He does his part! do you do yours?

"Freedom Prevails!"

Talk about making a purse out of a friggin' sow's ear... I didn't even want to post this picture, I disliked it so much. It was a sloppy mess- just sketched out, roughly, and not inked before scanning in. I thought it would make a decent "here's what I'm NOT doing" kind of post, because I never took it any farther than that quick sketch. It was still like that this evening, when I pulled it up in Photoshop. As I started adjusting the color levels (it was just a b/w sketch, but it's the easiest way to make the lines visible), the background started warping and discoloring. That was fine, I was just going to delete it when I was done. However, when I started coloring, I chose more muted colors, thinking it might look good as a 'retro' kind of picture. That's when I realized that I wasn't coloring the sketch, I was coloring a propaganda poster.

I should've known it was going too smoothly. It took about 15 minutes, if that, to color Cap. To do the rest? about two and a half hours. The biggest pain was that the original picture was much shorter; Cap hit the top and bottom of the page. So, to make room for the word, I had to extend the top and bottom of the picture; EASIER SAID THAN DONE, FRIENDS. What a pain in the ass. But, I think it came out reasonably well, since it was supposed to be a one-off.


Music: Cap's Theme Song

American Ideals

Welcome back! Hope everyone enjoyed their 3-day weekend (your time off may vary). I had an excellent time- as I always do when spending it with friends, both here and abroad.

But enough about me, let's talk about the art. It's no secret, to those who know me, that Captain America is my favorite comic book hero. He has been so ever since I picked up my first issue of his comic back in 1987- Captain America was called upon to work directly for the government, and had to choose to be told what was in America's interests, or to continue to follow what he believed was right. It sucked me in- I mean, it was loaded with action and all the appropriate melodrama for an 80's comic- but there was something about the character that really stuck with me. I think it was the idea of this person representing what America COULD be- all the best things we all love about the country- all the ideals that draw people to our country, and the reasons we love it.

Or it could've been the big freakin' shield.

Anyway, I've been faithfully following the adventures of Captain America more or less ever since then.

So, since I love the character so much, nothing like taking it and messing with it, right?

As I recall, the thinking behind this particular design was to 'modernize' the uniform. What would a 21st century Captain America wear? How could I make it look practical(ish) while still keeping it a superhero? Well, that's what I was thinking at the time. It's up to you to decide if it worked at all. I think this sketch is about 3 years old or so- not too long ago, I reapproached the idea of the modern Captain America; I post that either next post or in the near future.

Anyway, hope ya like it.

Music: "Van Diemen's Land" - U2