Stingray by Nick Derington

Beautiful piece, congrats!!!

Very nice!

This looks fantastic ~ Congrats!

That's fabulous! Congratulations!

One of your very best! Congrats. 

It might be because I am in the midst of Stranger Things or maybe I am a bit hungry, but the cape really feels like a thin cut of beef.  Beautiful work by the way. Congrats!

Dang that's a beaut! I love the darker colors/pallette, especially for the water. Fantastic commission, really blown away by the pieces I've seen from Nick's first commission list (your Stingray piece and the Two-Gun Kid that ComicArtBoston posted come to mind as both being incredible illustrations!). congrats on the killer result!

When will you get sensory overload on all these great commissions?

Hopefully you never do!!

NEVER!

An absolute beauty. The colors and textures are outstanding!

The deep seas demand the deep colors!  Majestic work by Derington who felt the high pressure of doing a Stingray commission.

This is so very nice

This is a beautiful piece, Newell, in every way. Colored commissions don't always turn out very well but this is astoundingly good! Many congrats!

Feels like he's exploring an underwater galaxy. Amazing stuff!

Aww, he's hanging out with his family!

So good it's not even fair! Congrats Newellington!!!

Perfect commission,  home run! Congratulations!

I strongly suspect that I'll run out of superlatives before running out of things to say about this one, Newell. :) This piece may very well be the crown jewel of the frankly -astonishing- batch of commissions Nick just completed.  The level of subtle touch Nick achieves with his watercolors here rivals the level of execution he has with those blessed color pencils of his, and it stymies the senses just as effectively; the lighting on Stingray's costume is phenomenal, but no less impressive is the pallete given to the coral reef and sea life.  I'm bowled over by how Nick simultaneously puts us into (and then deliberately draws us out of) the setting here.  Rather than using a wavy or "current-y" backdrop behind Stingray, if you stand back or blur your eyes a bit, the mottled style Nick employs for the watery background gives a sense of space and infinite horizon, like staring into the night sky, with the phosphorescent algae the stars, and the manta ray the crescent moon.  It draws an immediate and direct parallel (and equivalent) to other cowled protectors who stand (or crouch dramatically) as sentries over their domain.  It is -STUNNING-.  It's obviously a commission request that Nick sunk his all into (so to speak) to produce something incredibly special and unique.  Just BRAVO, Newell!  This is spectacular!

You're 100% correct about the pose and overall composition being reminiscent of say Batman squatting on a gargoyle, down to the way the cape is hanging. But the idea of the ocean as night sky and, even more so, the ray acting as the moon? MIND BLOWN! I already adored this piece, but that interpretation makes me love it even more!!!

I think you could argue that Derington's character form is one of the best of current artists today and that is on full display here. The perfect composition and color help create a finished piece that is quite easy on the eyes! This has to go so much harder in person too. Congrats on this  beaut!

I'm woefully behind on my CAF comments due to the holidays, but I knew I wanted to get to this piece. Nick knocked this out of the park, out of the solar sytem, and into the ocean on a far distant world that is fantastical enough for a piece like this to exist. I can only imagine the colors and impact of this in person. You've given Stingray new life, and now he needs his own title - and you're well placed to provide variant covers for many, many, many issues. Amazing. 

This art...is good art.

A beautiful work of art here. 

Love this painting by Nick Derington! The colors just pop off the page!

This is too good, man.  The post, environment, Nick's stylized colors...TOO good, indeed.  Love how you know it's Nick right when you see it.  Big congrats!