Faster than an speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…is it a bird? Nah! Is it a plane? Nope! It’s Superman…sort of!
Several years ago I had an assignment back in college to illustrate any current affairs topic of my choosing…the stipulation…I had to us a pre-existing famous piece of artwork as the inspiration for my design. At the time, Christopher Reeve had just suffered the tragic spinal cord injury that put him in his wheelchair and left him paralyzed. With the time that followed, his perseverance to survive against all odds, I saw him more of a Superman than ever before…and I believe he did too. “Man Of Steel” is a 5.5″ x 7.5″ Gouache painting on Watercolor paper.
My inspiration was Pablo Picasso’s painting “Girl In The Mirror.” There was enough tenderness and…no pun intended, self-reflection, that it certainly fit the subject matter that I was trying to illustrate. I went for a more literal translation of the piece and switched out the Girl and here reflection for Christopher and his rather super mirror image.
Above is also my original Pencil Sketch for the painting that I drew on tracing paper then blew up to the appropriate size before transferring it to Watercolor paper and laying paint to paper.
This illustation is probably one of my favorite pieces that I’ve done. I was really proud of how it came out.