HOW-TO: NEW YORK GIANTS

The concept for this illustration was an easy one to reach. First, we have the 2008 World Champion New York Giants. Yes, I'm from the tri-state area so I get to show some hometown love to the "Giants" as in big, monumentous, intimidating and defiant, so the subject had to tower above the competition. What better way to convey that concept than to have the helmets of the opposing teams cracked, smoldering and strewn across a war-torn landscape? I've been asked just how did I go about picking the helmets that are in this picture? No real science around it. Outside of the Redskins and the Cowboys (Eastern division rivals), I just picked 10 other NFL teams whose helmets I just so happened to like to place into the picture.

So, here are the tools and paints that we'll be using; Bob Ross' Gesso, a roll of Friskfilm (25"X 4yd is good, but whatever size you have works just as well), an X-acto knife, I used a 30X40 Illustration Board but again, you can use whatever size works for you. Createx paints of Yellow, Golden Yellow, Tinting Black, Tinting White, Gray, Pthalo Blue, Opaque White, Burnt Orange, Dark Brown, Fluorescent Magenta, Light Blue, Red, Purple, Burgundy and Green. I also used the Krylon Easy-Tack Repositionable Adhesive spray. This is good for sticking things to your illustration surface and being able to reposition them later. It's low odor, and long-lasting tack formula is great. I have templates that I used 4 or 5 years ago that can still stick to a illustration surface without losing it's adhesiveness.

STEP ONE: I placed a thin coat of Bob Ross' white Gesso to create a tooth for my illustration. The 30X40 illustration board is a bit too smooth for my taste so I had to create a surface that was just a little more rough for me. One coat does the job for me but using Gesso is a personal choice. You don't really have to go that route. For the line art I use the Prismacolor Verithin orange. Regular #2 black lead pencils is hard on an image that I know that I'll be airbrushing on later, plus the lines from the pencil don't disappear beneath the airbrush paint. The Prismacolor Verithin orange disappears very well. You can't miss out with these artist quality hard thin lead pencils. They're the best. The image starts off with friskfilm covering the entire subject. I peel away only the friskfilm that is covering the helmet exposing it and the eye visor and spray Pthalo Blue in that area.

STEP TWO: This is a closeup of that same helmet exposed with pthalo blue sprayed all over it.

STEP THREE: I'll only show this step once, but it's a very important step and you will be repeating it throughout the instruction. I recover the friskfilm over the helmet once the paint has dried. This is very important. Do not place friskfilm over an area that has not fully dried yet. You will have a messy lift when you try to remove the film from your image. I've been there. Plus, you're covering the helmet from any unnecessary overspray.

STEP FOUR: In this step, I've removed any friskfilm that is covering other areas that will be colored blue and spray those areas.

STEP FIVE: It's a judgement call on how much time should pass before you replace the frisk film over a recently airbrushed area. I used to go by the feel of that area, but I found out my sense of "feel" was a little off. Thus, I went to the next step. I determined just how heavy I sprayed that area. I've found that it's best to make multiple passes with the airbrush, rather than spraying heavily all at once. Once the pthalo blue has had ample time to dry, I recover the friskfilm over the blue sprayed areas and then remove the friskfilm from the areas that will be airbrushed red and start laying down my red foundation.

STEP SIX: Once the red is layed down, everything that is red and blue on the Giant's defender should now be covered beneath friskfilm. I remove the friskfilm from the areas that covered the arms and the part of the face and neck that will be colored with that dark brown paint and start building up the values in these areas. Also in this step, after the brown areas have dried, I place the friskfilm over the browns and remove the film from the pants, palms of the gloves and the wristbands. Utilizing an amalgam of light blue and gray, I start spraying these exposed parts of the uniform.

STEP SIX A: This is a better closeup of the gray/light blue shaded areas of the glove so far.

STEP SEVEN: This is the subject friskfilm free showing all the parts that I've airbrushed so far.

STEP EIGHT: With the subject now recovered in friskfilm, I set my attention on doing the helmets. This is where it starts to get very creative, and a little tedious. After scouring my personal reference folder for the right kind of helmet, I made multiple copies of it in various sizes. I then took out little pieces of the helmets, removing a nick here, and applying a crack there until I felt satisfied with the look I was seeking. Using my Krylon Easy-Tack Repositionable Adhesive spray, I then stick the helmets in various areas throughout the illustration. We'll come back to why I did this later. On to the next step.

STEP NINE: So, where are we now? The entire Giant's defender is now covered in friskfilm and concentration can be focused on the background; the war-torn landscape I referred to in my picture synopsis. To create the debris, I use light brown, dark brown and a little green for uprooted grass and foliage. I can spray freely over the entire image because both the Giant defender and the helmets are currently protected by friskfilm and paper and there's no danger of overspray here.

STEP TEN: The skyline with the yellow moon can be done here as well with the same rules applying.

STEP ELEVEN: Remember when I mentioned I would come back to the helmets later. Here is why I did this. I remove the helmets from their respective positions now and begin individual work on them. I can airbrush the team colors and draw the logos on all ten of the strewn about helmets. The cracks can be more prominent here as well as the chips in the helmets themselves. Smoke and flame can be embellished into the illustration if you so choose.

STEP TWELVE: Then, finally there's the best part of many illustrations. The final touchups. I spray some highlighted white in a couple of the helmets and some dark shading to indicate shadows from the moon's light source. The NFL logo is painted into the jersey using a thin paintbrush as well as sporadic blood stains. It's a wrap!

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