| Author |
|
Joe Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6667
|
| Posted: 10 March 2008 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
Dear JB-
I am having the worst time trying to 'find' Spider-Man.
I feel like his costume elements end up in all the wrong spots,
and his mask never matches his costume, when I draw him.
Do you have any tips?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 4:52am | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
These are the tips I got from John Romita…
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Ed Love
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2712
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 7:36am | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
Until now I never realized that the webs on his gloves go in a different
direction than those on his torso if you looking at the figure with his arms
by his side.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 7:50am | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
Not just the gloves. Boots and sleeves, too. Basically, as Romita explained it to me, the curve of the scalloping is opposite to the curve of the body, otherwise it can look, as John put it, like "coffin lining".This doesn't apply to the torso, however. If done there, it becomes too obvious. Not every Spider-Man artist follows this "rule", of course. Ditko didn't, for instance. You can see the effect at work on this early Romita cover…
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Flavio Sapha
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Brazil
Posts: 12912
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 8:04am | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
I have trouble drawing Spider-Man, too. The other day, though, I felt I did a really successful drawing...as I started putting on the eyes, I felt as though I had achieved a certain frame of mind in which you put yourself in the place of the character...a bit like "acting", maybe.
Do you ever find yourself doing this? Like, you start making faces like the expression you´re drawing?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Ed Love
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2712
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 8:06am | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
I was looking at the covers on GCD and the direction on the boots
seemed to vary from cover to cover. The one you post here, it looks like
they don't even match: his right boot is frowns while his left boot is
smiles. I noticed the cover artists seem to have to cheat a little bit to
make the mask look good from 3/4 side view as well. Never paid this
close of attention to his webbing before. Wonder what Ditko was thinking
to put in a design element that would have to be tedious to draw over and
over. A wonder any artist stays on the character for any length of time.
And you gotta remember to put the cobwebs under the arms!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 8:13am | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
Wonder what Ditko was thinking to put in a design element that would have to be tedious to draw over and over.•• You'll notice the amount of webbing on the costume diminishes dramatically over the span of Steve's run!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Bruce Buchanan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 June 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4797
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
I've thought about that too, Ed -- did Ditko realize how tough this costume was going to be to draw over-and-over when he first designed it?
I guess the answer is "No." Spider-Man was basically a throwaway one-shot, so he probably didn't forsee a long tenure on the character. But the design is so good. It's definitely worth the effort, at least from a fan's perspective.
Still, it does make me admire artists who had lengthy tenures on the character like Sal Buscema, Mark Bagley, John Romita Sr. and Jr., etc. Those guys have drawn a ton of webbing in their day!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Joe Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6667
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 8:44am | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
Boy, do I feel better that everyone finds this guy hard to get right!
Thanks for your post JB.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 8:50am | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
The one you post here, it looks like they don't even match: his right boot is frowns while his left boot is smiles.•• Following "The Romita Method", it is often the case that the scallops are in different directions on opposite gloves or boots. Take a look HERE to see an example from my own work. (Note that on this one, I also changed the direction on the torso, which does not entirely work.)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Joe Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6667
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 9:11am | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
I just tried one, and apart from the glaring anatomy mistakes,
it almost seems like you need a good eye for perspective when it comes to the scaling/webbing.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Joe Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6667
|
| Posted: 11 March 2008 at 9:16am | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
I also just noticed that the lines come down from his neck and fan OUT.
I have always tried bringing them from the belt's center, and then
make them do the curve around the shoulder! What a pain!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Topic Closed)
