Kevin Smith Fan Art

An old friend from school, Amanda recently commissioned me to draw a portrait of her husband Dale's favorite film maker, Kevin Smith for his birthday.  I like to incorporate as much as I can about my subject into their portrait. For this cult director, I decided to include some of the characters which have made his films so outrageous and popular.  There was plenty to draw from in his nearly 20 year film career.  Kevin is one of the leading directors of my generation, so I had fun creating this work, including references to many of the movies we grew up with in the 90's.  Of course, his most recent directorial venture was with the much darker Red State last year, which you can read about a little more on my Top 10 Movies of 2011!

Ultimate Kevin Smith (9in x 12in / inks on bristol / 2011)

Of course a portrait this intricate and with so many faces is a time consuming process.  Here are some pictures of me sketching and outlining all the characters...

Beginning stages of my Sketch

Silent Bob, Kevin Smith's Alter Ego

A size reference photo to show how small I was working.  This is Brian O'Halloran's character, Dante from Kevin Smith's first feature film Clerks. 

Sketches of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck from Dogma, Smith's film on the absurdities Christian doctrine and the war these two angels bring to Earth.

Line Work in progress... I used a soft blue pen to outline the lightsaber.

Comic culture in general has a huge influence on Smith's work.  He interviewed Mr. Marvel himself Stan Lee extensively for a documentary a while back.  Smilin' Stan is kinda like the good angel on Smith's one shoulder...

...and Michael Parks is the devil on his other shoulder, based on the character of Abin Cooper played my Michael Parks in Red State.

Another size reference of the late George Carlin who played in Cardinal Glick Dogma

Finished Line Work

Click HERE for my Portraits Page to see more examples of how I incorporate the unreal with real to create unique artistic embodiments of my subjects!