The Women of WWE
Ink and watercolor on 22″ x 30″ watercolor paper
Damn, this was a tough one to paint. So I had the idea to do a trilogy of paintings focused on women’s wrestling showing the past, present and future. For this last one I wanted to do all of the ladies in Raw and SmackDown, not realizing that there are over thirty of them.
Over thirty in one painting! GAH!
I took inspiration from comic book artists who do big complex group shots, especially George Perez, Phil Jimenez and Geof Darrow. I did something I don’t normally do anymore, which is outline every figure with a pen first. It beat the hell out of my hand by the fourth day, doing those slow and deliberate lines while applying an even pressure for over thirty figures. Worth it, for sure.
Something I really noticed while in the outline stage was how individual and unique each of the ladies pictured are. I could have not spotted the blacks and you’d still know who everyone is just by their silhouettes and especially with their gear. I love that about where the artform of professional wrestling is at right now. Something’s being done right.
This is the most complicated painting I’ve done in years. Hope you like it.