Joker Commission

"Joker" 8x12, acrylic on canvas board
(Click on the image for a larger version)

This is the finished painting I did of the Joker from the movie "The Dark Knight" that was a Christmas gift for a co-worker's son. I managed to snap some progress photos as I worked on it to show a simplified step-by-step process of how it came together.

Step 1: Laying down the background color.

Step 2: Drawing in the Joker.

Step 3: Putting down the first layer of colors. This is mostly to just establish where everything is and what color it will be. Paints are thin, nothing too concrete.

 Step 4: Putting more down on the hair, face, and coat. Trying to solidify things a little more. The face came out alright at this step, but there was a lot more I still wanted to do.

Step 5: Final paint on everything from the neck down. Since these are acrylics, the paint dries fairly quickly which allows me work from the bottom layer up. As I finish the shirt, I paint the tie, followed by the collar, followed by the coat. This makes it easier to have everything naturally overlap. These were taken with my phone, so while the face and hair look a little different, it was really just me not getting even lighting every time I took a photo.

Step 6: Time for the hair! Adding more individual brushstrokes to make it pop. Anne had the smart idea of suggesting I have some hair coming down in front of his face, and I think it really improved things.

Step 7: And finally the face! Lots of work done on the mouth, sharpening up the eyes, giving the black around the eyes more definition, and shading in the face. Luckily the nose came out alright from the start, so I didn't have to mess around with that too much.