Blok by
Gene Gonzales and
Simon Gough
Blok only wore this costume (which I believe is a George Perez design) on one mission, but it definitely made a memorable impression on me. However, I can also understand why Keith Giffen wouldn't want to draw all of those chain links in every panel that Blok appeared in, so he changed it immediately. Anyway, I asked Gene Gonzales to draw Blok in this warlord-type outfit, and Gene went all-out in his work process for it! You can see pictures in the additional images, and I'll let Gene describe his process: "I wanted some texture to Blok's stony skin and I wanted it random. The best way to do that was to spatter some ink on him. So I traced his outline on a piece of printer paper and cut out the areas I wanted the ink to hit. This template was taped over the art board. I then dipped an old brush in the ink, dapped off some excess and then would smack the brush handle against my other hand over the art, causing ink to fly off onto the exposed areas. For a finer spray I would run my finger over the bristles while hovering close to the surface of the paper. As you can see from the last photo the ink is all over in a nice random pattern. After it all dried I did some touch up and added a bit more with a brush. And that is it." Needless to say, I was delighted with the result, and think that Blok looks absolutely amazing here! I quickly sent this one over to Simon Gough and he enhanced Blok's textures with some gorgeous colors! This may be my favorite collaboration between Gene and Simon so far!
If you like this piece, then please do go buy some digital comics featuring Gene's work and/or go commission him yourself.
