PapaSeanski

I finished the Hulk t-shirt, and now I will show you how I made it.

Materials I used.

1 white t-shirt
1 black t-shirt
Acrylic craft paint, mainly just green and purple
Green, black, and purple magic markers
1 sharpened No. 2 pencil
1 wooden board
Some Hulk comic books for Inspiration
Strong tape
And 1 grandmother that knows how to cut and sow fabric

The first part is simple enough. I put the white t-shirt on a flat board as if the board was wearing the shirt. It doesn’t matter if you want to paint on the front of the shirt or the back. Make sure you iron out any wrinkles, and remove any lint from the side you paint on. Then I taped arms of the shirt, and other loose areas to the other side of the board, so the shirt won’t move around when I paint.

I started to sketch out in pencil the figure of the Hulk unto the shirt. I used a picture from an old comic to copy from. An old comic book image is good, because the drawing style in those days was simple. I don’t like the digital rendering of comics these days. The images get so complex, it’s like you aren’t reading a comic book anymore. Anyways, I tried not to make really dark lines or shadows, because I didn’t want the pencil to show through the paint. That may not matter depending on how thick your paint is. I watered down my paint to the consistency of watercolor so it was really thin. Experiment, and find what works best for you.

Here I started to fill in the sketch with paint. Remember that acrylic paint is water based. You have to be mindful of what materials you work with, because as you can see, the paint bleeds a little. That meant I had to paint a little inside the lines of the sketch, and give the paint room to spread. If the paint spreads too much, don’t worry about it. You can always paint over it, or hide it with shadows or highlights later on.

Even though the Hulk is just green, you can use other colors to make different effects. For example, you don’t always have to use black to make shadows. I was mixing green with other hues of green and even blue, to make a darker color. Brown can be a good substitute for black too. I used pink to highlight the purple pants.

Sure there is a lot of technique to be learned in painting, but it is important not to confine yourself to rules from an art textbook. Use whatever materials you have in your home to make the effect you want. I decided to use permanent markers to accentuate the shadows around the waist area of the pants. After the marker dried, I would paint over the marker to make it look like the pants were in front of the shadows at the waist.

Since I was already painting on a white shirt, I choose to use the whiteness of the shirt as highlights on the arm and face. That is something you have to decide before you paint anything for obvious reasons. That is totally up to you though. I could have used white paint, or even office white out to give Hulk some nice, cavity free, teeth.

At the end, I painted thin blue horizontal lines for the background. I guess I could have done something more appealing to the eye. Maybe next time.

When I finished, I could have cut the Hulk out and framed the fabric I painted on. Instead, I decided to have my grandmother cut the painting out and sow it unto a black shirt. She sowed the outer edges of the rectangle as well as around the Hulk silhouette, keeping the Hulk flat against the black shirt. I didn’t see her do it, but she did a great job! Thanks Grandma! If your grandmother doesn’t sow, you can always get your local tailor to do it.

I’ve been painting a picture of the Incredible Hulk on a t-shirt for a while now. I’m almost done, but I feel like the painting is always looking back at me saying something like,

“Fix this, fix that.”
“That color looks off.”
“The proportions aren’t right.”
“Add more shadows.”

I know it’s not really the painting that’s too picky and unsatisfied; It’s me. All my artwork goes through the same hyper-scrutiny. No drawing is ever good enough, and so, a lot of my work goes unfinished. Before this painting, I can’t remember the last time I drew anything, let alone produce a finished work. Even though the Hulk isn’t coming out the way I want him to, I’m determined to get him finished.

We forget how easily we all produced works of art for our parents in kindergarten. We drew a house and a happy sun in the sky in 2 minutes flat, and showed the drawing off like it was being displayed in a museum. Sometimes those days seem too long ago. Over time, we learn to beat ourselves down, and count ourselves out. We learn to pick ourselves apart and let everything eat up our creativity.

No more of that crappy thinking. While bringing the Hulk to life, I learned a few things.

1. Remember what you have done! A lot of confidence can be gained from remembering past work that you are proud of. If you are fortunate enough to have an old work of art, hang it up. If you have an old research paper, reread it. Maybe last month you wrote a funny email. Dig it up. If you can’t think of anything, ask your friends. Sometimes we are blind to our greatest accomplishments. You might be surprised what other people appreciate about you.

2. Don’t try to impress others! Sometimes it is easy to get caught up on what others may think of your work. If you try to conform to everyone else then you will lose your own unique voice. Being unique is what makes your work appeal to others in the first place. There will always be people who don’t like your work. There’s nothing you can do about that. Just be you.

3. Relax! You aren’t performing heart surgery. Take a chill pill. Have some fun with what you are doing. You don’t have to separate focus and determination from having a little fun.

4. Take breaks! If you are getting bored with your project, take a short break and come back to it with a refreshed mindset. Your project won’t get up and walk away on its own. Pinky promise.

5. Don’t work when you are hungry! This is especially true when painting the Hulk, because he always looks hungry. Don’t starve yourself for the sake of getting something done faster. Your brain is supposed to feed you ideas, not your stomach.

Ok, time for dinner. Want to see the Hulk shirt I made? Stay tuned.

Image by Tedsblog