything I could get.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the really quick, digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the colors done under the pencils, which I duplicated and merged down onto a single layer.  I then duplicated the Layer to preserve it for the "Work in Progress", and started working over the digital pencils/paints.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting, done with lots and lots of back-and-forth and blending.  Mostly, it was done on a single layer, with an occasional added one which was then merged down, as well.

I realized that the nose was a bit short and the shape of the head should have been a bit more square.  It's another example of a 1/4" here and the 1/8" there (that a .6cm to .3cm to those of you who use metric) can make a real difference as to how a picture turns out.  Onward to the next one or two!

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Superman: Serials with Kirk Alyn (1948)

SUPERMAN:
Kirk Alyn

It's time for another Superman digital painting, this time it is the Kirk Alyn from the first "Superman" Serial from 1948.  I've only caught a few of the black-and-white serials over the years, but Alyn always seemed like a happy-go-lucky, smiling, and ebullient version of Superman, which is how I always picture him in my mind's eye.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.

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STEP TWO:  Here's a quick black-and-white value study under the pencils, which I duplicated and merged down on the value painting.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting, done with lots and lots of back-and-forth and blending.  Mostly, it was done on a single layer, with an occasional added one which was then merged down, as well.

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Superman: Fleischer Studios (1941 - 1943)

SUPERMAN:
Fleischer Studios

With the James Gunn Superman movie arriving later this week (I'll be there opening day, of course--Superman is probably the most totemic character in making me the person I am today, for better or worse), I figure it's time to do several Superman Quick Paints, why not?  In this case, it's a tribute to Fleischer Studios version of Superman.

Every once in a while when I was a kid, I would see some Fleischer Studios "Superman" cartoons show up on TV, and they were a beautiful jewel showing up--smooth and brilliant animation, highly artistic, and thrilling stories when compared to the typical animation of my childhood.  They would show up out of nowhere, randomly, and I would have my mind blown at their greatness, then it would go away for a while until the next time I would see them.

They used Rotoscope and highly rendered backgrounds.  I cannot believe there would be the Bruce Timm "Batman" cartoons without Fleischer Studios "Superman".

As the Fleischer Studio "Superman" cartoons are in the Public Domain, feel free to watch them HERE on Archive.org.  ENJOY!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital pencils, done on a 3,000px x 2,000px canvas in Rebelle 7.

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STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks.

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STEP THREE:  And here is the color plate, done on several layers.  I almost treated it like and animation cell, with a rendered background and flat character in front.

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Thunderbolts* (2025): What About Bob?

THUNDERBOLTS* (2025)
What About Bob?

OK, this semi-obvious joke was the first thing that popped in my mind with I saw the trailer for "Thunderbolts" (2025), with Bob/Sentry/The Void: A mash-up of the "What About Bob?" (1991) movie poster with Bob and Sentry shaking hands in the foreground, and The Void choking out Bob's shadow in the background.  Yes, it seems obvious, but it only seems that way because it totally is.

Here's the "What About Bob?" poster.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas done @ 300dpi, done in Clip Studio Paint.

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STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks and the lettering.

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STEP THREE:  And, finally, the colors done under the ink layer.  Nuttin' fancy, just semi-posterized coloring done with an ink brush and minor blending of the skin tones.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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