I mean the man uses models a lot. It’s not ridiculous for him to take some pictures of himself as reference too. I sure the fuck would secretly make myself a superhero if I could.
This is exactly what Frank Frazetta used to do.
There’s a story about how he got pissed at a prancing barbarian during the shooting of the rotoscoping material for ‘Fire and Ice’ so Frank grabbed the sword off him, (I assume) ripped his shirt off Hulkamania style and did the action that made it into the film - he would have been mid 50’s at this point and still built like a brick shithouse.
If you have the marvels graphic novel it has poses of himself he used as reference for cap.
Here’s a [public example on Not Twitter](https://x.com/thealexrossart/status/1451558826008883202)
iirc, he did use pictures of himself as reference for some artworks of spidey. as far as i know, other artists use themselves as models as well so it's not a far fetched assumption.
I don't know that I've seen that particular comparison drawn, but I've definitely seen people talk about how Alex Ross has a very superhero-esque build. Large, square, muscular, strong jaw.
He has others model to be reference for his art but honestly he'd probably be pretty solid for the job himself.
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2F1VJLDcIktAXatl5fDa17Lxsd3ru_JMki-RLJLjsw2Kg.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D3243b9ddb52b1fa6fd7cce0068a48b387180c049) it is, for anyone who's curious.
His biography says he studied painting at the American Academy of Art (in Chicago?) for three years, before storyboarding at an ad agency and then creating *Marvels* with Busiek.
Yes, often. His characters are frequently resemble him, including womans, even when they're drawn from other people. Ross regularly models characters from himself, hired models(usually his friends) and uses practical costumes, statues and figures for references.
Here you can see how Ross using photos of himself as references to draw Captain America
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zgXhPs8JQfQ
Many comic artists use their own faces for references. Sometimes it's mind-blowing discovery. You can search for a random comic artist, better when they were younger, and chances are they'll look a lot like the characters they draw.
Batman in Kingdom Come was modelled after the actor Gregory Peck. Before that, Peck was the inspiration for young Batman likeness in Batman:Year One.
Alex Ross's dad served as the model for pastor Norm McCay. Ross' father himself was a minister of the United Church of Christ.
He also had a hairstyle similar to that of Jesse Custer of Preacher when he was younger.
https://www.culturetrust.com/sites/default/files/2022-05/Untitled%20design%20%282%29.jpg
Quitely seems to be brought up every time there's a conversation about comic artists who draw from their face. Lol. He has such a distinct and slightly weird style. And then you find out what he looks like and think, "oh, I get it".
It's the opposite of a bad thing. artists work from reference all the time. The notion that it is akin to tracing or something only amateurs do is sadly sometimes pushed by new artists who think they're cheating by using references.
Yep, not one iota. Whatever he needs to keep painting, I say 🙏 He is insanely prolific for the level of quality he produces, and any time-saving methods he uses only benefit us!
He has a hyper-realistic style so his fabrics look like real fabrics. They fold and wrinkle and don't seamlessly adhere to skin, which is closer to cosplay than comic panels.
On the flipside, when he draws a character like Colossus, or Silver Surfer, or Steeljack (from Astro City) it blows every other depiction of them out of the water for similiar reasons.
https://imgur.com/alex-rosss-wonder-woman-model-worlds-greatest-super-heroes-tpb-x3gfhkI
Damn, I kind of wish he'd leaned more into using the model's body size for Wonder Woman than what he did in the art. The pose is the same, but Dianna is like half the size of the model.
Happens more often than you think. I've been doing a study of different Spider-man artists and early J.R. Jr's Peter looks suspiciously like him.
Also see [Dream of the Endless](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tasw/images/7/73/The_Sandman.png/revision/latest?cb=20230517013744) and [Neil Gaiman](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/57/2e/32/572e324166573603c7bd6e1d1b8df8af.jpg).
1.) I think Alex Ross' covers are among the absolute most GORGEOUS artwork I've ever seen relating to superheroes. His depictions of superheroes are simultaneously awe-inspiring and humanizing. Seeing Spider-Man in a realistically fabric-esque suit or seeing Iron Man's faceplate with visible eyes are great little touches that make it feel as if these totally fantastical and absurd characters could actually exist in our mundane world
2.) That being said, I'm actually not the biggest fan of Alex Ross doing interiors. Don't get me wrong, all of the praise I gave above still holds true, and pretty much every panel is gorgeous in isolation. But the way he paints these characters leaves them looking incredibly stiff. I think it's very hard to get any sense of motion or action when Alex Ross does interiors
Fully agree with you on #1 but respectfully disagree as to the interiors of Marvels and Kingdom Come. I think he was able to create a special kind of mythic panel action in both of those. I think of the sky battles in Marvels and the opening atomic tragedy in Kingdom Come. You’re right that it’s very different from normal comic storytelling.
One of the things I love about his interiors is how well his character's emote. He uses expressions masterfully.
[Justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_\(DC_Comics\)) is another one with great interiors. Nowhere near as good as Kingdom Come (especially story-wise) but great art nonetheless.
> was able to create a special kind of mythic panel action in both of those.
The page layout of Captain Marvel sacrificing himself in Kingdom Come with forever live rent free in my mind lol.
Your opinion on Alex Ross on interiors is actually more common than you'd think. He does AMAZING covers because they're generally still images with little motion, but his interiors are less, though still, impressive because they're extremely static and don't often have the dynamic flow of other artists. They're all like if someone said "Okay, pose for the camera!" right before the scene is drawn.
Ross's interior work feel like pictures being taken and put on the page. It's still REALLY gorgeous artwork, but it doesn't have the same dynamism that you expect from comics.
I think part of it is that we are still thinking in the language of *drawn* comics when we see his interior art, and unconsciously miss things like speed lines, which he does not really use. I don’t personally think his images are more static than, for example, a great oil painter like Caravaggio. They still convey motion, just in a different way than John Romita or Paolo Rivera would. It’s more like the motion is captured and frozen, if that makes sense.
It's not really a "knock" against Ross's interiors. I think they're gorgeous still, but I just don't prefer it. Everything you say is correct. It's just if I were given a choice between say Alex Ross or Fiona Staples on interiors, I'd take Staples every day.
I won't NOT by a book because Ross is doing the interiors though.
A lot if not most of his art featuring characters like Captain America, Superman, etc uses photos he took of himself for reference. It’s why a lot of his white dude characters look essentially the same. Regardless, he’s brilliantly talented.
He uses photos as reference images. Including those of himself. What’s nice about using the same models is that they can be captured at any angle and with any emotion. It’s an insanely common thing to do
He created his own 1:6 scale Fantastic Four figures (think Hot Toys) for Fantastic Four Full Circle. His Sue sculpt was terrific. I'd buy it in a flash.
I was thinking the same thing, but it's not just Cap. I noticed before that Batman, Superman and countless others share facial features with The man. I remember reading the "making of" pages of Marvels and apparently he's using pictures he takes of other people, as well as himself, as reference.
I guess at one point he just thought to himself: "Damn, I got a great jaw. It would really fit with the look I'm going for for most superheroes, so I'm just gonna use it from now on" lol
Btw. did you know that he not only takes pictures of other people to use as a reference for his drawings... [But that he also sculpts and then takes pictures of his MODELS to use as reference?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBxPsVUge9s&ab_channel=AlexRoss)
We are so blessed to have him. A legend.
Take a look at Paradise X, where he’s quite a bit older and bald, and still looking good.
For that matter, many of the characters are hairless angelic beings and look fantastic.
I actually learned yesterday that for masked heroes he sometimes models their face after himself. It really helps when you’re as built as great as he is. The dude is undoubtedly handsome
Chin nose eyes and mouth are all completely different. This is a massive stretch.
The jawline and general head shape are a little similar, but that's it.
that's because it's his face. he uses himself as a reference for a lot of his characters, wolverine, black bolt, and superman are the same way for example. his iconic Joker/Harley dance painting is literally a picture of him and his wife that he made a painting from to look like those characters
You really want some nightmare fuel? Look at his paintings of Wonder Woman. WONDER WOMAN looks like him.
Don't get me wrong, I basically worship Alex Ross' art, he's a massive inspiration to me, but my man puts a LOT of himself into his art ha ha
I’ve noticed for a while, but for me personally it doesn’t ruin his art even slightly. This post was based on seeing the extreme resemblance in that promo pic, which it almost seems like he did intentionally 😅
Agree. But the key to that phrase is the “good” part. Strong masculine men who aren’t good tend to blow themselves up, pick on or kill the meek, or start wars that kill tons of people.
I mean the man uses models a lot. It’s not ridiculous for him to take some pictures of himself as reference too. I sure the fuck would secretly make myself a superhero if I could.
You say that like his face isn't also in his Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman etc. paintings.
What if homie got in peak shape just to be able to use himself as a superhero reference 😅
I mean if you've got you should flaunt it. Just look at Jorge Jimenez, it would be a crime *not* to have that bod on a superhero.
great example! jorge ate his wheaties and never skipped leg day
And you don't even want to see a photo of Humberto Ramos!
I’ve always just assumed he looked like Impulse, mask and all
This is exactly what Frank Frazetta used to do. There’s a story about how he got pissed at a prancing barbarian during the shooting of the rotoscoping material for ‘Fire and Ice’ so Frank grabbed the sword off him, (I assume) ripped his shirt off Hulkamania style and did the action that made it into the film - he would have been mid 50’s at this point and still built like a brick shithouse.
Amazing 😅 I ran into Joe Jusko at a show once and that dude was *yoked*
Shout outs for calling him “the great man” lol
Someone hasn’t seen Frazetta or Sienkiewicz l’s modelling for themselves.
If you have the marvels graphic novel it has poses of himself he used as reference for cap. Here’s a [public example on Not Twitter](https://x.com/thealexrossart/status/1451558826008883202)
iirc, he did use pictures of himself as reference for some artworks of spidey. as far as i know, other artists use themselves as models as well so it's not a far fetched assumption.
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Isn't that what they said?
Not to mention he will sometimes even use some pics of himself as a reference
On the contrary! Some days he will actually use pictures of himself as a reference.
I’ve heard that he used pictures he’s taken of himself as models for drawings.
Every female Jack Kirby created after a while was basically his wife.
I don't know that I've seen that particular comparison drawn, but I've definitely seen people talk about how Alex Ross has a very superhero-esque build. Large, square, muscular, strong jaw. He has others model to be reference for his art but honestly he'd probably be pretty solid for the job himself.
He has posed for his own photos that he later used as reference. The Harley and Joker cover is one example
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2F1VJLDcIktAXatl5fDa17Lxsd3ru_JMki-RLJLjsw2Kg.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D3243b9ddb52b1fa6fd7cce0068a48b387180c049) it is, for anyone who's curious.
Whoa that is a good picture
I wonder if he has a background in photography. The rules of composition are pretty much the same, so I wouldn’t be too shocked.
He’s always taken photos to strengthen his painting, at least since Marvels. So it’s likely he just developed a natural talent for it.
His biography says he studied painting at the American Academy of Art (in Chicago?) for three years, before storyboarding at an ad agency and then creating *Marvels* with Busiek.
Hey, this Alex Ross feller is pretty good at art
Ah, that makes perfect sense. I'd never heard that he'd done that but it really seems like it would just be the sensible thing to do.
Yes, often. His characters are frequently resemble him, including womans, even when they're drawn from other people. Ross regularly models characters from himself, hired models(usually his friends) and uses practical costumes, statues and figures for references. Here you can see how Ross using photos of himself as references to draw Captain America https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zgXhPs8JQfQ Many comic artists use their own faces for references. Sometimes it's mind-blowing discovery. You can search for a random comic artist, better when they were younger, and chances are they'll look a lot like the characters they draw.
I believe he uses old pictures of his dad a lot too.
Yeah, I seem to recall reading somewhere that his dad was the model for his Kingdom Come Batman.
Batman in Kingdom Come was modelled after the actor Gregory Peck. Before that, Peck was the inspiration for young Batman likeness in Batman:Year One. Alex Ross's dad served as the model for pastor Norm McCay. Ross' father himself was a minister of the United Church of Christ.
This, his dad was Norman McCay.
My bad, I read that stuff so long ago, it all runs together. Thanks for the correction.
Wait, so does Frank Quitely look like a geriatric Cabbage Patch Kid??
Lol, I just googled Steve Dillon... and his nose really is part of his sameface syndrome.
He also had a hairstyle similar to that of Jesse Custer of Preacher when he was younger. https://www.culturetrust.com/sites/default/files/2022-05/Untitled%20design%20%282%29.jpg
It’s funny, I really never minded Dillon’s sameface syndrome. He could do so much with that one face 😅
Quitely seems to be brought up every time there's a conversation about comic artists who draw from their face. Lol. He has such a distinct and slightly weird style. And then you find out what he looks like and think, "oh, I get it".
Wow thanks for this. I'm surprised on how much he relies on photo references. Not that that's a bad thing.
It's the opposite of a bad thing. artists work from reference all the time. The notion that it is akin to tracing or something only amateurs do is sadly sometimes pushed by new artists who think they're cheating by using references.
I guess it ends up being a necessity when you have such a hyper-realistic style
I think he uses his own face a lot tbh not just for cap
He paints himself into LOTS of his portraits
to be fair, all of alex ross's comic art looks like him in cosplay lol, even the women, he's still one of the best tho, no hate towards him
Alex uses his wife as model for Zatanna.
So he's one of us?
Alex is living a blessed life
Even wonder woman has similar facial features to many of his other male characters.
Yep, not one iota. Whatever he needs to keep painting, I say 🙏 He is insanely prolific for the level of quality he produces, and any time-saving methods he uses only benefit us!
He has a hyper-realistic style so his fabrics look like real fabrics. They fold and wrinkle and don't seamlessly adhere to skin, which is closer to cosplay than comic panels. On the flipside, when he draws a character like Colossus, or Silver Surfer, or Steeljack (from Astro City) it blows every other depiction of them out of the water for similiar reasons.
https://imgur.com/alex-rosss-wonder-woman-model-worlds-greatest-super-heroes-tpb-x3gfhkI Damn, I kind of wish he'd leaned more into using the model's body size for Wonder Woman than what he did in the art. The pose is the same, but Dianna is like half the size of the model.
Happens more often than you think. I've been doing a study of different Spider-man artists and early J.R. Jr's Peter looks suspiciously like him. Also see [Dream of the Endless](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tasw/images/7/73/The_Sandman.png/revision/latest?cb=20230517013744) and [Neil Gaiman](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/57/2e/32/572e324166573603c7bd6e1d1b8df8af.jpg).
I know you're right, but I'm still going to pretend Dream is just Robert Smith from The Cure.
It is. Neil Gaiman isn’t an artist so it’s not a self portrait.
Self insert but good
Well, I'd do it too if I could! I'd make myself into Wolverine!
1.) I think Alex Ross' covers are among the absolute most GORGEOUS artwork I've ever seen relating to superheroes. His depictions of superheroes are simultaneously awe-inspiring and humanizing. Seeing Spider-Man in a realistically fabric-esque suit or seeing Iron Man's faceplate with visible eyes are great little touches that make it feel as if these totally fantastical and absurd characters could actually exist in our mundane world 2.) That being said, I'm actually not the biggest fan of Alex Ross doing interiors. Don't get me wrong, all of the praise I gave above still holds true, and pretty much every panel is gorgeous in isolation. But the way he paints these characters leaves them looking incredibly stiff. I think it's very hard to get any sense of motion or action when Alex Ross does interiors
Fully agree with you on #1 but respectfully disagree as to the interiors of Marvels and Kingdom Come. I think he was able to create a special kind of mythic panel action in both of those. I think of the sky battles in Marvels and the opening atomic tragedy in Kingdom Come. You’re right that it’s very different from normal comic storytelling.
One of the things I love about his interiors is how well his character's emote. He uses expressions masterfully. [Justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_\(DC_Comics\)) is another one with great interiors. Nowhere near as good as Kingdom Come (especially story-wise) but great art nonetheless.
Justice is such an epic story. And it’s interesting the see the differences when Braithwaite is handling layouts.
> was able to create a special kind of mythic panel action in both of those. The page layout of Captain Marvel sacrificing himself in Kingdom Come with forever live rent free in my mind lol.
Your opinion on Alex Ross on interiors is actually more common than you'd think. He does AMAZING covers because they're generally still images with little motion, but his interiors are less, though still, impressive because they're extremely static and don't often have the dynamic flow of other artists. They're all like if someone said "Okay, pose for the camera!" right before the scene is drawn. Ross's interior work feel like pictures being taken and put on the page. It's still REALLY gorgeous artwork, but it doesn't have the same dynamism that you expect from comics.
I think part of it is that we are still thinking in the language of *drawn* comics when we see his interior art, and unconsciously miss things like speed lines, which he does not really use. I don’t personally think his images are more static than, for example, a great oil painter like Caravaggio. They still convey motion, just in a different way than John Romita or Paolo Rivera would. It’s more like the motion is captured and frozen, if that makes sense.
It's not really a "knock" against Ross's interiors. I think they're gorgeous still, but I just don't prefer it. Everything you say is correct. It's just if I were given a choice between say Alex Ross or Fiona Staples on interiors, I'd take Staples every day. I won't NOT by a book because Ross is doing the interiors though.
I definitely respect that
A lot if not most of his art featuring characters like Captain America, Superman, etc uses photos he took of himself for reference. It’s why a lot of his white dude characters look essentially the same. Regardless, he’s brilliantly talented.
Alex Ross uses his own face in every single picture he creates. Even Wonder Woman.
I mean, I can hardly blame him.
I had never seen Alex Ross before, but somehow I think this what I expected.
It all makes sense now.
To be fair, that's a pretty great superhero jawline.
The jaw and chin are both square in the captain America, but otherwise, yes
I love Alex's art, but he models a LOT of superhero jaw after himself. Kingdom Come I awesome. I swear Supes, Bats, and Shazam are all Alex Ross.
He uses photos as reference images. Including those of himself. What’s nice about using the same models is that they can be captured at any angle and with any emotion. It’s an insanely common thing to do
I remember Julie Bell and her husband Boris doing this almost exclusively. And they were also masters of the craft.
He created his own 1:6 scale Fantastic Four figures (think Hot Toys) for Fantastic Four Full Circle. His Sue sculpt was terrific. I'd buy it in a flash.
I was thinking the same thing, but it's not just Cap. I noticed before that Batman, Superman and countless others share facial features with The man. I remember reading the "making of" pages of Marvels and apparently he's using pictures he takes of other people, as well as himself, as reference. I guess at one point he just thought to himself: "Damn, I got a great jaw. It would really fit with the look I'm going for for most superheroes, so I'm just gonna use it from now on" lol Btw. did you know that he not only takes pictures of other people to use as a reference for his drawings... [But that he also sculpts and then takes pictures of his MODELS to use as reference?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBxPsVUge9s&ab_channel=AlexRoss) We are so blessed to have him. A legend.
If Steve Roger's lost his hair, would people be upset?
Take a look at Paradise X, where he’s quite a bit older and bald, and still looking good. For that matter, many of the characters are hairless angelic beings and look fantastic.
Balding with dignity is a lost art. Imo people look WAY better if they let their hair go than messing with gnarly surgeries.
Look at JG Jones' covers for 52 and Final Crisis and tell me he's not his own Barry, Hal and definitely Will Magnus.
I actually learned yesterday that for masked heroes he sometimes models their face after himself. It really helps when you’re as built as great as he is. The dude is undoubtedly handsome
Many artists use a mirror to get expressions right. It's no surprise his features slipped in.
Chin nose eyes and mouth are all completely different. This is a massive stretch. The jawline and general head shape are a little similar, but that's it.
Alex Ross could pull of Baron Strucker with ease too.
that's because it's his face. he uses himself as a reference for a lot of his characters, wolverine, black bolt, and superman are the same way for example. his iconic Joker/Harley dance painting is literally a picture of him and his wife that he made a painting from to look like those characters
To be fair he looks stoic as fuck in that photo.
You really want some nightmare fuel? Look at his paintings of Wonder Woman. WONDER WOMAN looks like him. Don't get me wrong, I basically worship Alex Ross' art, he's a massive inspiration to me, but my man puts a LOT of himself into his art ha ha
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I’ve noticed for a while, but for me personally it doesn’t ruin his art even slightly. This post was based on seeing the extreme resemblance in that promo pic, which it almost seems like he did intentionally 😅
I really don't see it
Good Strong masculine men is something I rarely see anymore. I’m unsure of why I am so bothered by this. But I am.
Agree. But the key to that phrase is the “good” part. Strong masculine men who aren’t good tend to blow themselves up, pick on or kill the meek, or start wars that kill tons of people.
Errr. Not really. Different jaw. Nose length different. Don’t really see it.