Cass thinks Batman has lost his mind!

I have a great deal of difficulty drawing "straight" superhero adventure stuff.  As much as I love Cass the character, I can't help but put her in ridiculous situations to explore her potential for comedy.  Even though I prefer DC's official version to feature in dark stories (as opposed to cute ones), her straightforward, no-nonsense attitude and taciturn demeanor (at least she's supposed to be taciturn, even after she learns to talk) and her unpredictability all mean she makes a wonderful comedic foil for other costumed people.  Especially ones who are her personality or skill-level opposites.  The contrast can make comedy gold.

I don't see her as telling jokes or playing the clown so much as causing other people to do so.  She herself is far too serious for that nonsense.  The other characters can gab it up and try to banter, but then Cass will glower or frown and wordlessly cut through the nonsense to make them look foolish or to punctuate a joke, or do it with some abrupt and scene-stealing action like knocking someone out without warning or leaping off a building. 

Also, slapstick is her forte.  As in, she might slap you with a stick.

This may be the first time I've ever drawn Stephanie Brown...

Maybe.  Maybe not.  I decided it was time to draw something pleasant.  Steph's having a blast, Cass is putting on a front.  Later they'll go out and beat up some thugs or do some reconnaissance work for Oracle or Batman, but for now they're just hanging out.

The bestest buddies in the whole wide world!

Cass' expression sums it up for all of us, I think. This is another in a series of fake Batgirl comic book covers I'm doing, and it's a work in progress.  Line weights to be futzed, blacks to be spotted, various things to be cleaned up and neatened, a few more details to be added and some Batman dialogue.

I'm still working the old school Cass costume, although I like the armored team look she, Steph and Tiffany Fox wear in Batgirl #1: Futures End, or, as I like to call it, Batgirl Futurama.  You've seen them by now.  All three Batgirls wear what appear to be slimmed-down costumes left over from the Robocop remake, but with Bat-family modifications.  Pointy ears, bat emblems and the like.  They're color-coded, as well.  Steph has her purple, Tiffany her pink and Cass kind of a golden hue.  Their hair pokes out the back of their masked helmets or cowls, which seems impractical but soften the look and give a continuity to the classic Batgirl look of yesteryear. 

Armor is a nod towards "realism," the kind of thinking that leads artists to add wrinkles and seams to their costume designs.  Or raised super-emblems to copy the movies.  Padded and stitched leather was the design of choice a few years ago, but now it seems that lacquer-look plate armor out of the Star Wars universe is the current thing.  That the armor then functions as if the characters were still wearing stretch-cloth bodysuits or even completely naked edges the designs back towards the fanciful.  And in the quest for trendy coolness, artists don't really seem to think things through, or else they just botch the design phase.

Out of all the New 52 super-suits, many of which look like crap to me, the updated Katana costume looks sleek and stealthy.  She's a whirlwind sword-slashing badass in her black, white and red samurai-inspired gear.  When you consider these Batgirls are non-superpowered martial artists and detectives, you might conclude they need similar protection of whatever imaginary alloy or composite make up these suits, which remind me a lot of Katana's.  It's ridiculous these Batgirls can move the way the artist depicts them while wearing such stuff, but on the other hand, they good.  They look damn good.  So we're back to the fun side of comic book costume design.  Put your characters in things that look good and we'll do the rest with our imaginations.

But... I dread drawing Cass in this suit.  It will take forever.  I'll never be happy with the way I render the black reflective surface.  I tried to do a Katana piece and her greaves kept coming out like plastic planters and I gave up.  I can see myself facing no end of frustration trying to get all these new angles and curves and little details down!  Oh, I'll no doubt give it a whirl.  No one's forcing me to, and no one really gives a rip about my art, but I'm compelled. 

In the meantime, enjoy Classic Cass and my own special blend, Doofus Batman.

Yet another Cass Cain drawing by me...

No mask, bad perspective on her belt pouches, poorly drawn cape. It started out just fine, so lovely, but I went crazy and over-worked it and lost the form. The belt pouches were just wrong right from the start. I kind of like her intense facial expression, though, and the overall line quality.

Wish I had some Cass news for you. Of course she got her obligatory mention at a recent DC panel. It followed the usual script. A fan asked about Cass-- which may now be the DC panel equivalent of the old "FREE BIRD!" joke rather than sincere interest (I don't claim I'm the first to wonder about this, either)-- and a DC staffer responded noncommittally. And I didn't bother to post any of those "she's coming back" rumors from a few months ago because I didn't give them any credence from the start. Hence nothing much going on.

  I should probably get back to writing issue-by-issue reviews of her series, but it's easier just to draw or sketch Cass. I've got about 10 more Cass drawings in various stages of development from the initial sketch concepts to rough pencils to partially inked and I'll be posting them as I finish them!

Oh... I have this vague idea for a couple of pages of Cass action. I've drawn portraits, fake covers and pin-up style pieces but I've never really done anything sequential with Cass other than a few thumbnailed pages of this Cass and Supergirl go to Apokolips idea I had a while back. That turned into a marker sketch of Cass fighting a generic Female Fury (multiple versions, none exactly finished) and a 1970s-style Supergirl versus Darkseid image (more or less a "semi-comp" rather than a completed piece). Lately I've been toying with this short fight sequence where Cass takes apart a small group of armed thugs on a Gotham City rooftop. Pretty clichéd idea, I admit.

Cass Cain says, "Peace!"

This is a little sketch I did recently.  Cass on a rooftop saying, "Peace."

Cassandra Cain Batgirl versus Mikey from "Teen-Age Strangler"

 

This is the masked version.  I'm not just a comic book fan.  I also love Mystery Science Theater 3000, and one of my favorite episodes was the one where Mike and the bots demolished Teen-Age Strangler.  As the movie's most memorable and fascinating character, Mikey bears the brunt of most of the wisecracks.  I'd already drawn him for kicks, and I didn't want to let the image go to waste.  Plus, I had a strong desire to draw something in one-point perspective.  I drew this within a comic book-sized box and left room at the top for a logo and all that good stuff, as if this were the cover of an actual comic.

 

Continuing with the comic cover mock-up them, here's an unmasked "variant."

 

 

Mikey plays himself, but a popular Japanese singer-actor plays Cass because why not?  This thing is already so silly it could hardly be made sillier.  Unless it's by coloring it, which I may do over the weekend.  Or you can, if you like.

One of my many Cass Cain costume redesigns...

This one features a helmet with a vampire bat teeth motif for the mouthpiece area.  And a katana because swords are cool.  I doubt she carries it around.  She probably picked it up after beating up someone who uses one.  No clumsy cape.  Cass doesn't need something that would just wrap around her in a fight and inhibit her movement.  No bright yellow belt with giant pouches full of junk she never uses anyway, although I imagine there's a grappling gun thing attached to the back of the more subdued belt she is wearing.  There's a self-portrait of the exhausted, disappointed artist, Cesar Romero Joker, confused Luke Skywalker and a tiny Superman hidden among the faces and figures in the background.  Actually, that's all random stuff done for inking practice.

Kinda Teen Titans...

This morning I was drawing the Hulk, then switched to drawing a line-up for what I think would be a fantastic group of Teen Titans.  It consists of Cassandra Cain (naturally, for this blog), her pal Spoiler (in the hood; I don't know how her costume works yet), the original Wonder Girl before they angsted her up then made her disappear and a very serious Supergirl as their leader.  I think it's fun to draw Supergirl with freckles, by the way.  I'd probably stick Robin, Cyborg and Changeling on the team, too.  Hellboy showed up to ask me to stop being an idiot.

Why did I draw four fingers on his hand of doom?  That really was the act of an idiot!

Today's Black Bat exercise...

I don't have a lot of time for drawing during the week, but I still try to fit some in every single day.  This drawing is based on an image I created a while back.  Every so often I learn something new about art and then revisit previous sketches/roughs and see if I can apply the new knowledge to them.  This was fooling around with a certain line quality, and then I worked on some dramatic under-lit faces and cross-hatching experiments.

You don't even want to know how long it took to ink Cass' costume!

Oh, you do?  About 10 minutes.  It's not that long, really.  It just seemed that way.  And in the end, she still has lumpy, misshapen legs I regret.

Cass Cain Batgirl ink wash sketch...

I did this yesterday.  It's Cass as Batgirl, surrounded by a bunch of faces.  Who are the people in the faces?  Some are characters from my imagination, some are characters created by others.  This isn't the best drawing I've ever done, which is obvious.  I can't even say it's a particularly good drawing by any standard.  Cass is kind of anatomically disproportioned and I put about three different light sources on her face because I was playing around.  But I like this drawing because I learned something valuable from it.  Something exciting!

Batgirl versus Stubing progress!

This is all I managed to accomplish last night.  There's my photo reference for the hallway tacked up to the left.  The guys know someone's inside that room, rummaging around the ship's files, but they don't know it's Batgirl!  Gopher, Doc and Isaac run away, but Stubing stands his ground as a captain should, and gets kicked for his troubles.  But don't worry-- Cass didn't hurt him.  She held back most of her kicking power.  She's demonstrating visually why no one should interfere with her.  That's why she chose such a spectacular move in a confined space rather than just choking out Stubing, which wouldn't have the same psychological impact.

I still need to add the doors along the walls and some of the paneling.  Then I'll start fixing the figures, adjusting their proportions here and there and adding details, plus working on the Stubing likeness a bit more.  I haven't decided how I'm going to resolve this-- simple and a little cartoony the way it appears now, or hyper-detailed and realistic.  I'm not a big fan of photo realism, but once I start adding lines I tend to work in that direction.  Digital inking also lends itself to that style.

Cass Cain Batgirl versus Captain Stubing!*

Here's my next fiasco.  First, the rough pencils.  Very rough.  It doesn't really matter how rough since I'm inking this myself and I'll be doing most of the actual drawing in that phase.  Mistakes become apparent with a quick glance, but that's to be expected.  Lots of anatomy to fix on the figures and to figure out on Stubing's uniform.  I'll be fixing the ceiling and the doors, too.  Notice how the doors don't line up correctly on opposite sides!  I'm thinking about doing a diamond pattern on the hallway carpet, but I'll need to check some Love Boat photo reference to see if that's appropriate.  It would be very nice if the Pacific Princess sports simple single-color carpet!

Here's the first stage of inking, blocking in the figures and background.  I do this digitally in Adobe Illustrator because I've never been happy with my skills (lack of, actually) at traditional inking.  Simply put, I suck at inking.  Also, being a lefty, I tend to drag the side of my hand through wet ink no matter how many precautions I take or how many times I tell myself to slow down and pay attention!  Using Illustrator means I can make changes to anything, at any point in the drawing process, without resorting to whiting things out or-- horrors!-- starting over at the beginning.  After this, the actual drawing begins.

Some will say, "Why Captain Stubing?"  To them, I say, "Why not Captain Stubing?"  Others will say, "Of course Captain Stubing."  To them, I say, "Let's party!"

*I like Gavin MacLeod.  He was in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Andy Griffith Show, McHale's Navy, The Sand Pebbles, Kelly's Heroes as well as The Love Boat, after all!

Having a Tumblr is pretty nice,but you can learn a lot just from hanging out in the right places!

For one thing, there are all kinds of Cassandra Cain-related discussions going on at any given time.  And some amazing art.  My Tumblr feed or page or whatever it's called has attracted a couple of followers, too.  The strange thing-- and also very flattering and gratifying-- is the popularity of my "Batgirl versus the Joker" drawing.  It's strange in that the one shared is the one I put on Deviant Art, rather than the slightly corrected version found on my Tumblr.  Well, whichever one, that someone, anyone, finds something I drew pleasing enough to show others is humbling and leaves me feeling very appreciative.  After all, the whole point of posting stuff is for people to see it and enjoy it.

So far my Tumblr is very Cass-heavy itself.  I tend to doodle or sketch her when I have no inspiration but feel the need to make marks on paper anyway.  Which happens every single day.  That's a lot of Cass!

And now for the other.  One of the coolest things about the Internet beyond the way it gives you a platform for showing off and garnering likes and shares is it gives you the opportunity to interact with working artists or to be a fly on the wall when they discuss their craft.

I've learned (or re-learned) a lot from reading some expert-level discussions on some John Buscema and Jack Kirby fan feeds on Facebook.  Another artist whose work I admire posts structure drawings on his Facebook just about every day and you can learn a lot just from looking at those.  Another educates her followers with some hair-raising personal experiences inside the business.  The other day, a pro whose work I'm a huge fan of (he co-created my favorite non-Cass comic book character) saw something I'm working on and took it upon himself to gift me with some direct-on-target advice.  It's proven to be incredibly helpful.  That certainly recharged my drawing battery, which was running a little low on power after a long weekend of putting down lines!  Last night, using his tips, I started revising the piece and I think it's going to be a stronger work.
 
Remember, these are busy people.  Don't be pushy, demanding, annoying or rude of their time and expertise.  That's what paying for classes is for, and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of perfectly useful "how-to" books available.  You can also find a lot of helpful tutorials all over the place online.  YouTube is a great resource, for example.  I'm way too shy to ever ask for free advice, so I tend to stick to reading and observing and trying to remain unobtrusive.  But if you find yourself in a position to receive some words of advice from a professional or any very experienced artist with teaching ability, or you find yourself reading shop talk where people who do this stuff in earnest every day discuss figure drawing, perspective, page layouts, composition and storytelling, take it to heart and learn as much as you can.

Whether you want to be a professional artist or you just draw for likes on Tumblr, you owe it to yourself to improve.  And if nothing else, learning something new is fun, especially when you can take it and use it to make cool art.  Open your mind to learning experiences wherever you find them--  then go and practice, practice, practice it on your own.

A new Cass Cain Batgirl drawing I'm working on...

Still a lot of work to do on this one.  I need to fix the contour lines, finish rendering her hair, cape, belt, costume, the foreground bricks and the background buildings.  What a weird pose!  I may go back in and re-work her face, but for now I'm considering that part completed.

Batgirl versus the Joker is finished!

It took longer than I expected, but there it is.  I'm going to color it this week or maybe next weekend.  Obviously Cass pulled her punch or the Joker would be flat on his back.

Batgirl versus the Joker almost complete!

Still have to finish the Joker's left arm and leg and shoes, then refine the wrinkles and highlights.  After that, I'll color it.  I'm probably going to change the text, too.

Batgirl versus Joker progress update

Still working on this.  I think I'll have it finished by tomorrow night.  It's Cass knocking the Joker sillier.

Old school Joker getting bopped in the face!

This is a work in progress.  It's you know who punching the Joker right in the face.

A color Cass Cain Batgirl!

Just trying out something new here. You know, there just aren't enough circles. One of the first digital drawings I ever did was Cass at Batgirl, and now here she is again. I like the solid blocks of color without modeling.