PSF-NickGuy vs. Slam:Batman and Robin

[NickRocks]

Slam

http://www.oneminutestudios.com/penciljack/batmanrobin.jpg

NickGuy

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/NickGuy_2006/Batmanandrobinfighting.jpg

[NickRocks]

ugh just realized that i didnt set an end date. can a mod fix that pls k thx.

[NickRocks]

interesting piece slam, wouldve loved to see it finished! like how we both used splatter, lolz.

I went with a cartoony, kirbyesque DK2 style, so its interesting to go up against what you brought. robin and batman seem to be in two seperate pics here...i can almost hear batman going "stop posing and HELP ME, boy!" lol. your batman has a wedgie, and joker is wearing such baggy clothes lol. i wish your batman wouldve been as nice as your robin, that couldve been epic.

:)!

[alfred183]

Slam! That's so awesome!! Got my vote.

Nick, I love the hair on your Robin's legs. lol

Great job to both!

[NickRocks]

lol yeah, i chose the end scene of DK2 for my piece.

[slam]

Yeah my piece came together by coincidence. I drew Batman hitting Joker as a sketch but i really liked it, so I went with it, then only had the corner for Robin to fill. I was thinking of widening the angle so I could fit Robin fighting Harley, but no time. Oh and yeah Batman forgot to put on his underpants so it's a bit tight ;)
I like the platters in yours. I should've done some aswell for the blood instead of just drawing them.

I normally only draw my own creations, but this was really fun! Now I'm hooked, want to do more of these :D

[thordad]

WOW , wildly different takes on these characters.

My only problem with each of these pieces is Robin .

Slams Robin I dont understand how he fits into the picture ( though beautifully rendered)
Nicks Robin the face kills for me what was another wise very interesting Robin
THat said you both had kick butt Bat Man
My votes going to have to go to Slam on this one.

[alfred183]

FYI, an afro-Robin may have gotten my vote :D

[NickRocks]

Nicks Robin the face kills for me what was another wise very interesting Robin .

hes supposed to be a grown up...hence the older face and hairy legs.

[Popninja]

For me, the left bicep on Nick's Batman killed any possibility of me being able to vote for his piece. I just can't get past it. I get the whole Miller-esque vibe you shoot for in most of your work, but every once in a while, when you're just arbitrarily brushing that ink on, you have to step back and check to make sure things are going right. That bicep is just 317 kinds of wrong. And yeah, Robin's face doesn't help either.

I voted for slam. Good piece. Not perfect, by any stretch. The only off thing for me is that I don't believe Batman's right arm, if pulled back, would actually go past his ass.

[Anubis2kx]

I get where you're coming from Pop...also...what happened to Batman's other glove (right hand)??? Robin's hands are way out of proportion too.

[slam]

For me, the left bicep on Nick's Batman killed any possibility of me being able to vote for his piece. I just can't get past it. I get the whole Miller-esque vibe you shoot for in most of your work, but every once in a while, when you're just arbitrarily brushing that ink on, you have to step back and check to make sure things are going right. That bicep is just 317 kinds of wrong. And yeah, Robin's face doesn't help either.

I voted for slam. Good piece. Not perfect, by any stretch. The only off thing for me is that I don't believe Batman's right arm, if pulled back, would actually go past his ass.
Damn you pop. Now that I notice his albow passing his ass, I cant stop noticing it! I need to start drawing anatomy daily.

[NickRocks]

I get where you're coming from Pop...also...what happened to Batman's other glove (right hand)??? Robin's hands are way out of proportion too.

thats the point...did you read DK2? :confused:

[spidey976]

I get where you're coming from Pop...also...what happened to Batman's other glove (right hand)??? Robin's hands are way out of proportion too.

Hmmmm ... it looks like Nick forgot to ink that right hand eh???

Sorry Nick ... I couldn't help myself ... ;). Nick and I had a discussion about this in his blog ... that is a style choice where we bumped heads ... lol.

Also, Miller exagerated the proportions in DK2 ... I think that was Nick's point.

[NickRocks]

ha! Im just going to have to scan in where i got the influence from. its from DK2, issue 2, where batman punches one of the guys in luthros tower and knocks his teeth out...its like page 8 or something.

[Popninja]

ha! Im just going to have to scan in where i got the influence from. its from DK2, issue 2, where batman punches one of the guys in luthros tower and knocks his teeth out...its like page 8 or something.

The difference being Lynn Varley's colors, which in the comic, have Batman's non-black parts of his gloves shown as blue. It works in a color piece because it's all color. In your image, Nick, it stands out and looks like you messed up.

To be honest, it doesn't look right in the comic either.

[slam]

ha! Im just going to have to scan in where i got the influence from. its from DK2, issue 2, where batman punches one of the guys in luthros tower and knocks his teeth out...its like page 8 or something.
It's always playing a difficult route if you need people to remember exact scenes from a certain issue. I don't know much about comics, I never even read a batman comic untill last week when I bought one to get some inspiration for this. I only know the bat from the movies.

[Dri]

Nick, I saw your other WIPs and it kills this tbh. I've haven't read
DK2 nor do I care too but I think your homages to Miller and Mad
hurt your art. No question you got the energy in your work but
use what you did for your Wolvy and Cap pieces.

More you and less Miller, Mad and jrjr. Or not :)

But based on that dialog I might read DK2. I think it's hilarious.

[Popninja]

Nick, I saw your other WIPs and it kills this tbh. I've haven't read
DK2 nor do I care too but I think your homages to Miller and Mad
hurt your art. No question you got the energy in your work but
use what you did for your Wolvy and Cap pieces.

More you and less Miller, Mad and jrjr. Or not :)

But based on that dialog I might read DK2. I think it's hilarious.

I agree with Dri. It's one thing to be influenced. It's another thing altogether to emulate. I've watched Miller and JRJR both grow over the last 27+ years that I've been reading comics. They are both phenomenal artists, but they worked decades to get to the point they are now. You need to find your own style, Nick. I shouldn't be able to look at anything you do and automatically think Miller or JRJR.

[NickRocks]

Nick, I saw your other WIPs and it kills this tbh. I've haven't read
DK2 nor do I care too but I think your homages to Miller and Mad
hurt your art. No question you got the energy in your work but
use what you did for your Wolvy and Cap pieces.

More you and less Miller, Mad and jrjr. Or not :)

But based on that dialog I might read DK2. I think it's hilarious.

please read DK2. its in the top 3 best batman stories of all time (next to year one and DKR, of course)

as for this piece, this was more of a "just let go and have fun" type thing. the original layout was going to be killer cro, with robin looking on, but then i remembered them fighting in DK2 and changed it. i threw in the dialogue for some lols. this was a fun PSF against a fun opponent. slam definitely brought it (that robin is AWESOME) and he definitely deserves this win.

Im actually very proud of the inking on this piece. i took my time with this one (as opposed to my last batman drawoff with pop) and it came out lightyears better, IMO (http://penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94099)


I agree with Dri. It's one thing to be influenced. It's another thing altogether to emulate. I've watched Miller and JRJR both grow over the last 27+ years that I've been reading comics. They are both phenomenal artists, but they worked decades to get to the point they are now. You need to find your own style, Nick. I shouldn't be able to look at anything you do and automatically think Miller or JRJR.

you see those two? idk, everytime i look at my stuff i see too much dragonball z. Its no secret that those guys influence me big time. i went more miller-esque in this piece because i thought it would be more fun. apparently that hurt me more then helped me. i will remember this in future draw-offs.

[ScottEwen]

NickGuy, take this with the spirit in which it's intended, but I think all of the artwork I've seen from you has been sloppy and rushed. I can't think of a single piece of your art I've ever seen that looked like anything more than a quick sketch. Even your finished comic pages look like thumbnail roughs.

I think what you need to be concerned with at this point, more than anything else, is slowing down and taking your time. Plan out your compositions, sketch your figures in and go over them a couple times to perfect the anatomy before doing the finished details, and above all, draw some backgrounds.

[NickRocks]

NickGuy, take this with the spirit in which it's intended, but I think all of the artwork I've seen from you has been sloppy and rushed. I can't think of a single piece of your art I've ever seen that looked like anything more than a quick sketch. Even your finished comic pages look like thumbnail roughs.

I think what you need to be concerned with at this point, more than anything else, is slowing down and taking your time. Plan out your compositions, sketch your figures in and go over them a couple times to perfect the anatomy before doing the finished details, and above all, draw some backgrounds.


i know, and ive been pushing myself for that. I dont know if anyones noticed, but Ive been putting backgrounds in every piece since the wolverine one, even (http://penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94615) if its just (http://penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94804) a minimal (http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95474) one. (http://penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94511) its not much, but i think its a vast improvement over what id been doing before. (http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/NickGuy_2006/Scan0002-45.jpg)

the thing i like about my tablet is i dont waste paper...which allows me to re-work things a million times over and if i dont like it, i delete the layer.

but thanks for taking the time to comment and crit though, guys. :) It will definitely be taken into consideration in future drawings. right now im working on layouts for my piece for my PRM with asaru

[slam]

I love your attitude Nickguy, a true artist with heart. I have to say that I really enjoyed this. I set myself to test on a black and white piece and I really pushed myself fully. So of course I am happy with the reward.
Looking through your sketchbook there's a lot of cool stuff. I'm especially fond of your robot type designs. Since they are very linear it suits your stylized approach. In most of your drawings you are looking for an energetic and dynamic piece, wich is the real power behind your succes in PJ.
I agree you have areas to work on. You are a bit let down by your knowledge of anatomy. I do notice that the pieces you do a background in are a lot more succesfull. I think it makes you take more time and in general feels more finished.
Now do what I am doing at the moment, take 15 minutes every day to sketch some poses here. (http://www.posemaniacs.com/) and you'll be improving in time.
Anyway thanks for the challenge, great prep against Deth.

[NickRocks]

no problem man! I usually engage in these street fights as a warmup for a monthly fight or tournament fight.

[Turtle Boat]

slam's illustrations are always top notch, bt something about nickguy's dialogues jst made me give the vote to him.

[Dri]

slam's illustrations are always top notch, bt something about nickguy's dialogues jst made me give the vote to him.

Ditto. Plus Slam's Batman and Joker are not any particular artist's
versions or anything I've seen in a story arc. Also the composition
seems to showcase Bat's ass. Just too many weird foreshortening
issues for me although it is inked well.

[slam]

Ditto. Plus Slam's Batman and Joker are not any particular artist's
versions or anything I've seen in a story arc. Also the composition
seems to showcase Bat's ass. Just too many weird foreshortening
issues for me although it is inked well.
Yes, I felt that Batman's ass is one of the most overlooked elements in the Batman comics. I really thought I'd pay tribute to it here :D
And I agree, there's lots of issues with the foundation of this drawing. My motto is, I don't care as much what I draw as how I draw it. Thanks for the feedback votes and crits guys. Nothing worse then posting an image and nobody saying a word. It's not about winning these things, it's about learning how to improve my work for the next piece. No more asses ;)