The Punisher

Here is piece 1 of the 2 pieces I promised to have posted by the end of this week (I've been busily drawing, so I may post 3 if not 4 this week).

Growing up I had a 5 favorite Marvel characters. Thor, The Hulk, Captain America, Daredevil and The Punisher. Now, while I was younger I was heavily influenced by my brothers opinion and fell in love with the art of John Romita Jr. (who I still like to this day). I tried to mimic his art on The Punisher War Zone as well as his Daredevil look. His Punisher was among the best if not the best of all time. Right up there with Mike Zeck, Jim Lee and Steve Dillon. In fact some might say it is the defining look for the Punisher. So in being a big Punisher fan, I tried to draw him constantly. I redid some Zeck and Romita pieces, and was always happy to make my big brother happy, so I tried to draw more and more like Romita Jr.

Now as an adult, I've realized that although Romita Jr's style is great, it doesnt fit me perfectly. I've been drawing more in the Michael Turner, Aspen Entertainment style. I had hard time finding a Michael Turner Punisher. The only thing I could find was this variant Civil War cover. It's leaner, more athletic and fluid. His art also has heavy outlines with lots of shading.

The pencilling took me a little over an hour and a half. The inking took me a little longer than that. After finishing inking The Punisher and Spider-Man I realized the picture was a little flat, so I decided to add the background. I really like the detail of the piece, especially the background. I think it could still be helped by adding in color (although thats not my thing) to really let the water pop. I really like the heavy black punisher in the center of the piece. I think it really draws your eye to him. Its a strong piece that I am really happy with.