When One Badass Spots Another
Posted on May 5, 2016 by Mark Farinas

badasses01

I don’t think Nadifa knows who Brody is, exactly, but sometimes it just takes one to know one. The look of these two characters, like all my characters, was inspired by actual people. I find the best way to escape the artistic trap of everyone looking the same but with different hair is to draw from life. Every face is a caricature. In the case of Brody I was interested in a Mayan look which shows in her face and her clothing. For Nadifa I wanted a very serious, sleek, ebony skinned model. These aren’t exact portraits, but certainly recognizable inspirations.

Mayan woman, Yucatan, Mexico

Ensign Shapiro and Cadet Aslan (as I know them in my head) were born out of a search for “Israeli soldier” and “Turkish Soldier”. In Aslan’s case the person was just a background blur, but his clearly visible flat bangs, round cheeks, and pencil line beard were just what I wanted: A boyish metrosexual in fatigues.

shapiroalsa02

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

3 Responses to When One Badass Spots Another

  1. Maurice Kessler says:
    May 5, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    As a comics reader since roughly 1969, I’d like to thank you for making the effort to deliberately distinguish the differences between these characters. I grew up on Curt Swan and Dick Dillin. Everyone might as well have been the same actor in different hair/costume.

    Reply
    • Mark Farinas says:
      May 5, 2016 at 9:21 pm

      I read a lot of Archie comics when I was a kid, so imagine a psyche scarred by Dan DeCarlo.

      The book “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” is a pretty depressing read. All these guys griping about how villains are more interesting to draw because heroes all have to look alike. And, in the case of Jack Kirby, everyone looks like Jack Kirby.

      Reply
      • Maurice Kessler says:
        May 8, 2016 at 4:22 pm

        Nailed it. I had a used copy of that book until I realized that not only was it less than useful, but what I really needed was something by Burne Hogarth.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No Good Deed | Weapons of Mass Destruction | Peace in Our Time | Basis of Proof | Time's Refuge


STAR TREK and all related marks are trademark CBS Studios. All illustrations, original characters, and stories are property of Mark Farinas.
 

Loading Comments...