Aleksey Rico’s: Spider-Man Far From Home Tutorial
Our community asked for in-depth tutorials, so we will be featuring some amazing artists and showcase their approach to creating!
Aleksey Rico is an illustrator living in Izhevsk, Russia that has been featured several times by PosterSpy.
In this article, we will get to know Aleksey and then end the article with an inspiring tutorial as well as a time lapse video.
How did you develop your style?
I have experimented with various styles and techniques over the years. This has included collages, stylizing, paper cutting and even collaborations with 3D artists.
This led me to developing poster art based on films. Artwork featuring various Marvel characters has appeared in many of my poster designs.
How has vector graphics played a role in your creations?
In the beginning, I created vector based portraits of artists in that utilized classic lighting, shadows and strokes. As I became more advanced, I decided to give them more details and make them more realistic. With vectors, it was easy to create designs with color vibes and reflex from vintage noir style posters.
Color plays an important role in your designs. How do you choose your color palette?
I found inspiration in a mix of comic books, old school propaganda posters, noir posters. However, I also find the styles of cyberpunk and retro wave to be amazing, so I try to incorporate them into my designs when I can.
TUTORIAL TIME…
Step 1: Set Up Your Design
In most cases, it is good to find the right composition for your poster. Here I decided to work with everyone’s favorite web-slinger and Mysterio. One can either use a rough sketch or photo as a reference when working on a piece of artwork of this nature.
The great thing about setting up a composition early in the process, is that it can always be adjusted easily if need be.
Step 2: Layer Order
I have found it important to keep layers in order. With Vectornator it is very easy to group objects. This will keep track of the various parts of your design.
For this illustration, I decided to group the various layers in relation to the characters and objects. This is a good thing to keep in mind if you are collaborating with another illustrator or designer. With Vectornator, you can also rename your layers if you like.
Step 3: Adding Heroic Colors
Over the years we have seen Peter Parker wear bright reds and blues. Also in some of the films the colors have been given slightly darker tones. I opted however not to use a true red and was still able to stay true to Spidey.
It is very easy to select colors using the Color Picker in Vectornator. I could easily find the perfect shades to complement his spandex suit. A little knowledge of color theory can be of benefit when creating an illustration on the iPad.
Step 4: Adding Details
Now that I have the basic shapes for Spider-man’s costume, it is time to give him some details that will allow him to spring off my iPad and into action.
With the Node Tool, I found it easy to add precision details into the design. Adding the web-like patterns to his suit was easy simply by adjusting the points.
Step 5: Make Your Villain Larger Than Life
Every comic book superhero has a foe that he must face. Sometimes these villains have larger than life personas. Thus in design, placement and scale of these evil doers needs to make sense.
SPOILER ALERT (AT LEAST IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN A TRAILER)
In the trailer, Quentin Beck aka Mysterio is introduced first as being somewhat good, with some questionable morals… but we all know Mysterio is far from a good guy in the comics. Thus, he needed to have a looming presence in the design.
I might have to illustrate the entire Rogues Gallery at some point in the future!
Step 7: Elements
For those who are unfamiliar with the character of Mysterio, I do not want to give too much away. But gas and the presence of smoke are integral to his comic book lore. So adding the element of smoke around his character was a must.
You will also notice that the smoke, as well as other elements, follow a similar style that can be seen throughout many of my designs. Every artist should have a style that defines his or her work. That is why the smoke in this illustration had to match not only this poster, but be similar to what one would see when viewing my other projects.
Step 8: Final Highlights
To complete the final look of the image, I went back in and gave Web-Head a few more highlights. This ensures that he stands out even more against Mysterio. Sometimes it is important to go back in and add little details of this nature.
Time Lapse Video…
The Final Image…
To see more of Aleksey’s work visit.
Now for a challenge.
As you know we enjoy discovering new talent and showcasing not only their artwork but also their skills.
So we challenge you to create a fan art poster of your choice. Then share your design via your favorite social media channel using the hashtags #Vectornator and #VNTutorial.
The creators of our favorite submissions will be invited to create a tutorial that we will share and promote on our blog!
Our goal is to help artists on their path to becoming professional creatives and hope to give you the exposure that your artwork deserves.
Deadline June 30th.
