Back to the Future day
October 21st, 2015
Yup, it's here... Back to the Future day! In Back to the Future II, Doc, Marty, and his girlfriend go into the future, October 21st, 2015! I grew up with this movie franchise (as many of you did), so what a better way to celebrate the day by painting, drawing, inking, and coloring Marty from all three movies.
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My Process
Measuring out the column dimensions based on dribbble proportions. Nothing super large here, but big enough to where you can make out brush strokes and lay down vibrant colors.
(Oil paint) Worked on episode II background first. I pictured Marty sitting in the Cafe 80's wearing the crazy hat Doc gave him, looking freaked out.
(Oil paint) Mixed oils for the backgrounds. Pretty easy to get the exact color you're looking for. Mix it with a bit of turpentine and it'll thin the oil out to where it's easier to work with and it dries faster.
For the first panel I was thinking of doing a different scene, but the most iconic Marty from episode I was his regular 1985 red vest, so I ditched the first panel seen here.
For episode I, a strong scene of the movie was the parking lot where Marty goes into the past and then back again to 1985. Strong lighting from mall parking lot lights.
For episode II, the best scene IMO was when Marty visits Cafe 80's, sits at the counter, and just looks freaked out taking it all in. I wanted bright colors here, you know, cause 80's.
For episode III, the showdown towards the end movie to where Marty stops the bullet from Mad Dog.
(Pencil) First couple of versions, Marty looked like Kurt Russell, ha. He looks tired, sad, and kinda meh, but with more tweaks during inking and coloring, turned out ok :)
Me, at my desk, working on this.
(Pencil) I wanted Marty to look scared and kinda weirded out from his surroundings, cause that's the way it was in the movie.
(Pencil) I'm happy with the drawing passes on the first two Marty's.
(Pencil) Definitely wanted to show Marty in western wear with his poncho.
(Pencil) Happy how this one turned out. Lots of fabric in this one.
A crop of the background put together with color correction. This was from the pictures seen above. I would later scan in the oil paintings but seeing these together helped me visualize further.
(Inking) Boom. Committed, for the most part. Inking is my second favorite step with in this outline style. My first is flat coloring, which is the next step.
Painted backgrounds and inks together. On my bed.
(Coloring) Adding flat colors to finally see it come together.
(Coloring and texture) Started to add highlights and textures. The textures are set to overlay at various opacities so the color shading can be seen through and affected by the colors.
Sad Marty.
In the process of making him happier :)
Showing some teeth and adjusting a few other facial features made him look moderately constipated, but that's the face Marty makes throughout the whole movie. Also, instead of the black and white background, I tinted it blue/purple to just make fit the 80's a bit better.
Matching colors and textures.
(Coloring) Started to color the ink lines to fit the object it surrounds. This adds a nice touch to everything.
(Final touches) Close up of episode I Marty.
(Final touches) Close ups of episode II Marty.
(Final touches) Close ups of episode III Marty.
Always, always, always... sign your stuff. You put in work so the least you can do for yourself is to sign or leave your mark on it.