CGAN July 2016 - The Star Spangled B*stard - WIPs

The Star Spangled B*stard Cover

Brief: To celebrate our second anniversary this month your brief is a mashup of 2 suggestions by em... and HansNomad in the suggestions thread .

Create the cover art for (an imaginary) CG Art Nexus Magazine using the template provided. The cover should depict the Star Spangled B*stard, a Captain America style hero gone bad for the lead article of the mag.

Template download: cgartnexus.com/images/cgartnexus/tempfil...N_Cover_Template.psd



Deadline: Sunday 31st of July at midnight GMT.

This is where you post your WIPs, Final entries should be posted over here: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/current-...angled-b-stard-final

Challenge rules and guidelines:
cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...s/39-challenge-rules

Rules in brief:

• All challenge entries must be your own work.
• You should post at least two WIP images that are clearly different from your final entry and each other.
• Your final entry should contain your image (inserted so it shows up full size) and at least two links to your WIP posts on the forum.
• No chatter in the finals thread – if you have questions, post them in the WIP thread or PM an admin.
• Feedback is allowed & encouraged together with the voting and in the WIP thread.
• Deadline is given in UK time (midnight GMT) with a grace period of 5 minutes for getting the post sorted.
• Each member may cast one vote
• No cheating! Admins may decide to disqualify an entry that does not adhere to the above rules.

I don't know much about Marvel comic book stories. Let me think... A Captain America style anti-hero?
Hmm...
If only there was some kind of recent news story that involved nationalism, an apparently popular figure turning bad, lies and corruption, a series of betrayals, and some kind of flag with stars on it...
Nope, can't think of anything.

Wait, what's that you say? Captain Brexit?
Surely that would never work. No-one would buy that magazine even if it was an anniversary issue!

I'll give this one a go as I may not be on here for a while going forward (lots going on at work with a major reorganization). Don't know if I will have time to finish (and hopefully I can stay employed), but this one sounds like too much fun to pass up.

My concept is a character somewhere between The Punisher and The Comedian from the Watchmen. I figured why not take two of the most famous anti-heros as my inspiration. Got some quick sketches down trying to get a pose, but nothing I think is worth posting yet. I want to give him a pseudo superhero look, but keep him gritty.

I was thinking of a Captain Brexit, but he appears to be taken...

hansnomad wrote: I was thinking of a Captain Brexit.

Feel free to go with it, I wasn't claiming it exclusively as my own. It just seemed hilariously appropriate when I read the theme.

First doodle.

Valence wrote:

hansnomad wrote: I was thinking of a Captain Brexit.

Feel free to go with it, I wasn't claiming it exclusively as my own. It just seemed hilariously appropriate when I read the theme.

Thanks, but I was just kidding. I didn't really think of doing that. I think it's a great idea though--I'm really looking forward to see what you do with it.

That's a nice clean and crisp sketch, em... and it already has a comicbook feel with that inked use of blacks.
I like the asymmetric top of the head, it seems to exaggerate and complement the manic expression.

I had a few scribbles today but I'm still trying to work out how to fit things within the template.
I think I am gonna go with the topical news theme and try to do something like a political cartoon (always wanted to try one of those) involving Boris Johnson as a rather corpulent destroyer of worlds.
Hopefully I'll have something to post in a day or two when I work out the composition and format.

As I said before, I'm going much darker with this (more Dave Gibbons/Alan Moore/Punisher). Always wanted to do something like that. Wanted the character to have a homegrown type costume, not funded by a billionaire's research but more what can I get my hands on via the black market. Need to come up with a chest design for the flak vest (spray painted, of course). No fancy stitching for this anti-hero.

In his Fortress of Solitude, the Hero awaits...

Hansnomad: I feel like a stuck record saying this, but that's another fantastic drawing! You seem to get it right first time every time.

Quetzal: Terrific angle. Really dynamic and should work well as a cover too. You do seem to have a good eye for picking the right viewpoint for an image. And I did laugh at that "Fortress Of Solitude". Looks very comfy indeed.

Finally got one of my scribbles to work so here is Blundering Boris as Captain Brexit running away from Europe while patriotically waving a tiny flag.







Currently in the process of trying to get a likeness, I included the reference shots for any non-UK viewers who are fortunate enough to not know who BoJo is.
I'm quite happy with the work on the main features but I definitely need to refine the outer shape of the face. I was initially going for a jowly kind of look but I think something smoother might work better.
At least this month I've got enough time to fix my numerous errors.

Edit: Just had another little go at smoothing the outer edge of the face and I think this looks better now.