Model + spandex

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

Okay, so I have no freehand artistic talent at all, but I'm not bad at mucking about with Photoshop. Of late I've been working on superheroines - all based on photos of the same model, because I've got a bunch of photos of her with universal soft light and pure white backgrounds (i.e. very easy to muck about with in Photoshop), and as the guy in My Fair Lady says, I've grown accustomed to her face. I guess it's a bit eccentric to have a collection of superheroines all with the same face (rather like that guy in The Living Daylights, with all the statues) but it wouldn't be the first time it's been pointed out that I'm odd. (For those curious, she's Aria Giovanni - typically nekkid in front of a camera, but safe for work/kiddies in all these pics thanks to the magic of Photoshop.) Anyway, onward.

First one I did, Ms Marvel. A bit rough around the edges, but it turned out well enough, and I enjoyed the effort. The sash was edited in (and yes, I should have done it better, with shadows and stuff - we live and learn), but the rest was created from scratch - I think the lightning bolt turned out pretty neat.



Next up, Spider-Woman - not a character I've read much about (I had to Google for reference pics), but for some reason she just popped into my head when I thought about who to do next. I think she turned out a bit 'flat-colour-y,' but I was still learning.



This was one I really enjoyed turning out, especially the stitching on her costume, and the flares on her boots and gloves. The cape and that cord attached to her shoulder armour are edited in, the rest is newly-created. The soles of her boots could've used more work, admittedly.



Obviously there was no way I wasn't going to do a She-Hulk image, even though the muscular physique is missing.



I just discovered the images-per-post limit, so I'll continue next post.

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

Trying something new, and more complicated, Songbird. The metal on her belt and shoulders isn't really convincing, but I think it looks kinda neat regardless. Also the first time I tried messing about with her hair colour, because you can't possibly have Songbird without the distinctive white-and-red 'do. I love how the wings look in the comic, but they're just too stylised when combined with a photo - I guess if there's ever a Thunderbolts movie, they'll redesign the way her powers look.



A simple one next - but really, how complicated can you get on the costume, when it's the Fantastic Four? I never quite found a background I liked - it's trying to suggest cosmic energy, or something along those lines.



This one I did just because I liked the mask when I saw it in Front Line - luckily it turned out she was also in Masked Intentions, so I had a couple of pics for reference already.



At about this point I did a Bomb Queen image, but I won't post it here in case anyone's browsing with their kiddies around (Queen fans will know her waistline is so low it's practically a thighline). It's been posted in the Bomb Queen thread, in the Image Comics forum, which no kids should be reading in any case. It's Bomb Queen, for crying out loud...

Anyway, onwards and oceanwards, another character I've never followed, but I just found her look remarkably striking in Civil War #1. In memory...

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

I've never been much of an X-Men reader, but I really liked the design of Sage's costume when I first saw her. I think the glasses turned out pretty neat, too. I was considering trying to add in her shoulder cloak thingy, but I decided against it.



Another one that just looks damn striking, even though I've never read her title - I guess I just like women in purple and glasses. The scarf around her neck is a bit ick, but it was my first real try at creating a cloth from scratch.



I wanted to try something more 'classic,' and I had an X-Men annual floating around for reference, hence this. I wondered about working on the skin tone (one of the drawbacks of working with only one basis model), but decided against it - it wouldn't really work in her face with that bone structure, and we all know Storm's really African anyway.



Now this was one I'd wanted to try for some time, because I adore her from the movies (well, 1 and 2, at any rate). But all those scales looked like a pain in the butt, and I never liked her white dress comic look. Then I pulled out the poster book that came with her Marvel Legends action figure, and found this. I don't really think it's one of the better images I've done, but I couldn't not have a Mystique pic.

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

This one I did by request - Elektra's trademark head scarf is missing because I'm still not that confident creating totally new picture elements (not really happy with her loincloth there either), and because I just don't like how it looks. Seriously, if she didn't wear it, I'd probably have bought a few TPBs by now...



Another favourite - there's no way (at the moment, at least) I could create the shaggy fur she had around her forearms and shins in her 2002 miniseries (which is awesome, y'all), but her current sleeker look I could manage (even if she does look a bit like Were-Garfield with those stripes - and is it just me, or does that shading make her look like Charisma Carpenter? Weird). Of course, comic artists have the luxury of posing her in such a way that they don't have to show how her bikini bottoms fit over her tail...



And this one I just finished today, out of a desire to do something more diverse. Given the nature of her and all, I reinterpreted Binary's flame effects as solar flares - I think it works with the stellar theme. Plus, it looks more like energy, and less like her limbs are on fire.



Well, that's it from me for now, but of course I'll be back to add any new images I turn out. Let me know what you think :)

[Kaos]

That's sick.yo if I give you a pic can you do me in Invincible's costume.

please

lol

[howyadoin]

Another favourite - there's no way (at the moment, at least) I could create the shaggy fur she had around her forearms and shins in her 2002 miniseries (which is awesome, y'all), but her current sleeker look I could manage (even if she does look a bit like Were-Garfield with those stripes - and is it just me, or does that shading make her look like Charisma Carpenter? Weird). Of course, comic artists have the luxury of posing her in such a way that they don't have to show how her bikini bottoms fit over her tail...

Mee-yow.

.

[Fenix]

you´re fan of Aria or just fit the suit? ;)
Interesting work by the way. Did you paint all yourself or did you use images as textures?

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

First up, I did some minor modifications to Binary - I realised after finishing that one that I'd taken the original (flat) reference pic kind of literally, and forgot to wrap the solar flare effects around the back of her limbs. So there's some extra work on her thighs now, a couple of minor flares that go behind them. Anyhoo...

Kaos: Thanks (sick is good, right?) Invincibles, you mean the Incredibles? Or something else I'm not aware of. If you could point me towards some reference pics I could take a shot at it.

Howyadoin: Hell yeah :p I've never understood why Tigra has that bikini, though - she's got fur, it's not like she couldn't just be drawn 'naked' without revealing anything you can't reveal in an Avengers comic. Oh well...

Fenix: Like I said, I've grown accustomed to her. I've actually had the primary pure-light white-background set of photos of her for years, for miscellaneous photoshop work, whenever I needed a female body or part thereof for a pic for some reason. I just got used to her face :p That said, she's certainly got the kind of figure that comic artists just love to draw.

Almost everything in those pics (aside from the backgrounds) is the model, recoloured and reshaped - everything that's contoured to the body, and the costume parts I could extend out from there, like the thingy around Storm's shoulders, Power Girl's glove and boot cuffs, or the metal on Songbird's armour. I don't really have a good eye for non-technical detail, so I keep drawing-from-scratch to a minimum - the only things I draw from scratch are the parts that don't contour-conform at all to any existing body part, like Elektra's loincloth, Tigra's tail, Hawkeye's scarf, that kind of thing.

Anyway, here's another couple. I figured seeing as I'd already done Carol Danvers' current Ms Marvel costume, and her Binary appearance, I should complete the set with her original costume (deliberately omitting her gridiron-armour-stormtrooper Warbird suit, which I find pretty godawful).



And secondly, Arachne - I've never actually read a comic starring her, but her guest appearances in She-Hulk (vol.1 #10) and recently in Ms Marvel #6 brought her to my attention. I think she's got one of the really distinctive, 'perfect' looks in comics - the dark navy and white of her costume, plus the copper hair, the simple design, it's stunning.

[Sophisticated_Gamer]

i think it was very cold, when ms hulk posed :D...tee heee

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

i think it was very cold, when ms hulk posed

Oh yeah, she's a perky girl :D I actually don't think the physique is right for She-Hulk, the final image doesn't say 'She-Hulk' to me, aside from the obvious fact that it's her costume and she's green. But them's the breaks of doing something so odd as photoshopping every superheroine you can think of, all based on the same model :p There was no way I was not going to have a She-Hulk picture, anyway.

Got another couple. First up, the heroine of a miniseries I picked up yesterday on a whim. It's not bad - plot's a bit ho-hum - but there's something goofily endearing about a comic that plays the eye candy card this much. I think back to the days when Sara Pezzini's clothes got shredded every single time she used the 'blade, and that still seems subtle compared to Avengelyne.



And this is my tribute to the hotness that is Maria Hill (even though most fans seem to hate her). By coincidence I got the three-issue Kitty Pryde: Agent of SHIELD set yesterday too, but I'd already planned this one out. I was inspired to try a Steranko-style background by the homage coming up in She-Hulk #14 - man that stuff is harder than it looks, it's only vaguely what I was hoping for (I should've left more white space, for one), but here it is anyway:

[Sophisticated_Gamer]

Do you like own an agency, or is this like your hobby?

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

No, it's just a hobby - I make my crusts (on those rare occasions when I do) as a writer. Photoshopping is just something I do to have fun while I'm not writing - I did a little simple page layout work at university for my club, and then did the first two seasons of Watchers as Art Director, which was a pretty good crash course on photomanipulation - when all you've got is Buffy screencaps and whatever you can download, and the latest script calls for several hundred slayers battling hundreds of thousands of demons, you get inventive :p (Mind you, I shouldn't complain - I was responsible for writing most of the 'budget-breaking' stuff like that.)

Here's another couple. First up, Dark Phoenix - at least, a version of her. I haven't read the story (not much of an X-Fan really, aside from the first two movies), and none of the art I found online for reference matched the Marvel Select action figure I've got on my shelf. So I just based her on the action figure :D



And secondly, one that's occupied my attention for the past couple of days - the entire female complement of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as seen in the current Supergirl/Legion title.

[kudlaty_true]

Oh. My. Friggin. God.
I love this, I love this, I love this...
Man, I love you. (well, your skills, actually) but this is, like, my darkest fantasy come true, to see one of these models to pose as some heroines.
Youre great. Man, please oh please oh please make Mary Jane here. And Black cat, from spider-man. Aria Giovanni have the necessary 'atributes' to look like both.
Hehe, Do them both in one pic:D

Uhm, sorry for the excitement, but when I see your work, it's like the inner child... well, a teenager in me just can't believe what he sees.
You know, that people actually pay for something like this?

[Kaos]

invincible..the image comic, by robert kirkman and ryan ottely...

google it

he'llpop up

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

Kudlaty_true, thanks. I've added Black Cat to my list (which is extensive, but depends on my whims). Did Mary Jane ever have a costume, or anything like that? It'd be a bit dull to just have her in civvies. Wasn't some alternate version of her a Spider-Woman at one stage? That'd work for me...

Kaos: Oh, I remember, I've seen that - a Free Comic Book Day compilation a couple of years ago had an Invincible segment, I'll see if I can find it.

Anyhoo, here's some new stuff. First off, one I've wanted to try from day one, Witchblade. This is a bit hit-and-miss, but the complexity of the process of creating the metal armour means it's unlikely I'll ever revisit the concept. I think the armour on her body, and especially her leg, could've been a lot better - on the other hand, her arm turned out exactly as I'd wanted.
(I hope that's okay to post - there's no actual nakedness, but you know Witchblade, she loves to skirt close to the line...)

Second up, Helen Parr, better known as the incredible Elastigirl:


Something from Marvel's cosmic-scale pantheon, Infinity:

(It's a nice thought that the spatial fabric of the universe is a hottie.)

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