A quick still life of my drafting pencil lead pointer. M. Graham gouache Zorn palette. This was the closest I've felt to being somewhat in control of the correct water ratio during the painting, "somewhat" being the operative word here. Some very basic drawing mistakes were made while my brain was focused on the painting process and observation, but I learned a lot with this one. A few more steps toward mileage, so on to the next one!

I've been practicing portraits for a little bit and really wanted to do a master study of Batman. I really like Jason Fabok's Batman so I chose this one to study. I made the tilt of the head more straight than the reference but didn't notice until towards the end. Gotta remember to step back more often to put some fresh eyes on it. I also need to practice hatching more as it was difficult to follow all the hatching details in this one.

Since I love raccoons (as you can see from my previous sketches;-) I decided to stylise this animal as well. Playing with the different shapes was really fun and forces you to step out of the usual thinking...

After watching proko's review, I wanted to focus even more on the 2D contours. I find these exercises just incredibly instructive and also amusing. It's just amazing how characters are created just because of the variation of shapes.

Keep exploring! I like the more active stance version with the sword drawn, but I think you can go further. Thumbnailing your idea is one of the most important steps. You can't do too many thumbnails before jumping into your illustrations. Right now you have a few varied poses in your thumbnails to show your character, but the composition, camera angle, and storytelling all read pretty much the same. For example your horizon line is in the same place for 3 of them. Try one looking up at the character from below like a worm's-eye view to make them look huge and heroic, or look down on them from a bird's-eye view to make it look like they're entering into a dangerous situation. Give your character an action like unsheathing their sword, or winding up for a strike. Make it active. Try as many different versions as you can so you can tell a story with your illustration. Here are a few free videos on cinematic composition, and visual storytelling, hope this helps! https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/mastering-visual-storytelling-angles-shots-and-camerawork-for-comics https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/basics-of-comic-composition https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/cinematic-storytelling-and-compositional-pitfalls

Did a few drawing at first, but thought I could do better, so did another page. Still some mistakes, but a fun exercise!

Not a cover, exactly, but playing with some interior action scenes and storytelling. Traditional pencils/inks, 5"x7" format on Bristol. Initially used the truck flip reference from the The Dark Knight (2008) and then played with the proportions a bit to exaggerate the explosion.

Another color rough.

Hey @Gym Kirk! Welcome to the Marvel course!! The Pentel line of brush pens are a popular refillable option! Check out the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (shiny black plastic,) it's a great all around ink brush with replaceable cartridges. You can also buy your own ink and refill the cartridges if you want. It's a great one to get started with. I also really like the fine point Pentel Brush pen (XFP5F) for rendering and most fine detail work, it's approximately the size of a #2 ink brush, and for more dry brush effects grab a Medium Point Pentel Brush Pen (XFP5M). Any of these options should cover most of your needs! Hope this helps!