Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 409

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 409

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (Classic). 2021.
Photoshop, 14 × 20″ @ 600 ppi.

There was plenty of reference that went into my Justice League: Classic poster, so I guess I'll just keep posting a character each week. Green Arrow was one of the last figures I finished because I always dread drawing archers. There's just something about the relationship of bow to figure that always makes me second-guess myself.

When in doubt, grab your daughter's bow & arrow and walk outside! This shoot was a lot of fun (I just hope none of the neighbors saw me). I set up my phone on a tripod and said, "Hey, Google — take a selfie!" And it did. The front camera on my Pixel 5 is good enough, and I like being able to see myself on the screen to get the pose just right.

Below is my initial sketch, which was really just a reworking of my previous Justice League: Modern poster. Everyone got a makeover, and several of the characters were switched out completely. The first version is where I really learned how to mimic my traditional style using just Photoshop, but it was a trying process. There are lots of little tricks I learned along the way, but the most important rule was this: if you can't do it with real paint, don't do it with digital. I constructed this painting the same way I would approach a real painting, using opaque brushes to build up light while using transparent brushes to darken, tint, and glaze. The final effect is convincing enough, even at high resolution.

⊡ 6:30:00 AM