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    Entries in Masks Are Fashion Masks Are Heroic (30)

    Tuesday
    Apr272021

    Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy

    This is the 20th and 21st entries that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

    Donna Troy is a beloved superhero. As the first Wonder Girl (not counting Wonder Woman herself as a girl), Donna Troy was a member of the Teen Titans. Donna Troy has ha SEVERAL headache-inducing origins throughout her decades existence, but her original is really the best, simplest, and easiest to understand. She was an orphaned baby/toddler, rescued by Wonder Woman from a burning building, taken to Paradise Island/Themiscyra to heal, and in the process was imbued with Amazon abilities. She was then raised by Queen Hippolyta as an adopted daughter and sister to Wonder Woman - and became a sidekick of sorts. Sadly, we got precious rare actual printed material of Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl actually working together. It was more a thing that was talked about than ever shown. And that's a real shame. As Wonder Girl, Donna had a lot of the same powers as Wonder Woman, but not as much. She even had a lasso as well. Donna's first Wonder Girl outfit consisted of star spangled short-shorts, and a red chiton with a golden eagle emblazoned on the chest and the neck and armholes trimmed with a gold pattern that homaged a Greek key pattern She also had red lace up sandals like Wonder Woman did in the 1950s and 60s. But that changed in the 70s, and Wonder Girl got a new full-bodied star spangled red catsuit with a "w" shaped buckle on her golden belt, a golden eagle necklace around her neck, and a long hairdo, aging her up from the teeny bopper pony tail look that she had been sporting.

    My take on Donna Troy is a big send up to her first red catsuit Wonder Girl costume, while using the plunging neckline of her more famous version of that costume that George Perez created for The New Teen Titans. It also references Debra Winger's Wonder Girl costume from the ABC season of the 1970s Lynda Carter Wonder Woman television show with the wrap aspect and the stars on the left side of the chest that are virtually the same color as the dress. I also wanted to visually reference the latter starfield pattern that would show up in Donna's later costumes, that always read as sparkly sequins or beads to me, that created a starfield look.
    "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy" by Kevenn T. Smith
    Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
    ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
    Donna Troy and Wonder Girl ©DC Comics 

    Reality shifted in the comic books, as they seem to do, and Wonder Woman was rebooted as being younger and just arriving to Patriarch's World. At the same time, New Teen Titans was one of DC's big selling titles, and they didn't want to start over from scratch there, so Donna's origins tying her to Wonder Woman were replaced to being rescued by the Greek Titans of myth, and trained and empowered by them...ad then she just happens to call herself Wonder Girl and wear a Wonder Woman-like costume years before Diana shows up as Wonder Woman...And many "fixes" would appear in the comics to try to make that work. When her connection to the Titans of myth was reveled, she received a new costume (the first with the starfield) and a new hero identity, Troia. Her Troia costumes were dominated by the black starfield, and after a while, silver accessories, as opposed to gold. This second version of her look is the Troia version.

    From the hair to the dress and shoes, I was also inspired by singer/songwriter Dua Lipa for this look. Dua Lipa embodies the aura of a young twety-something, vibrant, fashionable, and independent woman, and I feel that Donna Troy is that as well.

    Thank you for taking the time to experience these pieces.
    "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy 2" by Kevenn T. Smith
    Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
    ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
    Donna Troy and Troia © DC Comics
     

    Tuesday
    Apr202021

    Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batwoman

    This is the 19th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

    Not to be confused with Batgirl, Batwoman is Kate Kane, DC Comics' most prominent gay and Jewish superhero. Kate Kane's father, Jacob Kane, is the brother of Martha Kane, who married Thomas Wayne and gave birth to Bruce Wayne, Batman. I assume Kate's mother, Gabrielle, was Jewish. When Kate was twelve, terrorists kidnapped Gabrielle, Kate, and her twin sister, Beth. There was a rescue attempt, and Kate was supposedly the only member of her family to survive it. That left her traumatized. She followed in her father's footsteps of going into the military, but was discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. After kicking around the globe a little, she trained under her father and was inspired by Batman to become the crime fighting Batwoman. And surprise, her twin sister Beth was somehow alive and became her arch enemy named Alice, which also lead to a falling out with her father. Kate has had some great romances in the comics, including Renee Montoya and Maggie Sawyer, both women who work in police forces, both established characters in the comics. By day, Kate is a "socialite," but by night, she fights crime and monsters as Batwoman.

    Kate Kane has had some great looks in her civilian identity, some dresses, and even an iconic Marlena Dietrich-esque tuxedo look. I wanted to create a look that would easily fit among all of the dresses and skirts in this series, but also pay homage to the tuxedo look as well. Hence this dressy black and red onsie. Kate Kane was also a fan of a smokey eye makeup look, so far be it for me to stray from that. 

    Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
    "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batwoman" by Kevenn T. Smith
    Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
    ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
    Batwoman ©DC Comics
     

    Thursday
    Apr152021

    Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Barda of the New Gods

    This is the 18th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

    Barda is one of the New Gods characters created by Jack Kirby in the early 1970's. There were two planets, a nice one called New Genesis, ruled by High Father, and a hellscape planet called Apokolips, ruled by Darkseid. Barda was born on Apokolips and raised in and groomed by the sadistic Granny Goodness in one of her orphanages. Barda became the leader of an elite team of terrifying female warriors called the New Female Furies. However, she ended up falling in love with a man who also grew up in the orphanage and became an expert escape artist, Scott Free. The two of them escaped together, and learned that Scott was actually the son of High Father, traded to Darkseid for peace. The two of them settled on earth and operate as superheroes and Scott also as the escape artist performer, Mr. Miracle. The two of them have worked with the Justice League, and Barda with the Birds of Prey occasionally. It wasn't until her appearance in Birds of Prey that I really warmed up to Barda, when it was pointed out that the weapon Barda uses, her megarod, looks like a golden adult toy. I really fell in love with Barda and Scott Free in the Eisner Award Winning Mister Miracle maxi series by Tom King & Mitch Gerads, which really explores the PTSD and trauma Scott and Barda carry with them from growing up in a brutal and violent and pschologically terrorizing environment.

    This illustration is a special entry in this series, because it was created in collaboration with the uber talented Kristina Sunshine, a professional makeup artist and lead singer of the band, Bullseye Womprats. Kristina came up with the makeup design for this illustration of Barda specifically for this look and also served as the model for Barda's facial features. Kristina is one of the most talented and hard-working people I've ever met in my life. Legend has it that Barda was originally inspired by Lanie Kazan from her Playboy Magazine shoot around the time the New Gods were created, so I definitely wanted to give Barda a fuller figure in respect to that origin. The look was a really delicious challenge, because Barda's look is a really BUSY design. There's two shades of blue along with red, yellow, and black. When I first encountered the character, I couldn't tell if the big helmet that she wore was a helmet or her hair. There was SO MUCH going on. In light of that first impression, I knew that for my take, her hair needed to be really big to pay homage to the helmet that she wears. The first costume that Barda appeared in was basically a red bikini with a headband that looked like little strung-together gold coins or disks. Although her hair covers most of them, the red straps from that outfit are incorporated into this design, as well as the disks. Barda's usual costume has a blue scale mail base, and I used it for inspiration for her jewelry, with pieces of scale mail as her earrings, necklace, and bracelets. It was an absolute joy and honor to be able to collaborate with my dear friend on this. I offer a huge THANK YOU to Kristina Sunshine for her invaluable contributions!

    Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
    "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Barda of the New Gods" by Kevenn T. Smith
    Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
    Illustration ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
    Photograph ©2021 Kristina Sunshine. Used with Permission
    Barda ©DC Comics 

    Monday
    Apr122021

    Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Catwoman

    This is the 17th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

    Catwoman is a character that revels in her independence. And while she does enjoy a liberal amount of independence from other people, she still needs others and lives in a society that affects her. Catwoman was created in the 1940's to be a villain, but the character really hasn't been portrayed consistently as a villain in around thirty years. Currently, she's practically Mrs. Batman. And while she's known for her expertise at breaking and entering, she's also a formidable hand-to-hand combat opponent. She's always exhibited admiral qualities worth emulating. I should know. In high school, I wrote a thirteen page research paper on why Catwoman was a positive role model. And yes, I did get an A grade on it.

    For my take, I took influences from several different looks Catwoman has had throughout the years. For many years, starting in the 1940's, her costume consisted of a purple dress with slits in the skirt and a green cape. In the 1960's, the Batman TV show happened, and she went through a couple different looks before circling back to the purple dress and green cape look in the 1970's, just with a longer skirt and cape, higher boots, and a deeper cut in the decolletage. The purple dress with splits here defeinitely pays homage to that look. Instead of a green cape, I utilized green jewelry to introduce that color into the design. The purple I used was a warmer purple, closer to the color used in her 1990's costume. The corset is a take on the corset worn by Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in the movie Batman Returns. The lace-up sandal boots also nod to that costume. The cat ears on her head are a nod to the Catwoman costume from the 1966 Batman TV series, embellished with black diamonds here. The haircut and makeup are inspired by early designs by Joelle Jones during her run on the Catwoman comic book.

    Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
    "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Catwoman" by Kevenn T. Smith
    Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
    ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
    Catwoman ©DC Comics
     

    Tuesday
    Apr062021

    Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Lois Lane

    This is the 16th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

    In the past few years in the United States, certain superheroes have come to mean more to me because of the particular ideals and values that they stand for. For instance, while the President of the country had an enormous history of spouting misogynist speech, Wonder Woman, a hero who stands for the empowerment of women especially, became even more important to me. Likewise, as that same President continued to spew a mountain of provable lies and call members of the free press enemies of the people, the character Lois Lane meteorically rose in importance to me. Reporters like Julie K. Brown, who did most of the leg work on the Jeffrey Epstein story, and Victoria Brownworth, an independent reporter whose work advocates for truth and justice are real treasures to our society. I see in Lois Lane the same spirit that these women have, and that is a relentless search for the truth and commitment to exposing the powerful who prey, exploit, and harm those with less power. That's what superheroes do, and that's why Lois Lane deserves to stand alongside the other heroines of the DC Universe.

    A lot of thought went into creating this look for Lois Lane, which is, I believe, the first time that I've ever really drawn her. It's ridiculous that it's takine me this long to do that. The color purple has become associated with Lois Lane in the last few years, and since purple is my favorite color, of course I was going to use it. Ever since Superman: The Animated Series, Lois Lane has frequently been depicted having violet eyes. I did not want to deviate from that detail that provides more purple to the experience. Details were important, so she has a wedding ring on her finger to visually show her marriage to Clark Kent/Superman. She has lovely "S" symbol earrings to also nod to her status as a member of the "Superman Family." And her mask has a Logo for the Daily Planet on it. For the dress, I imagined that it would be a dress that could be worn to the office in the day along with a jacket or sweater, and then by itself for a fancier red carpet look. I love the pairing of the light lilac purple with rose gold, and gave her a matching phone, which I see so many reporters use nowadays as their recording devices. Her hair is a fresh long bob with a little wave to it. It's nice, but you know she doesn't have a lot of time to spend on her hair - not even for special occasions. I wanted to show that this is a woman who doesn't have the advantage of having super speed to help her manage her busy schedule. It's also a call back to one of my favorite portrayals of Lois Lane, Terri Hatcher on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

    Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
    "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Lois Lane" by Kevenn T. Smith
    Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
    ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
    Lois Lane ©DC Comics