Batman and Nightwing

This was a request from a fanfiction author who wanted a drawing of an original character he created for a Batman Beyond story. The character is called Nightwing, but just like Terry McGinnis he's a totally new person using an old name.

I initially started just sketching out the Nightwing character on scraps of paper, planning to create a final drawing on higher quality paper once I was happy with the design. But one of the sketches started developing really well, and I ended up liking it so much that it became the final product. Because of that, it was rendered on cheap notebook paper with an equally cheap mechanical pencil. Once all the line work was done, I traced over the important parts with a black art pen, so that the contours and details would still be visible through the heavy graphite.

It's completely monochromatic, since I only used pencil and black ink. Instead of smooth precision, I deliberately used quick sketchlike pen strokes so that the lines would seem harsh and rough. The story is a bit on the gritty side and I wanted to reflect that in the image by making sure it wasn't too clean-cut. As I mentioned, this actually started out as just a sketch. What I was specifically trying to figure out with this sketch was what the composition of the final piece would be, if any other characters would be involved, and so on. I liked the idea of showing Nightwing and Batman together, which is partly why a sketch ended up being the completed product. I knew it would be boring to just draw Nightwing on an otherwise blank page, no matter how well rendered the figure was. It also made sense for Batman and Nightwing to be depicted together, since they're partners in crime-fighting. Terry's presence has the additional benefit of giving a clue to someone who didn't know about the other character. A dude with a costume and metal sticks is ambiguous and even random, whereas a dude with a costume and metal sticks standing next to some version of Batman is likely to be some version of Nightwing. The last element I added was a haze around the figures using the old finger-smudge technique, both for dramatic effect and to fill negative space. I made very sure that the smudge was oriented in a specific direction, just because I thought it looked cool. I finished it off by using the slimmest edge of my eraser to create thin streaks that were lighter than the rest of the image, following the grain of the smudged area. It's a very subtle effect, and I honestly don't know if it'll show up in the digital image. I hope it does. It could be rain, it could be vaguely symbolic rays of light, or it could just be a cool visual effect. I leave that to you.

The character design received a lot of thought during the process. I mentioned that I made multiple sketches of the character, and it's because I'm very particular about the appearance of the characters I draw. In this case, I had a few guidelines that I needed to make sure I followed, since the characters aren't mine and I wanted to respect the designs of the original creators. I wanted Nightwing especially to have specific design elements, since the request was for an image of him. The story describes someone quick and ferocious, strong without being bulky. Therefore, he's a bit shorter than Terry, and has a slimmer build with lean muscle. Batman, by contrast, has a more developed musculature with more bulk throughout. This is to reflect his design in the show and to contrast with Nightwing's lean build. The only element that deliberately deviates from the original designs for the characters is in the costumes. Batman's costume matches the show, and Nightwing's suit reflects the author's description of a black jumpsuit with a hood and mask, Nightwing's signature fighting sticks with taser ends, and the chest logo is copied from an image the author provided. The changes I made were based purely on my sense of practicality. To me, it makes no sense for crime fighters with no powers to waltz around in spandex because they'd be begging to get shot. It also makes no sense to not completely cover your face, since those little eyemasks can't reliably conceal your identity. So, when I draw a superhero, their entire costume is approached from the standpoint of practicality. It has to at least look functional. Now, in the fanfiction, Nightwing usually wears the classic domino mask, but there's one scene wear he has an additional mask over his lower face. I added that element for the sake of his anonymity. I also decorated both costumes with a network of lines. My goal there was to give a sense of functionality, trying to make the suits look less like cloth and more like futuristic combat suits. That's what they are, after all.