CAPTAIN AMERICA

Lee's birthday came around again, and while I can't promise him a picture every year, I could definitely bust my ass to get him one this year. The original is an A2 satin print. It's quite impressive (if I may say so).

Lee and his wife Nicola have been incredibly supportive of my artwork over the last year. We met online playing Everquest 2 and Nicola commissioned me to draw a portrait of Lee for his birthday last year (see the post called, "Lee" about this time last year). The three of us became really good friends since.

The other cool thing about Lee is that he is one the last bastions of big-time comic book collectors. The second largest weekly buyer at Comics R Us, it's guys like him that keep the whole circus running. The perk of this for me is that he lends me heaps of comics that I wouldn't normally buy myself for a variety of reasons.

Lee's longest run is Captain America. So it was a no-brainer that Cap should be the subject of the piece. The trick was communicating Cap's elegance, straight-forwardness and dignity.

Happy birthday Lee! Thank you again for all your support. Wait til you see Nicola's present!

TECHNIQUE: He's a line drawing (see above) which is actually incredibly simple. With a painted grey toned background for his form. The chain mail is a texture I found on the web and then built it to cover his body. It's actually two layers (a multiply layer and a 50% overlay). The shield is a compact disc texture that I found that I then painted over and smoothed out to become the curve and shine of his shield. I'm especially proud of this effect.