Weekend Wayback: SPIDER-MAN 1996

This week is the fourth installment of Weekend Wayback, where I gaze back into the archives, trying to keep an eye on where I was, in appreciation of where I am, and where I could go.

I dug this one out of an old sketchbook from high school. You can see the date pretty clearly next to Ben Reilly's leg; 5/10/96.`

Some sort of disposable pen (not ball point). I like this piece because it shows how at the time I was so obsessed with massive amounts of crosshatching. I did a Star Wars fan comic with a classmate in this style, and it looked just as black and sticky.

It's also funny in how near completely opposite it is from my current style.

Ain't nothing wrong with a little crosshatching, but very few illustrators use this many lines well (I am NOT one of them). Lesson to you aspiring artists - calm down on the rendering. Lines add age to a face, so if you're not using them right, don't use as many.