Thread by @SavageSmallwood

Some folks were wondering about the "Apologies to Darcy" on the cover to Human Target 2. That's a reference to Ernest "Darcy" Chiriacka, a mid century illustrator I swiped from for the cover.

The man peeking out from behind the woman is a motif I've seen before in 50/60s illustration (this one is Coby Whitmore) but Darcy's was just too perfect not to steal from.

I also get questions about the models for Ice and Chance. There's no one specific model other than the 3D sculpts I made myself using Sculptris. I try to steer clear from obvious actor likenesses as I ultimately found that to be distracting for readers.

That said - the swagger, abrasiveness, and disinterest I draw in Chance is hugely influenced by Ralph Meeker's Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly. I think of his performance a lot when I'm drawing Chance.

Back to the cover for issue 2. How about some process? The Bewitched vibe is intentional. In addition to Darcy, I was also inspired by the work of Al Parker, especially his covers for Ladies' Home Journal.

Here are my 3D models superimposed on my original concept for the cover. When tracing over reference, I stay zoomed out in order to prevent getting bogged down in details. The reference is a guide to save time, not something to be chained to.

Once I have the basic framework, I get rid of the reference, finesse the line art, and start rendering/shading on another layer. After that's done, I add some flat color.

Here's my basic approach to coloring and the brushes I use for rendering. God bless @kyletwebster and his brushes!

Next step is to do some color holds on the line art and render the colors a bit more where needed. Final step is to add the trade dress back in and clean things up.

Thanks for sticking to the end. Later today, I'll be doing a thread on ALL of my influences for The Human Target. Stay tuned.