Okay, so I’ve been meaning to mess around with combining the styles of Alex Ross and Steve Epting. Two totally different artists, right? Ross with his hyper-realistic, painted look, and Epting with his more classic, inky, strong-shadowed style. It sounded like a fun challenge, so I decided to give it a shot.
First, I gathered a bunch of reference images. I mean, a ton. I opened up like twenty tabs in my browser, just scrolling through Google Images for “Alex Ross Superman,” “Steve Epting Captain America,” and so on. I even dug out some old comics I had lying around, just to get a really good feel for their individual approaches.
Then, I started sketching. I figured I’d try a simple character pose to begin with – nothing too crazy. I decided on a standing figure, kind of heroic, but not in a super dynamic action pose. I started with really loose pencils, just trying to get the basic anatomy and proportions down.
Experiment
- Blocked Basic Shapes: Using pencil.
- Refined the Anatomy:Still using pencil,I adjusted the linework.
- Ink Was Applied:With a fine-liner.
The tricky part was trying to figure out how to blend their styles. I decided to try and use Epting’s heavier shadows and line work as a base, and then think about how Ross would render the light and form on top of that. So, I started with the inks, laying down those bold, confident lines that Epting is known for. I really focused on using thick and thin lines to create a sense of depth and volume.
Once the inks were down, I switched to my digital tablet. This is where the “Ross” part of the equation was really going to come in. I picked a muted color palette, kind of like the colors you see in a lot of Ross’s paintings. I avoided anything too bright or saturated.
Instead of just laying down flat colors, I started building up layers of tones. I used a soft brush in my painting program and slowly added highlights and shadows, trying to mimic the way Ross renders light and shadow so realistically. It was a lot of back and forth, adding a little bit here, adjusting a little bit there. Honestly, it felt like I was sculpting with light and color.
I kept comparing my work to the reference images, trying to see if I was capturing the essence of both artists. It wasn’t about copying them exactly, but more about understanding their techniques and trying to find a way to make them work together. It’s super rough, and far from perfect, of course. But it was a really interesting learning experience. I think I’ll definitely keep experimenting with this combo – maybe try some different characters and poses next time.