BUILDING UP FROM SCRATCH

When considering the possibilities of how to portray a battle between two characters in a single image or scene, I like to consider the finale of such a battle.  It is, after all, the result of said

battle and is one of the most important parts.

When thinking on an obvious lopsided battle, the finale becomes the more important because of the "how".  Surely we all know this was the inevitable outcome, but here is exactly how

it actually went down...etc.

So when it came down to Darkseid and Carnage in a Character Battle Royale that I was a 

participant in, it was too easy to imagine the many possibilities of the Lord of Apocalypse

destroying the tiresome Spider-Man villain and Venom also-ran.

>>>>Click on any of the images here for that bigger flavor we all crave!<<<<

I can always go "Omega Beams!" with Darkseid, but for a character such as this, I think that a

simple physical act should do the trick and what better way than removing the guy's head from

his shoulders.  Simple and to the point.

(I love how Carnage's hand comes up yearning to free himself even when his head's gone!)

But then I got to thinking about how a touch of comedy can lighten the dark mood of a 

piece of art featuring a beheading.  And so I came up with this...

(That's supposed to be Spidey being held up by Darkseid, looking down on the corpse of Carnage.)

(Found my angle with the above sketch,

Darkseid holding up Carnage's face to Spidey while asking the question:

"Why is it that your enemies keep attacking me, Spider?")

(Expanded it on the computer to show Spidey reacting to Darkseid's question with:

"That's what I ask myself every day!")

I ended up not going with the above as it was a little too unfocused on Carnage, so

I decided on the direct approach again.  Though this time in the middle of the act itself!

(Drew the above on packing cardboard from work with a ballpoint.)

(Cleaned up a bit in photoshop and tilted (always the fun part))

(Cleaned up more and Carnage's arm has been repositioned into more a defensive pose.)

(And the digital inking begins.)

(Digital inking for the figures nearly done.)

(Here we join the coloring process nearly completed.)

(And now we have the finished product!)

And, just so you know, the battle continues over at...

OUTCAST STUDIOS

THE DARK SIDE CHRONICLES VI: IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IV

Looking back, I noticed that I neglected to post the previous DARKSEID battle in which the dark god shows up in DORMAMMU'S DARK DIMENSION...

(Don't forget to click for a better look)

Loose pencil layout...

Final digitally inked rough...

THE DARK SIDE CHRONICLES V: NO END IN SIGHT

And so the battles in OUTCAST STUDIOS CHARACTER BATTLE ROYALE continue and I'm still around after all this time.  After getting defeated soundly in my first bout even!  But it's hard to keep a Jack Kirby created God of Evil down and so DARKSEID has killed his way to the semifinals.

And there awaited the winner of one of the few other BATTLE ROYALE's OUTCAST STUDIOS has ever held, the guy in charge of the ART of WAR forum hisownself, NATE.  His character is Norman Osborn as the Iron Patriot.

For this battle, I had numerous ideas, endless images, a torrent of tattooed tales told in a fevered race to try and find the perfect scene for my portrayal of the showdown.  Here are a series of images that flashed through my brain (click any image for a better/bigger look):

After a while of this, I had enough images and a possible sense that I could cobble together a bit of sequential art as the way to incorporate many of these ideas into my final piece.  Little did I know how much work I was cutting out for myself... here's the final result

(again, for a decent look, click to embiggen):

Well there you go.

WHAT MAY BROUGHT TO MY DRAWING BOARD

DARKSEID vs LOKI vs BLACK ADAM

Drawn for the Character Battle Royale over at Outcast Studios ( http://www.outcaststudios.com )

My character of choice was Darkseid and I put him in the middle of the melee.

Was very fun, if a bit stressful as the deadline began to beat down on me.

The stark red, white and black color scheme is a result of being in a hurry.

Very WHITE STRIPES isn't it?

STATIC

Long before DC's MILESTONE universe, came GLOBAL COMICS by my brother and myself.

My little brother started our homemade comics line way back when and it wasn't long before I was drafted onto the staff of the tiny "company".

Static was the first female character I created for our comics.

A half-alien mutant with green hair and control of static electricity, I based her suit nearly completely on Bill Willingham's Morningstar from THE ELEMENTALS.

(CLICK TO MAKE EITHER EXTRA-LARGE)

DARKSEID VS MOJO TIME-LAPSE VIDEO

To get a piece from sketch stage on real paper to a finalized digital is a lot of work, and very hard to portray in time-lapse unless you're going to speed things up on a very extended screenshot.  But what we did instead was a brief slideshow of it from stage to stage...

(FOR A BETTER LOOK, SEE IF YOU CAN ENLARGE)

First there was the sketch.

Then the anatomy was adjusted (head moved up, arm twisted a bit, mouth widened).

After which, digital inks and erasing of the pencil (actually ballpoint pen) lines on the layer beneath the digital inks.

Then a bit of the background is considered as Kirby Krackle is added and later readjusted.

Colors are added and enhanced all throughout.

Mojo is added in more detail and then the perspective is added in (a basic one point perspective to the horizon).

And those are the big steps shown as they happened.

EVIL MASTERMIND VERSUS EVIL MONKEY-MASTERMIND

A BATTLE YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D SEE--AND PRAYED YOU WOULDN'T!

Mojo Jojo of The Powerpuff Girls versus Darkseid of Apocalypse!

Titan of TV versus the God of Evil!

For all the marbles!

I'll be posting a fairly extensive look into the creation of this piece of art shortly... but for now, I rest.