Batman-uary: Rainbow Batman

Batman-uary
Rainbow Batman

That's right, I'm still trying a bit too hard to make a dumb portmanteau of "Batman" and "January" into "Batman-uary" a thing.

Anyways, so many Silver Age Batman costumes to choose from... How 'bout Rainbow Batman?   No, really--Batman had to wear a rainbow version of his costume to... Oh, never mind.  You wouldn't believe me if I told you.  It involves wearing the various colorful costumes to draw attention away from Robin and toward himself while hunting down mobsters.  I'll leave it at that.

It's Rainbow Batman in action from "Detective Comics #241" (1957) and the cover to "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #2"

So, another mash-up with a "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" cover--this time Issue #2.  Speaking of #2, is it just me or in this cover does Batman look like he is just really, really constipated?  (Yeah, I put the "assy" in "Classy"...)  The mash-up between the Dark and Gritty Batman and Rainbow Batman costume amused me.  Once again proving it really doesn't take much to amuse me at all.

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STEP ONE:  I created a 3,000px x 4,500px @ 600dpi canvas in Clip Studio Paint and here are the digital pencils on a Blue-Line Layer.

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STEP TWO:  And here are the inks and grayscale shadows...

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STEP THREE:  The colors overtop in a series of layers.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Batman-uary: Bat-Baby

Batman-uary
Bat-Baby

Ah, the Silver-Age of comics... back when Batman could be turned into a baby (well, in this case, a child about four-years old) and still go out and fight crime in the dark streets of Gotham.  Sure, why not?  It's Batman #147 (1962), wherein one of the stories, 'Batman Becomes Bat-Baby", features a sci-fi ray which de-ages Batman into the titular Bat-Baby.  It's exactly the kind of story you would expect it to be.

The original covers to Batman #147 (1962) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 (1986)

Yes, this is an actual panel from Batman #147

It's Bat-Baby, complete with short-pants and suspenders--this time as a parody of the iconic "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" first issue cover.  Again, sure, why not?  It amuses me... and Lord knows it doesn't take much to amuse me.

There are so, so many different Batman costumes and transformations from which to choose--some of which I shall highlight in January.  It's another dumb thing I'm starting that I'm sure will become another yearly tradition on my even dumberer Blog--like the Unwanted Valentines, March M.O.D.O.K. Madness, 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween, Sithmas, and so forth.  Ugh, I think I'm trying too hard.

For all those people who complain about whether something is canon or not... it's a Fool's Game.  Just enjoy the parts you like, ignore the parts you don't; both will be changed in the future, for better or worse.

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STEP ONE: I created a 3,000px x 4,500px canvas at 600dpi in Clip Studio Paint and did the digital pencils in a light blue layer color.  The composition seems so weird to me, without the sky and lightning in the background.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the inks.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the colors, including the iconic lightning background.  I could have gone with the silhouette, but that would sort of obscure the fact it is supposed to be Bat-Baby, which is kind of the purpose of this mad exercise...

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.
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MF Doom

MF Doom

OK, show of hands: who likes audio clips of the 1960's "Fantastic Four" cartoons with their Hip-Hop?  Or skits using sound clips from "Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero" and "Scooby Doo, Where Are You"?  When it comes to music, my tastes are pretty wide-ranging.  I like to say I listen to everything from Abba to Zappa, and things which would either bore you to death and scare the life out of you.  (Humble Brag: I even have a friend who is making some of the music to scare the life out of you... but more on that at a later date--Shout out to Joel.  ;-)

Quite a while ago, I stumbled across MF Doom--at the time he was one of the few singers/songwriters that reveled in his comic book kitsch and nerdiness on his albums and it drew me in.  I mean, he had Doctor Doom with a mic on his first MF Doom release; c'mon, how could I resist?  His albums are smooth and flowing, off kilter rhyme schemes, and the way they fit together all kept me listening.  And those audio clips from "Fantastic Four" and "Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero"... chef's kiss!  To me, they are the special sauce in the albums.

Daniel Dumile (aka MF Doom / Viktor Vaughn / King Geedorah) died on Halloween 2020, but his death wasn't announced until December 31, 2020.  I figured he was nominally connected to my nerdly interests, so I thought I'd do up an In Memoriam for him.  He even got a shout out on "Democracy Now with Amy Goodman" news cast, so that was mildly surprising about his reach.  He worked around the edges of pop culture, but a surprising number of people knew his work.

My personal favs: "Operation: Doomsday" (1999), "Take Me to Your Leader" (as King Geedorah) (2003), "Madvillainy" (with Madlib) (2004), and "Mm.. Food (2004)".

He also sent out Doombots to perform for him sometimes if he didn't want to do a show... which is exactly something Dr. Doom would do.  Sure, if I paid to see him and it was a Doombot instead, I'd be more than a little ticked off, but I also have a part of me that would kinda admire the grift.  He **DID** model his character on a super-villain, after all.  And Doombots are straight out of the "Fantastic Four", so there's that, too.

BTW, I can't be the only one who was surprised (and a little disappointed) that the "MF" in MF Doom was for "Metal Fingers" and "Metal Face", rather than something Samuel Jackson would say on a plane that had some sort of slithering reptiles on board.

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STEP ONE:  I did a very light blue pencil sketch on 9" x 12" Daler-Rowney The Langton Prestige Watercolor Paper - Hot Press (#140), then went over it with blue ink and crowquill.  

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STEP TWO:  Here is the first coat of watercolor, just to give the next layers something to "stick" to.

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STEP THREE:  I realized I should have the coat and background be green to go more with Doctor Doom visual aesthetic.  Also, in the original picture reference, his left cheek was obscured by faux fur of the collar on the coat and it didn't read right.  So, I'd better draw that in...  Also, that background seemed like it would work better as light, so time to bust out the Titanium White.

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STEP FOUR:  Several coats of paint and a left jawline later, it was mostly done.  There were a few things which I still wanted to adjust, but was out of town.  So, out comes the iPad to fix some of the lines needed to be gone over, minor adjustments to the eyes, a few areas to darken a bit more, and the textured airbrush to focus more attention to the center of the painting.

I was somehow hoping to integrate the blue ink drawing into the painting a bit more, but that was largely... mixed in results.

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Done with watercolor/gouache on 9" x 12" Daler-Rowney The Langton Prestige Watercolor Paper - Hot Press (#140) and minor digital touch-ups in ArtStudio Pro.

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Happy (Belated) New Year 2021...

Happy New Year 2021!

My first post of the New Year... It still has that New Year smell and everything!  Better late than never, I guess.  Anyhoo, here's to hoping a New Year sweeps clean!

I want to take a few moments to thank everyone who has stopped by and gawked at my modest Blog.  Any attention is greatly appreciated!  (Wait, did that sound half of desperate as it seemed as I wrote it out?  Nah, couldn't be...)  Thank you, all!

I hope everyone stays safe and well this year!

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STEP ONE:  Here's the original rough idea, scribbled in Clip Studio Paint on the iPad.  I used a 1,500px x 2,250px document @ 600dpi.  It was going to be a far more of a straight up parody cover of "Fantastic Four #49", with various notes to myself.  This is definitely an early version when I was still kicking ideas around, so it's more of a peek behind the curtain.  Also, you get to see some of the lame jokes you missed!  Bullet dodged!

The way it played out in my head was to have Galactus as the stand in for 2021 destroying the previous, cursed year of 2020.  Hence the 2-0-2-0 on the chests of each of the Fantastic Four.

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STEP TWO:  After a lot of other noodling about (including entertaining other well-known comic covers to parody), I decided just focus on the more iconic part of the cover, with Galactus towering over the New Year.  Also, the "2-0-2-1" seemed to not show up very well, so I went with replacing the Fantastic Four with the actual numbers to spell out the year, but still left them with their arms and legs.  So, here's the digitally inked page.

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STEP THREE:  And, many color layers later, here's the finished pic.  I even remembered to write 2021... which I usually don't remember to write the New Year until mid-June, most of the time.  (Sadly, not kidding as much as I would like.  Sigh...)  ;-)

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an iPad Pro.

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Bizarro Year in Review: 2020

 2020 Year in Review
By Bizarro

Hey, it's another "Year in Review" by Bizarro!  This time, as a parody of the "This is fine" meme.

2020... What can be said about 2020 that hasn't been said by everyone at this point?  

My best to all and I hope you all have a Happy New Year.

Here's to hoping a New Year sweeps clean!

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Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint.

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Happy Merry Everything! - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

HAPPY MERRY EVERYTHING! 
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Here's one of the titular Martians from "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" (1964)...

And Santa from the self-same movie...

Well, because 2020 had to keep being 2020 'til the end, I was putting the finishing touches on a "Merry Sithmas" Card of Darth Talon, when the iPad ate my homework.  It didn't do anything that you would expect, like just destroying the the entire thing, or even going back to my last save from the previous half-hour when I had last saved.  Instead it chose to save as a previous version when I had the digital pencils finished and only the rough, digital pencils.  Everything else was gone.  So, not having to start completely over, but just enough back to mock me for all the work which was lost.  Sigh...

Sure, there's not a specific date for Sithmas of which I'm aware, but I always presume around December 25th, give-or-take, and I have a lot of other stuff to finish up before the end of the year.  To be positive about it, I guess I'll just pretend that I have an early start on next year's Sithmas Card with Darth Talon.

Instead, in a fit of desperation, I grabbed two relatively quick digital paintings I did for my other blog for Figure Drawings (which, thanks to COVID-19, is now just showing scans of sketchbook drawings since May 14, 2020, as the two Figure Drawing Sessions I used to run are currently cancelled.  Mother-Loving 2020 strikes again!)  I touched up the Martian a little bit and re-uploaded them here, as they kinda sorta work here, too.  Kinda.

In spite of 2020, I hope everyone has a (now belated) Happy Merry Everything!

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Done digitally in ArtStudio Pro.

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Merry Sithmas - Trilla: Second Sister

MERRY SITHMAS
Trilla: Second Sister

OK, I admit to having to go to a slightly more obscure Sith-Adjacent character, just to make it interesting.  She was introduced in an appearance the comic book series "Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith", and was the main villain in the video game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019).  Alas, I gave up video games a long time ago, in a galaxy right here.  But, I liked the look of Trilla: Second Sister and figured it would be cool to do a Sithmas card of her.  And here it is.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital pencils, done in Clip Studio Paint.  It is a 2,00px x 2,791px document at 300dpi.  I used the Symmetry Tool to keep everything, well, symmetrical between the two sides.

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STEP TWO:  So I can scale the drawing up in the future without having to redraw everything from the beginning, I did most of it as Vector Graphics (Vector are mathematical lines and shapes, keeping their sharpness as they are scaled up; Raster, which use individual pixels, generally get blurry as they are enlarged).  Given the lined style I normally use for the Sithmas Cards, I think it generally worked.  

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STEP THREE:  Several Layers later--each with their own color linework--and we have the finished project.  I also imported it into Photoshop so as to animate the card.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint (with the .gif done in Photoshop.

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Dave Prowse - The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

 Dave Prowse - In Memoriam
The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

In memory of the recently deceased, Dave Prowse, rather than go with the obvious, Darth Vader, I thought I'd go with "The Horror of Frankenstein" (1970).  Y'know, zig when I was supposed to zag.  It was a classic Hammer film (most Hammer films I watched involved Dracula, but they spread their, um, "wings" from time-to-time to include Frankenstein and his Monster as well).

I first watched this when I was a kid, so I didn't catch most of the semi-comedic hijinks until much later in life.  All I knew was it seemed scary and had monsters in it, so I was all in.  Yeah, I was pretty dumb and easily amused as a child... and as an adult, too, now that I think about it.

Besides, if I know me as well as I think I do, I'm sure I'll be doing plenty more Darth Vader drawings/paintings in the near future. 😀

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STEP ONE:  In Painter 2020 on my Windows 10 machine, I created a 3,000px x 4,000px canvas and sketched out the initial drawing using one of the digital pencil brushes.

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STEP TWO:  And here's the three-quarter point, done with a series of chalk brushes in Painter 2020.  I noticed the left eye was a little low in the painting and corrected that, and shrunk down the ear a smidge.

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STEP THREE:  For the last little bit and touch ups, I imported it into Art Studio Pro on the iPad.  It has a few extra brushes that I am familiar with using, rather than trying to remember where they are in Painter.  Also added some final highlights and shadows.  All pics were then exported at 1,000px x 1,333px and posted here.

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Done digitally in Painter 2020 with Windows 10 and finished in Art Studio Pro on the iPad.

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Day 31: Creepshow (1984) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020
Creepshow (1984)

Happy Father's Day... Er, I mean HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hey, it's a reference to the "Father's Day" segment in "Creepshow".  Anyhoo, here it is the end of the 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween, and I somehow managed to post all 31 Days.  No one is more shocked than I am!  Although, it was pretty close a couple times where I just made it by the skin of my teeth (twice within a half-hour of my self-imposed deadline of midnight of each day).  So, huzzah!

THE GOOD:  This year, I did take more time to do up each painting/post, so I think the general quality was improved.  The practice was good and just dedicating that much time trying to paint a likeness--even though it didn't always work--was a learning experience.  There were a few times when I felt like I may actually properly know what I am doing (don't worry, that feeling soon passed).  Overall, I'm relatively pleased and feel like I may have advanced a bit in my proficiency.  Just a bit

THE BAD:  I think the Stephen King painting as Jordy Verrell from "Creepshow", while passable, is a bit flat.  And, while the face of "The Candyman" is pretty good, too bad it doesn't look at all like Tony Todd.  Sigh...  The Babadook is a little bland and uninspired, while the post for the "They Live" Karen could have been better, IMHO.

Oopsies, on "Hellraiser IV: Bloodline" Angelique: I forgot the white highlights on her outfit I was planning on doing to show it was somewhat shiny, and I didn't finish her lips.  The bent-out, top bars on The Jackal's cage got painted over and then forgotten for the "13 Ghosts" post.

THE UGLY:  "The Fly" post with the "Brundle Museum of Natural History"...  Ugh, it looks weird--especially the eyes which are strangely cartoony and bothers me.  Blech!  But, I'll leave it, warts and all.

Well, I hope to try, try again, next year.

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STEP ONE:  In Clip Studio Paint, I created a 1,500px x 2,250px @ 300dpi canvas, and did up the digital pencils.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the halfway point...

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting.  "I got my cake!  Happy Father's Day!"

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Day 30: Zombi 2 (1979) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020
Zombi 2 (1979)

For this one, I will have to give a tip of the hat to my pal, Joel, who suggested "Zombie Flesh Eaters" (or, as I knew it, "Zombi 2").  As soon as he mentioned it I thought "Oh, yeah, that one had the infamous shark fighting a zombie...(and a LOT of other graphic gore which got it banned in many different countries).  I will definitely have to do that one!"

My mind flashed to the shark vs. zombie scene, and I saw it as a one-page comic, with it starting with the fight and it ending with the zombie and undead shark "walking" off together--like a boy and his dog (not to be confused with the Harlan Ellison short story of the same name ;-).

"Zombi 2" (also known as "Zombie", "Zombie Flesh Eaters", "Woodoo Zombi 2", and many, many more) was a sort of unofficial sequel to George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead".  I watched it when I was a young teen, with its reputation as a gross-out zombie movie preceeding it.  It definitely has a few scenes which live up to that!

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STEP ONE:  In Clip Studio Paint, I created a 1,500px x 2,250px @ 300dpi canvas, and did up the digital pencils.

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STEP TWO:  This is the inked page, done for the most part with a 10pt aliased brush.

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STEP THREE:  And here is the coloring, done on a single layer under the Inking Layer.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Day 29: The Void (2016) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020
The Void (2016)

A Lovecraftian horror mixed with John Carpenter's "The Thing" with an 80's body horror aesthetic.  Hmmm, I think I need a swear jar which, instead of swear words, every time I mention "Lovecraft", "John Carpenter's The Thing", or "80's Horror Movies" during 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween, I will throw a dollar into the jug.  I'd be rich!

It has cult members in triangle-shaped face masks, trying to bring about a new age filled with dark, Elder Gods which they want to summon to Earth.  I think the up-facing triangles are more unsettling to me, as the eyes and nose have a sort of downward triangle aspect when you are drawing the face.  The fact they subvert that--whether intentional or not--bothers me.  Mostly, my sense of design wants to make turn that triangle upside down.  That sense of unease probably helps make it more creepy.

If you like Lovecraft (DING!), "John Carpenter's The Thing" (DING!), or 80's body horror (DING!), then you will probably enjoy "The Void".

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STEP ONE:  These are the quick, digital pencils done on a 1,500px x 2,250px @ 300dpi in Clip Studio Paint.

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STEP TWO:  Here is the halfway point, where I just digitally painted under the pencils so I could see where the rough pencils and wrinkles would go.  At this point, I didn't care if I went outside the lines all that much.  I would just take the eraser and carve around the drawings.

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STEP THREE:  I further refined the cultists's costumes/wrinkles, and added the tentacles emerging from the open gate to another world.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Day 28: Alien (1979) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020
Alien (1979)

"Alien" is a great movie, the equivalent of a sci-fi haunted house in space with the Xenomorph jumping out and yelling "Boo!"  Oh, and killing people.

While trying to take a closer look at the Xenomorph, I noticed a lot more things on the costume that, while I knew they were there, it never really registered.  This time, I was looking and asking myself: "Is that a dryer vent?  That looks like a hex nut!  Etc."  All those inorganic items stuck to the costume.  Sure, H. R. Giger was into a biomechanical aesthetic, but didn't realize how literal it was in the Xenomorph in the original "Alien".  I guess I never looked closely enough at the original costume, but am used to the Xenomorphs from the later movies which, while it's still there, isn't quite as obvious.

If you will forgive the shameless self-promotion, I have to point out that among my most popular "Unwanted Valentine" by far is the Face-Hugger one, and turns up in some of the oddest places when Valentine's Day approaches.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils on 11" x 17" toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  This was followed by the inks, done with a couple different brushes.  When I was about 3/4 of the way through, I started to regret just doing the Alien Xenomorph only in ink and wishing I had just done a watercolor/gouache.  Also, some of the proportions of the nick-knackery stuck to the costume wasn't quite right, but it was already inked and too late.  Sigh.

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STEP THREE:  The brush and ink seemed a little bland compared to all the previous watercolor/gouache paintings, so I thought I'd import it into Procreate and work on colorizing it just a little bit.  Nothing too fancy, just some airbrush tools and such on a Multiply Layer.  I figured I haven't really used Procreate since the new update and would see if there was something new.  I also thought I'd go with something that looked vaguely like a black light poster, why not?

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Done with brush and ink on 11" x 17" toned cardstock, and digitally colored.

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Day 27: Creepshow (1984) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020
Creepshow (1984)

I always liked reading "Tales from the Crypt" and other horror comics growing up--well, the few that I could find, anyways.  "Creepshow" is a loving pastiche to those comic books directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King (a fan of his writing, too).  So, quite the horror pedigree.

It sounds like I am damning with faint praise (and, perhaps I am), but IMHO "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" is probably Stephen King's best job acting.  Sure, it's overly broad overacting with a stereotypical, backwoods, cross-eyed cornpone, but I found it actually funny--the day dream sequences with his visits to the local college's "Department of Meteors" make me laugh.  If you ask me (and why would you?), it's the best of the short stories in the anthology.  The other stories are good, but the story of Jordy's sad, lonesome death is both funny and oddly touching.

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STEP ONE:  The pencils, done on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock with a black colored pencil.

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STEP TWO:  And this is about the halfway point with gouache/watercolor.  As usual, just trying to get a feel for the forms and lay some color down.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the end result.  It's always tricky trying to get a likeness.  A fraction of an inch/a few millimeters here or there can make all the difference.  I think you can tell who it's supposed to be, but as to whether it truly looks like Stephen King, well...  It's tolerable, I guess.  On to the next one!

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Done with Watercolor/Gouache on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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