Showing posts with label Project Rooftop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Project Rooftop. Show all posts

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Reaching for the Stars (also Wonder Woman)

At the start of the month, Project Rooftop, a website known for redesigning classic superhero costumes, but recently has been having theme posts for various comic characters.
At the start March, they announced that they were doing a theme post for Wonder Woman. This seemed like a good opportunity not only to have some fun with an iconic character but to have some new people see my work. Not wanting to merely feature the famed heroine against a featureless background, so I began brainstorming what kind of situations I could draw.

My first idea involved Diana in a situation that was less "fish out of water" and more "big fish in a small pond, which her attending a classy museum exhibit featuring ancient Greek artifacts (perhaps an a exhibit on the Amazons themselves), with Wonder Woman in costume, standing between some bemused visitors, pointing to, or perhaps picking up an item from the display (a piece of pottery or something) and talking about it with some experience or memory.

For a time I briefly considered having her converse with some famous statues in a museum setting, as originally she was a clay figure given life and power by the Greek Pantheon. Perhaps she could try and get in on the Three Grace's circle or make a joke about how the Venus Callipyge is always talking out her ass.

This idea didn't really seem to go anywhere, so I started considering some other options. These days with movies like The Dark Knight and the New 52 Reboot, comic book heroes have been geared towards more contemporary origins that can be "related to" by the reader, so I thought I'd make a effort to feature the character's titanic strength through a comparison to some force of nature.


I started adding color in these roughs too, like this one of Wonder Woman scattering stars in the sky.



However, I thought scattering stars like seeds would be more appropriate for Superman, who grew up on a farm. Then I remembered how the Greeks believed that the sky was a velvet dome, and the stars were holes to let in light in the evenings. So I hit on the idea of Wonder Woman literally cutting holes out of the sky with a pair of scissors, with the sunset producing red rays the resembled the American flag's red stripes to match the five point stars of her patriotic roots in World War II.

Unfortunately, I think it may be an idea thats ambitious beyond my present ability, as attempting to polish up the rough has been exceptionally frustrating.

While its great to have an impetus for such ideas (especially ones that are more surreal and fantastical than my usual fare) , at this rate, I'm not going to make the deadline and may have to revisit these concepts at another time.


Friday, July 27, 2012

Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward Final!

Hey Guys! Thank you to everyone who contributed their suggestions towards my entry for Project Rooftop's Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward contest. So low and behold, here is my new look for Marvel's Cosmic Quartet:



A big thank you goes out to Brian Kane for his invaluable suggestion about altering the logo. I was quite proud of my design which used the letter "F" turned on its side to create the number "4" as well, but his  recommendation of intersecting the two, opened all sorts of possibilities with positive and negative space, not to mention made the whole thing more compact. Not to mention it kind of looks like a cross between the Facebook "F" (with the white character in a blue box) and the Apple Logo with a piece removed from the whole and repositioned on top.

This was a lot of fun for me, and hope you enjoy as well.

Yes. I can illustrate for you. I'm a traditional illustrator and can help you achieve your goals through art. Learn how to work with me at www.erikjohnsonillustrator.com 

Friday, July 20, 2012

First Glimpse for Fashion Forward

Greetings Fellow Artists! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been occupied by a handful of small projects lately that have been competing for my attention. The recent heatwave and a house with no air conditioning hasn't helped much either.

As much as I like to be a showman, and present my projects when they're finished, I thought I'd provide a sneak peek at the projects thats been consuming my time for the past couple weeks.

Lately, I've been working on an entry for Project Rooftop's "Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward" Contest.
Basically I'm looking to redesign the classic costumes of Marvel's First Family their fifty plus years in print!

Heres a rough idea of what I've developing for my submission


For me the Fantastic Four have been explorers and adventurers rather than urban crimefighters, so I came up with this idea for a cross between Star Trek and Super Sentai uniforms. I figured that since the FF would be first response to giant monster attacks or anything weird or science related in New York that their uniforms should have an easily identifiable top portion. When people see those white collar/shoulders they know that help is on the way. Also there new logo is on the right just above breast level.

These suits do not contain the increasing popular stitch lines, because I just don't like to draw them, and I especially wouldn't if I had to draw them on tight deadlines. Plus I always figured Reed Richards' unstable molecule suits that allow their clothes to adapt to their powers would be unique in their nature so that they can be manufactured to fit the wearer and not have the need to sew different pieces together. The only break in the suits that you can see here is the zipper that allows Sue to adjust her skirt for comfort as well as mobility.

In the final drawing I should probably address that there is are zippers running along the back of the suit as well as on the backs of the gloves and boots. A belt buckle will also be located from behind, because the contest is called "Fashion Forward", so I figure that utility should be in the back. haha.


  
With the contest deadline in less than two weeks, I thought I'd put out feelers on first impressions and thoughts on how I might be able to improve on these designs. I know I want redraw Reed and Sue actually using their powers, but from a design perspective I'm concerned that my ideas haven't fallen far from enough from the tree. I stuck with the FF's White and Blue color scheme from the '80s because they are calm and reassuring colors, representing the team's position as a more idealistic corner of the Marvel Universe, however I still seem to be sticking pretty close to the classic/simple collar-belt-gloves-boots design. 

Would padded knees and elbows be a help or a hinderance to their look? Would they look better with running shoes rather than boots? Should Reed even wear a belt or boots since he body's stretch powers don't limit him to a traditional psychical structure?

I'm starting to get a narrowed imagination, looking at this project by myself for so long and put it you dear viewers, what would suggest I do to improve and truly make Marvel mine?

Closing as the Man himself did, Excelsior True Believers!

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