Randy Orton
Ink, watercolor and acrylic paint marker on 14" x 17" bristol board
Artwork by Rob Schamberger
Occasionally I finish a painting and say, "Yeah, I made that." This was one of those times.
For my latest Randy Orton piece I had the concept pretty much fully-formed in my mind, it was just a matter of making it. Often I have a general direction in mind and then go from there, sort of playing jazz with paint, but sometimes I know exactly what I want to do and then execute the idea.
First I put down a layer of tan watercolor just to give it some extra dimension, then built up layers with grey and black watercolor as well as ink for the darkest shadows and white acrylic paint marker for the brightest highlights. Once I had his figure done, I then used a red paint marker to draw a viper coiling itself around him and using its tongue to whisper in Randy's ear. The voices speaking to him, counseling him, that are spoken of in his entrance song. The final touch was adding a bit of red to his eyes, showing how the viper's notions are influencing Orton.
It's a simple concept but still complicated in application and dang it I'm happy with how it turned out.