Starfire Sketch

I really really really can't draw hair. It's a failing of my already meager art skills, and I picked a sketch subject just to face that whirlpool. I don't consider this sketch a triumph over hair, but a step in that direction.

Starfire here was introduced in the early '80s reboot of DC's Teen Titans, the sidekick supergroup. This was seen as DC's answer to Marvel's X-Men, which was beginning its ascent to THE franchise for Marvel for the next 20 years. I happened to get into regular comic reading just as New Teen Titans was launched, and I followed the book for a good while. Starfire -- the tall orange alien in a purple bikini -- may have had a great deal to do with that.

I should note that artist George Perez got around her giant head of hair (which he designed) by drawing it as an amorphous blob with random curls breaking its contours.

Next time: action poses!

Magneto Sketch

I doodled this out a few days ago.

It knew it was somewhat of a static pose, but I hoped I could build a mood as I fleshed it out. That just didn't happen. It's stale. His right arm adds nothing to the composition, and the expression is blank.

This has more drama. The pose and eye contact engage the audience, and the foreshortening adds depth despite the lack of background. That thumbs's clunky, but the helmet lighting came out pretty well.The fabric definition is mild, but for a sketchbook inked doddle, I can live with that.