This week, Wasp (Marvel) vs. Bumblebee (DC). This Superhero vs. Superhero fight is fought by the two women in their respective superhero universes that shrink down and fly around like a bug.
I never really understood why this was a great super power to have. I just seems like one good smack, and it’s game over.
This drawing was ended up being more difficult to draw than I thought. Mostly because Wasp’s pose was so hard to get right. And the angle of her head was really hard to draw.
It also didn’t help that the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen I was using is still over saturated with ink. I think I’m going to need to use a different one from now on.
I used a combination of Microns and different brush pens to get this drawing right. All the preliminary drawing was done digitally and printed out in non-photo blue before being hand inked.
That said, I was really unhappy with Bumblebee’s right hand (the one closest to Wasp) after I had finished inking. Once I scanned in the drawing I redrew it digitally.
This week’s Superhero vs Superhero drawing gave me a lot of trouble. Seeing it, you wouldn’t think it did.
This is Magneto (Marvel) vs Dr. Polaris (DC). They’re both the “masters of magnetism,” of their respective universes. And of course they’re now chibi refrigerator magnets holding up a drawing my son Ambrose drew when he was two.
The reason this drawing gave a me trouble was because of the lack of real planning.
The first time around I roughed it out and showed it to my wife to see if the joke “read.” I had drawn the two characters their actual size, hanging off a refrigerator. The problem was, they were so big, they covered up the fridge and my wife didn’t realize they were magnets. They just looked like they were floating in a kitchen, in front of a fridge.
I scrapped the idea and simply wasn’t going to do it. I drew the Human Torch vs Fire drawing I posted last week instead.
Then I talked about it with a friend who gave me the idea to make them chibi style magnets. That’s what I ended up doing.
Thing is, then I got ambitious. I decided I should digitally paint this drawing and not simply ink it. And by “paint,” I meant, not just color but get rid of all the lines and do a full painting. They’re simple characters, I thought it shouldn’t be a problem.
So I began the process, and quickly realized two things, one, I couldn’t paint all that well, and two, painting the drawing was going to take WAY too long.
So I quit. It left me feeling really frustrated and I felt, I’d failed. On top of that, I seemed I wasted a lot of time I need to get other things done.
I had roughed out and cleaned up the drawing digitally. The line work was pretty much done. Only, I didn’t like it. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I ended up turning the clean up lines into non-photo blue and printed it out so I could ink it by hand. Which I did.
This time on Superhero vs. Superhero we have Johnny Storm, The Human Torch (Marvel) vs. Fire (DC). Both of them turn on fire powers which make them both become beings of fire. Which of course, would set off the fire sprinklers anywhere they went.
Not much more to tell about this drawing. You can read more about each character by clicking the hyperlink for each person.
This drawing was done in my usual way of roughing it out digitally in non photo blue, but the inking was done a little differently. I found the Pentel Pocket Brush Pens I was using was producing too much ink. The brush was so saturated I couldn’t draw thin subtle lines. I picked up a Tombow Fude Brush Pen and used that instead. The flames on Johnny and Fire where done with the pen, as well as many other subtle details. It’s really a good pen. I’m going to have to use it more often.
I didn’t realize how much these guys had in common visually until I started drawing them. I had them fight because they’re both android that were created by a bad guy, to fight good guys, but they both turned into heroes instead.
They’re only different because they don’t share the same powers.
But then I started drawing them and they both have Dracula capes, and the capes are attached by a cord. They also both have nobs for ears and no pupils.The rest of their look is different but when drawing those three things, it really felt so similar.
If you want to read more about each character click the hyperlink above.
I did some experimenting with the inks this time around. I started as normal. I roughed out the drawing digitally in Photoshop, and printed a non-photo blue version which I inked over.
I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out. It’s not bad. It was a fun experiment. Next time though, I’ll need to design the reflective light to be more interesting.
If you like my artwork, you can download my sketchbook for free by signing up to my Newsletter. I’ve mostly been talking about superhero news there lately.