The image above was commissioned by a client who wanted to give their roommate a special birthday gift inspired by his love of wrestling. I think I’ve mentioned elsewhere that despite having built my online persona around the concept of lucha libre, I’m not really a wrestling fan. That doesn’t mean I don’t have an appreciation for the chutzpah and theatricality of wrestling culture, which is why this commission was a lot of fun to draw.
The client also mentioned their friend was a fan of Tully Blanchard, who was a wrestler in the 1970s-80s. I used that as a reference for the type of attire he’s wearing.
The first challenging aspect about the process was figuring out the lighting situation. I knew that since the main lights were going to be above and behind my figure, there would be a lot of rim lights in the contour of the shapes; but I also knew I needed to maintain a central illumination in front in order to make the facial features recognizable. The features themselves were the other challenge, since I chose a very exaggerated “RAAAAAWR!!!” expression that I wanted it to communicate rage energy mixed with a tinge of panic —how I would feel if I was leaping on top of anyone on a ring!
On the left is the first final sketch I sent to the client for revision. On the right is the correction requested involving a certain area of their friend’s body *ahem* Let’s just say I was told the friend had received the nickname “J.P.” back in college for a good reason 😛
I tend to experiment with a lot of different brushes that provide texture to my pieces, but for this one I decided to stick to simple, no-nonsense brushes that were easier to handle and control. I still ended up with a gazillion layers as usual, but Clip Studio Paint handled them like a champ.
My client informed me that when they finally showed the image to their friend, he laughed a lot and appreciated the gesture. That meant the world for me, because that’s exactly the kind of thing I try to visualize when I’m in the middle of the process and getting tired of even looking at my own drawing.
If you have a sports fan friend you would like to surprise with a customized illustration, you can always leave me a comment here, or reach me at absurdbydesign@gmail.com
Absurd by Design 