Drawing small is difficult

Do you know how difficult it is to NOT do a typical “bad@$$” pose?

It’s hard. It goes against ALL of my instincts to draw Spider Man small and scared. But when I embrace composition and story telling, it certainly helps to make some very cool imagery.

The client suggested a warped reflection of Spidey in Musterio’s dome. Which immediately made me think of Todd McFarlane’s famous Amazing Spider Man 311. And while doing an homage is fun, I’ve done like 3-4 McFarlane homages recently, and no disrespect toward the Toddfather, but I want to be known for MY covers. Not my versions of someone else’s work.

I had an idea when we spoke and totally forgot whatever it was. So this layout idea came out (maybe that was my original idea? 🤷) and went smooth as silk.

The idea for it to have a bit of a spot lighting vibe, Spidey top lit with heavy shadows helped bring the whole thing together. Backgrounds are important. And simple decisions like this can help to tell the story in a way that doesn’t require much “illustration”.

So now you have this small dark figure in this wash of white light on one side, and a dark shadowy figure with a small reflection of light in the glass. Simple, but compelling.

Add in some motion and mood with Spidey knee deep in some smoke as it pours between Mysterios fingers and you have a winning combo.

All of that to say, “drawing small is VERY difficult” 🤣🤣🤣