KING: NPR Music Field Recording

Ok so this is somewhat unrelated to my usual posts but to seg-way into it, music usually inspires my art. I stumbled upon this awesome trio, just now in fact, and I just wanted to share it with you all. These girls are the real deal

Girl vs Bat

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who had a goal of drawing a super hero. She imagined and planned her execution and worked towards her objective. Nevertheless, this hero was stubborn and didn’t seem to want to be drawn. But with a little elbow grease, the girl whipped her hero into shape and got it done.

rough sketch ©2014 B. Lewis

I’d set out to draw Batman one morning and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I did a little research and came up with a sketch of Batman perched on a gargoyle and in my mind, this was going to be badass. I did a small sketch, much smaller than the sketches I’d done for some of the previous digital paintings I’d recently completed, and as I think about it, I probably did it because I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. No problem though, I was in the zone. I scanned in that sketch and went to work. The gargoyle I drew wasn’t exactly how I’d envisioned it but I figured I’d work it out later.

The first thing I did was begin to work on batman and because this image was to be zoomed out somewhat, I didn’t worry so much about making him too terribly detailed. I was going more for atmosphere. Batman – DONE. Next I moved on to that gargoyle and as I began to take a closer look at my sketch, something was kind of off. I fumbled along and ended up turning my “Wicked Witch” looking gargoyle into something that looked more like a wolf than a gargoyle but hey, I was the creator, I could do what I wanted. So I worked and reworked that gar-wolf until finally I decided to change the game plan.

I move my Batman, same pose, to the ground and zoomed in on him. This meant that I had to detail him and make him look good. Batman – DONE (again). Next I had to decide on the background, and if you guys don’t know already, backgrounds is where I really struggle and since this was no longer the gargoyle, skyscraper scene, I had to do something different. I slept on this one. In a flash, it came to me, ‘Let’s put Batman in a dark alley’. Done! Now the final touches and I’m home free. I’d added a moon with the Batman symbol and some tiny bats and went to sign and save and that’s when it happened: CRASH, my computer stopped functioning and my file now looked like static on a cable-less television.

computer crash - this is what was left of my file

To say I was deflated would be an understatement but strangely, it didn’t upset me, it was so unbelievable that it had an air of comedy about it because surely, these things only happen on T.V.

Final Image ©2014 B. Lewis

A few hours after discovering my file had crashed, I decided to go head on and try again. Luckily, I still had my Batman and gar-wolf, which saves me on having to draw him all over again plus I knew how I wanted the background and how to achieve it so this was going to be much easier and faster than the first time. Batman – DONE, again, and this time, background -  DONE, again. Now for the tiny bat details, save and……. CRASH, again. I couldn’t believe it. This time instead of a static file, I got a black screen. I had only two days before I needed to have this thing done for the Comic Expo.

Version I took to the Comic Expo ©2014

I pondered on giving up and not worrying about it. I even thought about inking it, but deep down, I didn’t want to do any of that. So for one final push, I decided to give it a go. If it crashed this time, then I’d charge it to the game and say I tried my best.

For the third and final time, I detailed Batman, completed his background, added my details and all was right with my world because it saved. I printed it out once as I’d painted it and a second time for color correction; I’d finally conquered the Bat.

The feeling of pride and satisfaction was indescribable and from this experience, I’d learned so much. Each time I painted Batman’s details, he looked better than the previous time. Now the final product that I presented at the expo is an abbreviated version of the final product I’d created that night, but it looks amazing to me. They both do really.

I had to summon my inner C.T. Fletcher (visit his YouTube page, he’s awesome) and get the job done.