Are you kidding??!?!!?

Ugh. A three-way tie. AAAAARGH.

Anyone have ideas?

-B

STEEL – Just a beautiful piece, Steel. I love the pose, the white background, the way the image is off-center, which emphasizes the action (the camera can’t keep up) and the coloring, I think, is really getting solid. I want to see you work a little more on proportions and how the different parts of the body are sized in relation to one another (hands in relation to head, for instance). You continue to impress me each week. Keep this up!

KNIGHT – I love that you’re working in more action. It is great to see you move beyond having the figure posed and swinging through the buildings is certainly a good direction to go. I love the God-rays coming off the moon, too. That’s a really cool touch! I want you to watch how you’ve sized the character, though. I don’t want you to go backward to what you used to do. Think about it this way: This image is about Batgirl, so she NEEDS to be the star of the image, the main focal point. I also want to get you a new inking brush for Photoshop. Please talk with me and I’ll hook you up with something better. Great work and I’m proud of you for pushing your poses and adding more action!

JOE – I really like your attention to detail, working in the buckles, the eyes of the boots and even the stitching on the boots. I love it. And, Joe, you are REALLY bringing the beautiful female faces! The way you draw the female form is pretty solid, but these faces are just great. Keep it up! I know you like Michael Turner–maybe try checking out and referencing some of how he handled the female proportions. He did a fantastic job. It may help you level-up the females you draw just a bit more. In terms of some suggestions for this particular piece–watch out for things like how the hands overlap. It looks enough like they’re holding hands to seem intentional, but also somewhat accidental. Also, it can help to think of the hands, limbs, the angles of a body like arrows that lead the eye. With Batgirl’s leg, this creates a lot of angles off the piece. A good way to fix this is to use a big, clumsy brush to rough in your forms…something that will generally map out where everything will be in the final. Also, I think the shadow on the ground is a little confusing. You went very graphic with the guys in the background and I think it works. I think you could have gone more graphic and less literal with the shadow you used to ground your characters. This is a very cool piece!

NEWBOLD – I’m really glad someone did the Cassandra Cain Batgirl. I really like the action of the piece and your attention to detail. Some of the forms, like the utility belt, I think could have been left white(not filled with black), so you could have a little more contrast. I think putting some kind of lines–at first, I was thinking inside the cape that is hanging down behind her, but now I think maybe a bolder line around its outline (like you did around her figure) and just leave it open would be better. Also, her right thing and crotch area seem bulky and off in a way. I’m curious how you block in your forms when you’re doing roughs for your pieces. Do you use the circles and line skeleton, or do you kind of rough out a silhouette?

Joe, thanks so much for very kind words! I’m really glad you liked this piece this week. I ended up being a lot more rushed than I like. I’ll keep pushing, though. I really appreciate your feedback. I want to get more crazy expressive action in my work.

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to write out your thoughts,
-B

Ok. I’ve looked everywhere for Honor’s entry, but can’t find it. So I’m opening the polls now.
Good luck!

-B

Ugh. Not my best effort.

But…Batgirl!

-B

HOLY SMOKES, BATMAN! These are FANTASTIC!
I’m going to leave this open a little longer. I was up all night with sick kids…didn’t get any drawing done. I know, I know…I’m terrible. But maybe some more people will enter this way. Extending the deadline isn’t the habit I want to get in to, but I need it this week.

-B

Done! Batgirl, it is. I’ll set that up shortly.

-B

Wow! That’s certainly one way to make an entrance, Lily! Great work!

I truly wish I could have voted for everyone. I mean that. I’ll try to get some thoughts and suggestions posted later today. I just want to say, though, I love seeing the different artistic perspectives. Truly.

What’s next, Lily? 🙂

-B

Welcome, Lily! Glad to have you on the boards.

Glad to have everyone on this week. This will be fun to see who wins.

The polls are open.

GOOD LUCK!

-B