"Common Elements: Who Guards the Guardians?" by José Luis & Bob Almond: Blueline Commission

Here's an example of a commission that I am truly proud of because I was having a good experience with all my ink lines coming out just right. I'd inked José Luis twice before over the Wildstorm character Fairchild from Gen13 and later on a "One Minute Later" Avengers DPS commission for client Michael Finn. He's another one of those "inker killer" detail artists. This job for Michael Rankins (#80) was for his "Common Elements" gallery and it featured DC's The Guardian (Jim Harper) and Marvel's 2nd Red Guardian (Tania Belinskaya), each a character that tended to get short shrift in only supporting roles up against other leading characters. This was my 3rd Guardian and 1st Red Guardian.

I inked this as a blueline on 11"x17" Kubert 2-ply Strathmore board and I had to pull out what Al Milgrom coined as the label "morse code" style of inking with all the dots & dashes. Besides using my assortment of marker tools there looks to be white paint dry brush and finger smudges applied for the smoky rooftops. It was completed June 24, 2022. There will be considerable break before Michael Rankins returns to these here parts but I so look forward to his return<3