How to Draw The Crow vs The Joker, Eric Draven versus the Joker
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We'll begin by drawing Heath Ledger as the Joker. Each step will be broken up into two steps per step (wait, what?) to save on space. I'm sure it won't be a problem ;) Before starting, I do suggest getting some photo reference from either the interne
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Lighten the guides, and we'll begin focusing on the outline of the face. I feel that the eyebrow and nose are an important area. If you can get the nose right, in a profile view like this, that does a lot to capture the likeness of the person. So the
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A single line can be drawn as the front of the eyelid, top edge of the eye, and the wrinkle behind on the left. Heath-Joker's eyes are kind of small and beady, so it's more about drawing what's around the eyes than drawing the eyes themselves, if tha
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The eye makeup is what really transforms the actor into a creepy looking fellow. Focus on the upper edge, or eyebrow area, first. Start from the back and draw little forward curve that swoosh up and back, forming little shark fins. As the lines becom
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Up to this point we've used pretty bold, almost cartoony lines. Now we'll start using thinner, softer, more organic lines and marks to create a more natural appearance to the details. The forehead wrinkles, though dark in some spots, are thin and wis
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Continue that scarring technique in reverse on the bottom edge of the smile. Thin lines and marks can be drawn to indicate the natural shapes of the face, such as lines going toward the nose from around the mouth. In 6-2, we'll bring back the bold cu
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His hair being messy makes drawing it both easier and harder at the same time. It's easier because you don't have to get every detail perfect. It's harder because there's more to draw. The main chunks and curls of hair can be drawn with those thick o
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BAM! That's a lotta red! *shakes head* Fill in the eye socket with black, but notice the areas left untouched around the eye itself. We really want those eyelids to remain visible. The entire back of the head can be filled in black, but as light star
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The same basic type of shading with multiple curves can be used for many different areas of the body. Look at how it's used inside the ear. Then we use it again on the clothing -- but THIS time, we want more controlled smooth strokes. All of these st
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Brandon Lee's face is much longer, thinner and rounder than Heath Ledger's. So as we move on to the Crow portion of the drawing, let's focus on that eggier shape (???) of Eric Draven's head. Once again, find some photo reference. Once again, pay extr
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I've always felt that Brandon Lee looks like a cartoon character. He's actually the son of Bruce Lee, the actor and martial artist. Both of them died young, during film shoots. It's like a family curse... or not... So anyway, Draven's face is much sm
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Brandon's eyes are a bit larger than Heath's, I think. You can draw the eye a little more open, but we want to focus on all that little detail around the eye again. These curves are important, as they serve as the base for a the reflective texture in
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On the left you can see we've continued the black lines of his creepy mime makeup. Very simple stuff, but notice how the lines that appear straight from the front are curved when viewed from the side. They travel along the curved shape of the head. U
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BAM!!! There's that red again! After you fill in the main shadow silhouette, we'll bring back that hair texture from earlier. Draven's hair is still messy, but it's much smoother than the Joker's. There's less interweaving going on here, so we'll try
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In this extreme closeup, the clothing is almost an afterthought. Just try to get some basic shapes in there and have them be recognizable. We can see the edge of the collar on both sides. The far side can be filled in all with black, except for a thi
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Erase your guide lines, step back, and you should have something like this. Pretty imposing couple of characters, there.
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Here's a version of the portraits with the detail taken to the extreme. If you compare this to Step 16, you can see how those simpler techniques apply to the more detailed drawing. Many of the lines in this image are drawn with smaller markings, crea
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May 29, 2014
Description: I'm not big on drawing portraits, but this was a special request for a faceoff between two visually-similar characters... played by actors who died either during or around the time of filming. This was an interesting image to work on. By the way, I know that the crow in The Crow is literally just a bird. Eric Draven is NOT "The Crow," but whatever. I used multiple photos for reference, including some bizarre 3D digital art of Brandon Lee's face. Anyway, let's get started!
