Batman Beyond was an amazing followup to the original Batman Animated Series. It was tragically short lived but it did gain a massive following. While I would love to see a live action Batman Beyond movie, it's good to know that the series is still going strong in the comics. Terry McGinnis makes a great caped crusader.

The Wire Frame

This specific illustration of Batman Beyond was inspired by an old drawing I made when I was five years old. It was crude and featured the Bruce Wayne iteration, but I used it as a reference to see if I could re-draw it as part of the Inktober challenge a few years ago. In my original drawing, he wasn't wearing a cape and he was diving down head first. I couldn't help but feel that Batman Beyond was more suitable for the redraw than the original Batman.

The Sketch

It's funny to think that my pencil sketch could be more detailed than the finished illustration, but perhaps that's because the style of the Tim Bruce's art is very simple and minimal. That's what made it great for the early DC animated series of the late 90's and early 00's. I used grid lines to help me draw Gotham City in the proper perspective.

The Line Art

I'll admit, Batman's wings gave me trouble because for the life of me I couldn't find proper reference for how they look like from the back. Many other artists draw them coming from his sides, under his arms, or on the shoulder blades. I still don't think they look quite right, but that's okay. His face was probably the most important part of his design, so I took my time to make sure the highlights and shape were as accurate as possible.

The Flat Colors

Gotham City is futuristic and high tech. It's rather cold and devoid of any Gothic architecture like classic Gotham is known for. While using the line tool was helpful to make everything so straight, I didn't do my best to make sure everything lined up correctly from one building to the next. There is some variance from one skyscraper to the next, which gives the illusion that they are leaning.

The Finished Illustration

I have a video showing the final coloring and shading process I did for this one. Since Batman is black with the colored highlights, it was difficult to give him more depth or shape from additional shading. The same went for the buildings, which were flat and boring. I decided to really emphasize the neon glow from the city lights and the contrast of one color against another. Finally, Batman's eyes glow a little bit because his suit is technologically advanced.