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Storm Gardening – Superhero parents
This image took me longer to draw on a paper then I ever thought it would. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t get what was in my head out. Either Storm’s body posture wasn’t right, the girls reaction was not perfect or something. It felt like no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t get this image in my head out onto the paper.
I knew what I wanted: The X-Men’s Storm in the garden with her daughter as her daughter lite up with excitement as Storm create a rain cloud to water the plants they’d just planted. I wanted Storm to have a look on her face, a smirk if you will, that said “You are a dork for getting so excited about this but I love you even more because of it.” Not such a tall order, but the image, the feeling, was in my mind and I knew what I wanted.
While I may or may not have captured what I wanted perfectly, I still feel like I’ve got something special. At the end of the day, I’m super happy with how this turned out and I’m very proud of myself. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
In case you were curious, I’ve included the sketchbook rough and blue pencil version below. You can see that even though the basic idea is the same for all 3 images, each step included several improvements/alterations.
This piece took about forever to make simply because I couldn’t get the body/face/reaction right. Beyond that, the actual inking, colors and balancing took 6 hours. All the lines were created using Adobe Illustrator CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet. The color, texture and shading were done using Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet.
- Dustin Reese
Magneto at the park – Super villain parent
When the X-men super villain Magneto isn’t busy plotting the end of humanity or the destruction of his foe Professor Charles Xavier, I like to imagine that he takes some time to play with his kid on the playgrounds. With the power to move metal, he’d never have to physically push the swings!
Can you imagine all the other kids getting mega jealous as some one’s father, who just happens to be the master of manipulating metal, gives his daughter the ultimate ride on the swings? He’d be able to push her just a little bit higher, and slow her down very gently.
“Higher!” she’d scream. And of course Magneto would give her just enough “umph” to push her high into the sky.
Of course if it was me, I’d be freaking out the whole time as I was attempting to not have my girl fall off from the swing.
This piece took about 7 hours to make. All the lines were created using Adobe Illustrator CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet. The color, texture and shading were done using Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet.
- Dustin Reese
Journalist – The number one rule of interviews
My sister is going to be graduating from college soon and like any good big brother, I decided to lend her some older brotherly advice. Unfortunately my sister is graduation in Journalism, a subject of which I know very little about in a professional context. I’ve never written for a major news publication or had an editor yell at me to get an article on their desk by evening print or it’s my job (they actually say that, don’t they?). Needless to say, I didn’t have any sage advice for my younger sibling.
So I did what I do best and that’s make something up.
I mustered all of my internet skills and scoured the globe for vital bits of information that I could steal pass along to my sister and claim as my own. And when I say “scoured the globe”, I really mean, “read comic books”. Which is what lead me to my first and best advice I could think of….. Doesn’t it suck to be Lois Lane?
I can imagine her interviewing Superman atop a sky scrapper about something he’s done when all of a sudden he feels the need to rush off and do something. Maybe the questions are getting too tough, maybe Lois is putting together his secret identity or maybe he hears a crime happening in the distance. Regardless, he quickly says goodbye and leaves the scene. Now what’s a reporter to do? Right in the middle of the interview, the lead topic just ups and leaves!
Well, I’d hope that Lois would do the right thing and jump off the building after him. She knows he won’t let her fall to her doom and she still gets to ask that one burring question.
The take away: Remember that the interview isn’t over until you say it’s over.
That’s my brother advice to my young reporter sister. Don’t be afraid to jump off that building after Superman in order to finish the interview. I mean, there’s like a 90% chance that he won’t let you fall to your death.
And for those of you who are curious, my favorite color is green.
This piece took about 8 hours to make. All the lines were created using Adobe Illustrator CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet. The color, texture and shading were done using Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet. A majority of this piece was spent getting the colors right. I was going for a 50′s propoganda look, so I needed washed out colors and bold text.
- Dustin Reese
A little teaser
Here is a little teaser of what I’m currently working on. I can’t wait to show off the final, just a little bit excited.
- Dustin
Steampunk Jones
A while ago we asked the fans what they wanted to see and someone suggest Steampunk Indiana Jones and we’re finally delivering on that promise. Here is my take on the classic archaeologist who just wants to put everything in a museum.
I have to admit that turning Indiana Jones into a steampunk character was rather difficult as his normal attire is actually pretty well fit for a steampunk explorer. Yes, he could use a few more mechanical arms and I’m sure his whip has a cool feature or two (magnetic self returning clip anyone? No more need to throw the rope). But I didn’t want to stray to far from the original character design. I instead opted for a more subtle look, adding some goggles, gloves, monocle and wicked chops. The original golden idle has been replaced with a bronze monkey, because monkeys are great and very steampunk.
While I’m not 100% happy with this I’m willing to call it a day simply because it works. Maybe when I have free time I’ll go crazy with a steampunk Jones design that has all sorts of crazy design upgrades. But until then, enjoy this beauty.
This piece took about 7 hours to make. All the lines were created using Adobe Illustrator CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet. The color, texture and shading were done using Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 with a touch/pressure sensitive Intuos 4 tablet.
- Dustin Reese