Batman! My favorite hero in the DC universe! No special powers, just well honed skills, and lotsa cool toys! He’s the everyman hero, so to speak. A real strip down guy!

So, I decided to make this portrait as simple as possible.

After the hours spent on Superman, I knew that the most demanding part of this picture would be the Bat Symbol. I had done test strips of the ‘S’ shield, but not so with the bat. I was going at this one without practice. Also, there are a number of Bat symbols that have been used. The only one for my money is the Yellow symbol with the black Bat!

Drawing from the style of Bruce Timm, I started with a black background. Timm’s art in The Animated Series was all done on black first, to give the grim dark look it deserved. This seemed a good start, and proved to be a very helpful tool.

I began with the eyes! Then, the reflection of the cowl. From there, It just began to take shape. As the great sculptors, I found the picture inside the dark blank slate.

The symbol, which I said was done with no practice, was next. It proved to be easier than I thought, but did not happen the way I planned it to.

Speaking of which, the rain was an afterthought. I was making the cityscape, and felt that it wasn’t enough for him to be in the dark. This was a challenge, however, as it was almost impossible to add the rain over what I had already created. I had to improvise. The results are not as good as I would have liked, but they do make it more dreary.

I hoped this portrait would look and feel like the Bruce Timm version. In the end, it resembled a cross between that, and the comics.

One of the things I have been most happy with in all my portraits is that the style is far removed from the sample artwork I start with. The Dark Knight had no sample art, save for the symbol. It was pure creation, and the results were great!