Project Name: Greenie
Project Type: Freelance | Personal
Tools Utilized: Procreate | Apple Pencil| iPad Pro
Who is Poison Ivy’s best friend? It’s definitely not the inhabitants of Gotham City. It’s the carnivorous herbivores, the Piranha Plants! I decided my next art piece would involve one of Ivy’s most beloved green sidekicks. These green minions have accompanied our villainous heroine through many journeys throughout various media forms. Such as various DC comic arcs, the infamous Batman: TAS, and the blockbuster video game hit, Injustice 2, just name a few. I will take you through the process from my inspiration to the finished product.
She’s… It’s A Man-eater!
When I had my vision for this iconic sidekick, my first thought was to isolate one of Ivy’s best friends on the canvas. Then, portray a menacing grin showing its furious teeth, while having greenie’s tongue hanging out of its mouth like a cuddly canine. This would allow a sense being a fierce but tame-able entity.
Read more at Our Breathing Planet: Hydnora africana http://bit.ly/2LSoLtV
Next up, I wanted to create a throwback of the groundwork laid before, using the iconic features that people know greenie by, all while incorporating elements from broader research. Subsequently, I wanted to see if such an anomaly had roots in any real-life counterparts. To my astonishment, I came across a plant in South Africa called the Hydnora Africana. According to botany.com, this plant feeds off beetles pollinating it. So not a man-eater that we know of. However, this plant does have the iconic head of Ivy’s green menace. As well as features root-like appendages. The next suspicious subject is the Dionaea muscipula, better known as the Venus flytrap. This grizzly greenie can devour small animals and insects, as mentioned on britannica.com. These two real life imposing plants, if mixed together, would make the perfect ghastly DC comics plant sprout!
Back to the Art!!!
Alright, now that I got plenty of source material to build my creative case, time to apply my findings! So Greenie being isolated for the time being on the canvas, I sketched our preposterous friend. I put greenie looking slightly left, as if someone or something had caught it’s attention. I began to draw it in an astute manner, but yet relaxed. Displaying it in a rhythmic, wavy stance with no fear. However, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Now Ivy’s best friend, the green grimace, had taken on his iconic look. It became time to add his real-life counterparts for the details and texture portions of the character. I used the Hydnora Africana for the roots and bumpy texture, then applied the thin fiber-like texture of the Venus fly trap to the pedals. Once all the details were added, the pencils were complete.
Finally, it was time to fire up the iPad Pro and Procreate and get some inking done! For my line art style, I wanted to choose varying thicknesses for my line weight. This gave a sense of depth and movement, while assuring all the detail was retained. Inking allowed me to correct and fill in areas pencils weren’t concise enough to get. With the inking journey concluded, the character design inhibited comic styling with the perfect blend of realism, blending the best of both worlds.
Greenie’s not done yet!
Wait!!! This isn’t the end for our villainous friend, this is just a piece to a bigger picture!
Continue to check back to the Projects category of my blog and social media platforms to see where ivy’s best friend Greenie crops up next! Thanks for following and taking the time to read this developing project! See you all soon!!!
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