Batman VS the Joker by Jason Pearson

If you know and/or follow my gallery, you could see this one coming a mile away, especially in the context of Jason’s untimely passing last year at the age of 52.

I always add a Pearson piece each year during my CAF b-day party but it only seemed naturally fitting to let his art crown it this year yet again, both as my fav’ artist and as another homage to his sublime skills and art.

In the early 00s, Jason was on fire in the commission department, producing masterpieces after masterpieces. I own many of them and you can find even more examples of this production on CAF.

This one is actually a double commission on two 11x17 boards and it offers oh so many delights so when it became available, it took me 5 seconds to commit to its purchase despite a hefty asking price.

I love the composition here. The 2 characters are seemingly entwined in a sort of ballet which could be a slipping choice for anyone other than Jason as he clearly made it work with so much dynamism throughout the scene.

I love how beefy Batman looks despite the thinness of his ankles and wrists, a bold approach Jason was using during that artistic time period. His tensed pinched lips pissed off face is also pitch perfect. The Joker is certainly not half bad either as he looks plainly demented and is evidently enjoying himself. The laughing fish gun is a great nod to the Englearth and Rogers era.

Let’s turn to the backgrounds to finally notice everyone who is anyone in Gotham is lying there on the ground. A gang of clowns (the drooling or bleeding one on the far left is priceless), Harley, Barbara, Jim Gordon, Robin, Cassandra Cain Batgirl and Nightwing.

That Jason choose to add them behind their natural enemy in the scene indicates cleverly that this is the final match with only the last two enemies left standing. It also offers a ying and yang feel to the scene from a compositional point of view.

And lastly, we have a cleverly designated Gotham buildings to subtly frame the scene.
On the technical side, there is much to salivate over and Jason’s technique is faultless as always. The inks are razor sharp and one can barely detect any pencil. It’s like he drew this with ink in one go entirely.

The use of cross-hatching is just exquisite to delineate the muscles and articulation on the Bat and on the Joker’s costume and fish weapon. The way he spotted his blacks and shadows is incredible. Just look at Batman’s cape, how it flow in recoil against the joker with the sparse white spots seemingly targeting his foe.

Also take note how Jason used some broken lines within the cape, at its edges or a the shoulders level. Just amazing.

Lastly, let’s mention the bold and great choice to keep all the fallen parties uninked. This doesn’t deter the attention from the two main figures, in fact it reinforces their presence on the page and it creates both a sense of story to the scene, grounds it and adds depth at the same time.

This shows you how thoughtful (and next level, frankly) a storyteller Jason Pearson was, even when drawing for what many artists would consider a simple commission, and why he was one of the very best to ever put inks on paper.

(Published in one of Jason sketchbooks).

MAY HE DRAW IN PEACE FOREVER.

This is the eleventh and final day of my 2023 CAF birthday party. Hope you like this year’s entries.