The Versatile Master Artist-Chapter 54 - 39: Natural Muscles
"Batman’s suit is a secondary creation, not the original version."
Gu Weijing copied the photos uploaded from the computer onto the iPad and enlarged them in front of his drawing board.
He noticed the letters of the Hibernian Store on the cape.
Gu Weijing is not someone who keenly surfs the internet, not isolated from the world, but he had only heard of the top luxury YouTuber [Mr. Hibernian].
Of course, even if you are a fervent fan of Thomas, you would only recognize that this cape suit is official merchandise from the person; it is difficult to think of more associations.
This kind of trendy brand celebrity influencer collaboration merchandise sells much better than most people imagine.
Kanye, the singer who was once caught in the center of the Europe and America political correctness debate, had his collaborative brand Yeezy, with annual sales exceeding billions of US Dollars, thus making him once regarded as the richest black person ever.
Although the influence of influencers is lesser than that of real singers, being an influencer emperor with tens of millions of fans like Thomas is a different concept altogether.
His various merchandise has sold over 18 million items in the past three years, with even more pirated copies.
Otherwise, DC wouldn’t have officially collaborated with him.
Gu Weijing never doubted the other party’s identity, just like when someone sends you a photo of Iron Man, you shouldn’t assume the person in the suit is Robert Downey Jr. himself.
He even just thought that the outfit in the photo he had to draw was an ordinary fan-made secondary creation.
The affection Otaku in Europe and America have for various styles of Western comic cosplay costumes is no less than the affection Akihabara Otaku have for figurines of second-dimensional girls.
However, if the painter is demanding, such secondary creation suits can be harder to draw than ordinary serious suits.
Various drafts of Batman can be found everywhere in online art resource libraries, and you can import a similar one into the computer and modify it with a couple of strokes.
You can do that with secondary creation suits too, but it would result in a loss of authenticity in the final effect.
Additionally, Gu Weijing realized that the Bat suit in the photo sent to him seemed strange; it was yellow and purple rather than black, and the mask looked different from commonly seen Bat suits.
He searched online using relevant keywords.
Gu Weijing discovered that this suit’s prototype should be Batman from the 1966 version of the first big movie, marking Batman’s debut on screen transitioning from a short drama series to a full-length film, which carries a lot of commemorative significance.
He wasn’t concerned about how interesting the story behind this 60-year-old Batman image was; the real issue was that it might be the hardest Batman to draw.
The crucial problem lies in the muscles and physique.
In later DC movies, regardless of whether the actor was the tenth Batman, Ben Affleck, or the earlier Christian Bale, to unify the art style and highlight Batman’s sense of power, both the Bat suit and Superman’s S suit retained exaggerated muscle textures that are not realistic.
In the setting of the plot, these superhero suits, when worn, look like wearing a muscle suit. You just need to depict the marble-like muscle lines using exaggerated comic-style strokes.
But in 1966, Hollywood’s industry was not as developed, and the Bat suit was just a simple tight-fitting costume, and the sense of power completely relied on the actor’s own muscles to express.
In the photo, the masked person’s physique in the Bat suit...
How should I put it?
Not like Uncle Sakai’s balloon-like figure. If a big gut completely covered the muscles, it would actually be easier to draw.
Just pulling a couple of arcs over a plump belly would be enough.
He has muscles, even very strong ones...but not in a Hollywood-style strong.
Anyone who has learned painting or is into fitness knows that for a normal person to train to an Olympic bodybuilding contest or Hollywood male model’s standard smooth physique is very difficult, almost impossible.
This involves a problem with drugs.
To chase the muscle shape and texture in front of the camera, it’s very common for these people to supplement steroids during fitness.
Even more would inject oily substances like [Sislon] into the biceps or quadriceps, which can visually stimulate the judges or audience by filling the muscles.
It carries safety risks, but it can make the muscles sculpturally angular, full of strength, similar in principle to breast augmentation in women.
The person in the photo wearing the Bat suit fits the profile of a regular gym-goer’s muscles.
Strong, with some definition, but absolutely natural and unaltered.
This truly tests the painter’s penmanship technique; if not handled well, there will be either no feeling of muscles at all, or it will look deformed.
Gu Weijing closed his eyes.
The entire photo of the cosplay figure, based on the blueprint of "Human Anatomy" in his mind, began to decompose rapidly, with the skin beneath the tights starting to appear.
He took out a pen, referencing the physique of the man wearing the Bat suit in the photo, and quickly sketched on paper.
If Thomas were here, he might feel a bit embarrassed.
Like magic, chest muscles, abs, thighs... the naked muscle lines quickly appeared on the paper. It was as precise as a mirror in a bathroom.
Contrarily, there were not many strange feelings in Gu Weijing’s heart.
A good artist when painting should be like the Ancient Greeks facing Olympic athletes covered in olive oil, full of appreciation for the beauty of lines and forms.
Even when facing the opposite sex, passion should outweigh desire.
Art students, like doctors, do not perceive much gender difference in bodies while working; almost any art academy’s mandatory course includes life drawing, even in Dongxia, which is relatively conservative in body ethics, schools like Qingmei have started learning life drawing since the Republic times.
After the country’s complete liberation,
Great men gave directives to alleviate educators’ concerns—painting male or female nude models is the basic skill necessary for painting and sculpture, it must not be avoided. It’s inappropriate to ban due to feudal thoughts.
The high school art class that Gu Weijing attended had an annual budget specifically for hiring nude models, and students could choose to participate voluntarily.
The course of life drawing, truly during classes, was far from the stimulation people imagined.
The first time seeing a model, there might be some shyness and nervousness of touching a taboo, but once drawing begins, the only thing left in mind is the structure of muscles.
This kind of thing becomes familiar once you see it enough times.
You mustn’t whisper or criticize the model during class, as this is basic etiquette.
Before class, phones would be collected by the assistant teacher into a pouch on the wall to protect the model’s privacy and prevent someone from secretly photographing the model.
Oh, and there’s one more important piece of experience, do not wear short skirt uniforms.
Generally, private international schools have exceptionally strict uniform dress codes.
This represents the school’s image; not dressing according to the rules may lead to the school board taking strict measures from detention, warnings, to expulsion, always having a way to deal with rebellious students.
Boys wore long pants all year round, with fabric varying by season, while girls wore skirts, divided into two styles for summer and winter. They were not allowed to wear pants and changed into sportswear during physical education.
The winter style skirts could reach the ankles, while the summer style were mini skirts.
Similar to the styles often seen on high school students in "Gossip Girl" from Manhattan or post-generation Japan and South Korea.
Except for life drawing classes.
According to experience... it’s best to have female students change into pants in such times.
Especially in the summer, especially when drawing nude males—this is for the model’s dignity.
Actually, students’ physical reactions are not strong at all; after all, their focus is on drawing, and the atmosphere during the class is very solemn.
Besides, life models are not lingerie models.
The main focus is natural, not many handsome men and beautiful women for you to draw, but there are plenty of elderly men and women.
After drawing for several years, your mind is filled with lines, it was rumored that once a senior, seeing a girl on the internet, thought her muscles were nice and immediately paused to draw a life sketch, which for a time became a much-talked-about story in the school.
But the male nude model is different,
Imagine, to prevent catching cold, the room temperature is warm like spring, you maintain one posture, sitting or standing, bored, your gaze inevitably turns to the students around, seeing a forest of white legs.
Then...
This becomes very awkward.
The studio is very quiet, with only the sound of pens on paper.
After formally unleashing Menzel’s skills tomorrow, there will only be half an hour’s time.
Gu Weijing was preparing today to gain a clear understanding of the muscles of the suited man in the photo.
With the master-level anatomy skills bestowed upon him, Thomas’s entire body seemed to be like Lego blocks being disassembled by a paintbrush, various muscles coupling together, with even the smallest changes not escaping notice.
