Distressed damsels: Early EMPOWERED digital tests, plus the last penciled EMP12 page(?) (Patreon)

For this week's running-late damsels-in-distress (DiD) content, first we see the final version of an Empowered vol.12 page I posted here in unfinished form a few weeks back. This may well be the final penciled Empowered page, as it looks like I just can't push an analog pencil any more without triggering immediate drawing-arm pain. (We'll see.)

Which means it's time to redouble my experiments with the easier-on-my-arm digital format, folks! First up is a quick Procreate design sketch for Velvet Moth, a new Emp supervill I worked up after discussions on Twitter re: an interesting-looking caterpillar I photographed last week. (The actual, goo-spewing insect he's based on is the Velvet Worm, but that doesn't sound quite as Goth as Velvet Moth, does it?)

Well.

The Procreate brush I like to draw with, the Medium Hard Airbrush, is fine for rough sketches, but is no bueno indeed for more finished artwork like Emp's mask and hair. The only good takeaway from these initial tests is that, at last, I can convey the glittery, sparkly texture that Emp's supersuit should always have had. (Tough, if not impossible, to render that quality in pencil without a ton of white-out.) Yay? On the other hand, everything else about the tests kinda sucks. No yay!

Anyhoo, this is just a first round of tests, so I'm not freaking out just yet. (Yet.)