First off, big thanks to those in this forum who announced that Freddie Williams II was taking on commissions. This made me realize he had a website and rather than get a commission, I got one (or shall I say two because it is two boards) of his pieces.
When I was a kid, I had "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way" by Stan Lee and John Buscema. Over the years, I have learned Photoshop and picked up "The DC Comics Guide To Digitally Drawing" by Freddie Williams II without any expectations and just out of curiosity since I am just a hobby/recreational artist - nowhere near professional.
The book turned out to rejuvenate my artistic pursuits and made me draw more since I could now digitally lay-out the stuff and see how it would look even before I would start drawing it (which I prefer to do traditionally). A lot of them were Brian Bolland stuff because he is the one who wrote the intro to the book and said he had been working digitally for over a decade now, so it made me realize he does not have originals to a lot of his modern art which I decided to recreate.
I also learned valuable tips from the book about Layer Groups and Alpha Channels which helped me in my digital coloring pursuits.
I did start a thread in this forum showcasing most of my art - a lot of pre-production techniques I learned from Freddie's book. Here is the thread:
http://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=132525
So when I found out that the cover to the book - that was my personal modern day grail - was available, then I immediately jumped at it. I got it straight from the artist, Freddie Williams II (thanks to those in this forum), and it came in two separate boards, one for the pencils and another for the inks. Since he was detailing in his book a hybrid workflow, both boards are traditionally drawn - pencils and real inks - over his printed digital wireframes.
Just like all my CAF postings, it is loaded with additional images, long-detailed descriptions, and more stuff. For this particular one, I included Freddie's insights on making the book, plus pictures of him posing with this image in his convention appearances. Here it is and feel free to comment or share:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryP...85&GSub=122146
Again, many thanks to those in this forum and I look forward to all of you posting your personal Freddie Williams II commissions here!