The Thing by Cary Nord

Looks beautiful; congrats!

Cary is so darned talented 

Absolutely brilliant.  This is -not- a Ben you want to mess with.  (I don't have a watch nearby, but I think we all know what time it is here...)  Gorgeous execution; having the black shadows behind Ben (and then darkening his shorts like that) really underscores the sense of menace and how strong Ben is standing here, snarling.  A perfect balance (just as you say) of what details are put in and which are left out.  Perfect splashes of blue; love his stance; I'm trying to find the element I love most about this, and cannot settle on just one - it's an incredible and undeniable sum of so many things done right (so to speak) that it stands as simply -overpoweringly- fantastic.  Incredible commission, Chris!  Mega-congrats!

What? Wait, is the clobberin' hour upon us already?!? See, this is why I rarely post any comments that break down what I like about pieces. Why bother when there are people like Huzzah! who are willing to do it for me, and far more beautifully worded?!

Well at the other end of the spectrum there are people like me. Oooo... pretty rocks. So perhaps you should still break it down after all.

Who ya callin a stoner?! 

Excellent. I clearly need to get on Nord's list.

I am sure his Swordsman would be a beast.

A clobberin' is a comin' 

Looks like Ben is carrying the weight of the world's dark skies on his back given the directional brush strokes of the black.  I definitely detect Nord's airbrush amongst all the watercoloring and acrylics, mixed with stippling, and illustration crosshatching in the chiaroscuro of the scratchboard of this relief impasto piece.

You're destroying me.

The choice of the contrast of the background add so much weight to Thing. What is brought to focus adds the depth, and the contrasting highlight color really shines here. Great piece.

I love the decision to leave out and add the scales...sort of the way you only have your right leg done, just like The Thing. Wow, Ben Grim wants to be Chris Snorek soooo badly! But can you blame him?

It's the cigars.

Love the subtle blues - congrats Chris - this is very nice!

It looks beautiful! those small blue eyes are perfect. The Thing looks angry...

Fantastic commission of The Thing. I love the way Cary Nord designed this illustration to emphasize the power of Ben Grimm. The black background above him and the white below creates an impression that Ben is carrying a massive weight on his shoulders. He's slightly bent but not bowed. Congrats on a great commission!

Love the pose and the overall tone on this one - Great pickup!

Beautiful illustration. Love the fade out on the legs and leaving a patch of bricks on the right knee. Well thought out and delivered.

That's a really mean thing - Thing ! looks like bad times for bad guys !

Nice piece.

Outstanding!  Great hunched about-to-throwdown pose, and the muted orange works great, especially with those subtle pops of blue.  Add in the contrast of the black background on top and white background on bottom and you got a winning image all around.  Congrats, Chris!

Incredible piece! Love the blue eyes and highlights!