For this week we're going to do a type of alteration we haven't covered yet- a character. Painting characters is fun, and in some ways challenging, but in many ways simpler than extending the original artwork on a card. For example, when painting a character on a card we don't need to worry about matching colors perfectly, or blending our work with original art seamlessly. What we're concerned about is proper proportionality, cropping (making sure we can fit the parts of the character we want on the card without making things looked squished) and recognizability (not a real word, but we don't want people asking “what's that supposed to be?”).

We'll be working on replacing Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with the original 15/15 Annihilator 6, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

It's crucial when painting a character to find a good picture to use as a reference. Think about the kind of pose you want to see the character in, what fits with the flavor of the card, and what will actually fit on the space the card provides. I did a lot of searching and fell in love with a drawing by illustrator Les McClain on his blog Evil Space Robot. McClain's style has a great classic Eisner feel and I think his drawing really draws out the dichotomy of the Marshmallow Man's horrifying cuteness.

Now believe it or not, I actually do this next step. To get an idea of where everything in the drawing will line up on your card, take you card and hold it up next to the drawing you'll be copying. Close one eye to get a better view. Move it forward or backward so that it's the right size to fit where you want it.

This next step would normally be done with your imagination, but since I'm at the computer already we'll do it the easy way.

When you're comfortable with your picture reference and placement, hold your card up to the drawing again, take your small brush and with a light neutral color (I use the Citadel color Bleached Bone, which is a beige) make some marks to place the outer most parts of the figure (e.g. fingertips, top of the head/hat, etc.). Take care to look at the relationships between these points on the drawing, and space your marks accordingly. This is how we'll keep our proportions accurate. When you like your marks use them to develop those small parts of the outline. For now we'll only worry about those outer parts, and the distance between them.

Now with a couple pieces in place to use as reference points, we can start adding more of our outline, piece by piece. I'll start with the arm on the left.

Things are falling into place. I'll move on to the bib, and finish by outlining a right arm, using information we have from the one that's already there.

With our outline in place, we'll fill in the Marshmallow Man's body, leaving the hat and the bib. I'll paint two even coats to get the opacity I'm looking for.

Now we can just paint a layer or two of white where we filled our outline in.

Even after a couple layers your white may not be entirely opaque, but don't worry. We're going to cover a lot of it with light gray for shading. Let's look at Les McClain's drawing again. Note where the shading is, and with a light gray (I'll make a 50/50 mix of Codex Grey and Skull White) draw the outline of the shadows.

Then fill in the shadows.

Next I'm going to take a dark blue (Regal Blue) and fill in the bib, and headband of the hat.

We're almost there. Before we tackle the face (it won't be too difficult) we'll get some practice by outlining in black with our small brush. First- the easier outline, all the way around, then the wrinkles in the arms, and finally the hand. Try to do as much as you can with long, smooth strokes. We want our Marshmallow Man to look smooth and tasty.

Ok, now we'll do the face. I'll go step by step. First paint the cheek lines on either side. Notice how they start at the indented point on either side of the outline, and bisect a similar point on each side of the shadow. Once you have those, use them as reference points and draw the mouth below them. Then move on the brow above the eyes. Watch the distance from both the top of the head, and the lines of the cheek. After that, finish the rest of the lines in the face except the eyes.

With all that in place, all you need for each eye is two curved lines! Now just fill the eyes in with white and add the pupils. While we're working with white again, let's paint in the white border around the bib, and if you're brave, the “STAY PUFT” logo on the hat's headband.

All we have left now is a couple small details. We'll use a dark red paint, I mix a touch of bright green (Goblin Green) with a bright red (Blood Red). Take the dark red paint and paint in the ribbon to the left of the hat and Marshmallow Man's tongue (which is just an oval shape). Outline the ribbon with black, and we're done! Sign and date your work if you like, and be sure to seal it with a spray acrylic. This will keep the paint from sticking to sleeves or the page of a binder.