COPIC markers and colored pencil on 11×17 bristol board

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Notes from Richard:  “Thematically, I was asked to do a Daredevil/Spider-Man piece with a circus theme. From there I went, with approval, a circus poster idea, that also homages the classic Ditko Amazing Spider-Man #16 cover, featuring the Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime.

Using that as a guide, a lot of the colors fell into place — reds and yellows primarily, with purples and greens as secondary colors. The only trick there for me was finding the right SHADES, so that everything blended well, was balanced, and nothing was too overpowering.

The original idea I had was for what became the golden yellow background to actually be a vertically-striped tent, open in the center. I decided that would just be WAY too busy when combined with the hand-drawn lettering, so went instead with the simpler option. You may still note that the yellow bg maintains the tent-like shape though.

Composition was pretty straightforward. Basically a Z shape, across the title bar to Spidey, following the angle of his upper body down to DD, and down through the angle of his legs to Ringmaster, ending on the bottom text pieces.

The bursting out of the main characters is kind of a standard thing with both comics and these kinds of posters, but using the wood grain underneath is a direct homage to the ’78 Star Wars circus poster.”