One of my favorite parts of any comic convention is Artist Alley. I enjoy meeting creators and hearing about their journey. At WonderCon 2016 I met many incredible individuals, including the talented Thor artist Russell Dauterman. With his humble, earnest enthusiasm for comics, it’s easy to want to cheer him on in his success. And there were certainly plenty of people stopping by his table to say hello.
Russell Dauterman at his table in Arist Alley, WonderCon 2016
In his spotlight panel, he discussed what led up to this point in his career. He started out in costume design and found that he enjoyed illustrating. He worked as an illustrator for the costume designers for Captain America: The First Avenger and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Given his background in costumes, it’s no wonder his imaginings of Asgardian characters are vibrant, intricate, and stunning.
Spotlight Panel with Russell Dauterman, WonderCon 2016
Steadily, and with lots of perseverance, he worked himself into the comic scene. He’s worked on Marvel’s Cyclops, DC’s Nightwing, several Valient titles, and BOOM! Studios’ Supurbia.
He also discussed his preferred drawing setup, going through the pros and cons of various tablets. And he showed one of his drawings from conception to finish. It’s neat to see that even pros start with stick figures. Roughing out the scenes first is a great way to make adjustments and get feedback before going through the rest of the time-consuming process to create the jaw-dropping end result.
He’s currently working on The Mighty Thor, written by Jason Aaron. You can read more about Russell Dauterman and his work at russelldauterman.com.
Leave a Reply