This was originally posted on my now-defunct creative blog.
Yet another canvas for a friend – I’m still not sure whether they say they want one just to be nice or what, but hey, it’s all good practise. Batman is the subject this time around, and if anyone can get away with just standing in the darkness looking moody, it’s Batman. The pose is strong yet relaxed, is it a moment captured after he has dealt with a gang of criminals or is he just setting off for the night? I made the moon much bigger compared to my Spider-Man picture a few months back – the moon is bigger in DC Comics? The bats flying outward add a bit of movement to the whole thing, and also to show that Batman is the master of his environment, he’s not shocked or scared by the movement behind him as he knows exactly what they are by their size and sound.
On to the man himself. I pretty much pulled his suit from thin-air – Batman is pretty iconic, and as long as the general silhouette is there, it’s all good. I felt I had to give him a traditional yellow utility belt, and making the bat symbol on his chest yellow seemed natural. I think I got the look of the suit being armoured across, using heavy angular shading on the chest and abdominal areas. I like the sharp blades on his vambraces, I enjoyed giving them a shiny, metallic look. His cape was pretty fun to paint too, sweeping sleek black, it looks weighty.
The work in progress shot shows how I ended up at the finished piece. A very rough sketch to start with to get the shape and pose, then on to blocking in colours, then shading. I’m very happy with the rain effect, both the raindrops and the effect of it hitting the surfaces – although it didn’t translate too well to the canvas as only a few drops of rain were visible. I really should take notes while I’m painting these, as I finished this piece at the end of February and the train of thought I had whilst creating it has been lost to the ravages of time.
Do you have any feelings about this? Strong or weak, positive or negative, I’d love to hear them.
This was originally posted on my now-defunct creative blog.
