#wacky reference wednesdays

This detail from my Justice League: Classic print features a flexing Plastic Man. He was probably the fastest to paint: no feet, not much clothing, and if the drawing was incorrect, I could just say he was stretching :)

I had sculpted a Vision head in ZBrush for an earlier project, but I’ve ended up using it for just about everything. At the time, I was using Marmoset 3D for rendering (which is fantastic) but I’d like to get better at Blender, which allows both real-time renders and sculpting.

digital pencils

Just a quick post today: Martian Manhunter didn’t change a whole lot from the Modern version. In fact, I can’t even find any sketch layers in the PSD. Maybe I just started painting? The final pose isn’t very different from my reference, so perhaps I was just winging it. I did do a quick ZBrush sculpt to get those brows just right, rendered in Marmoset Toolbag. The cape reference was actually for a different character, but I did refer to it occasionally.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (Classic). 2021. Photoshop, 14 × 20″ @ 600 ppi.

 Here’s another detail from my Justice League: Classic print. Hawkman replaced Hawkgirl from the Modern version, so the wings were much the same, although I did brighten them up a bit to match the lighter tone. This time around, I had much better models (including texture maps) from 3DScanStore.com, as well as fantastic rendering software, Marmoset Toolbag. I sculpted the helmet in ZBrush and pasted it onto a head I had previously made. Marmoset has a library of 3D backgrounds that wrap around the models and create realistic lighting situations — this is especially useful with reflective surfaces. Below is an “exploded” view of the finished product, with each layer in Photoshop offset to reveal the process.