Silas Zee: Hope Summers

Hope Summers

2012.06.22

I can't take credit for this idea, the image popped into my head when I saw Jim Cheung's awesome cover to Avengers vs X-Men #4.

I worked on this for a few days, probably longer than I should have, trying to get it "right." From the get-go I wanted her to be sort of morphing into the fire, her hair in particular. I spent a lot of time tweaking the pencils and colors trying to nail that effect. It turned out okay, but I don't think I found that right balance between hair and fire. I decided to quit while I was ahead and just chalk this up to experience. Besides, this isn't my first Phoenix-inspired pic and it certainly won't be my last. ^_~

Since hope is a teenager I tried to make sure that her face looked a lot younger than I usually draw, namely giving her a more rounded jawline and chin. I composed this as a tight piece so I could focus on her face, expression and hair. That and it didn't give me the chance to draw her with huge boobs and hips because she's like 16, right? XD