This was to be my commission before I got banned from the John Byrne board.

Since I doubt I will ever get this as a commission, can somebody clean this pic up? I want to use it as a wallpaper. If the commission had ever happened, I wanted a full body, smiling Thing underneath. But really, at this point I would like just the two kissing. I really like how Byrne draws two people kissing.

You have a PM.

Ha-ha. Versus what? One person kissing? I ridicule AND crack myself up!

You MUST remember this...

At Charles' request, I'm posting this. It is a straight trace from Byrne's famous Human Torch - Frankie kiss. I added some lineweights and color.

Really nice, Matt!

Thanks Marcus. I'm not a penciler like you, so this is a straight trace.

That's hot!

Thanks John!

Matthew - would you mind if I did a crit thread on the colouring of this image?

Not at all, Ian!!

No, I don't think it's that bad, but I do think some more oranges in her uniform and skin would help. I really love your inking. Really top-notch. And Johnny looks great to me.

Nope, not at all - there were some things you've done with it that I thought would be cool to talk about, perhaps ways to make other parts a bit more expressive, stuff like that.

I really like what you've done with this piece, is what I'm trying to say

You are probably correct. One of the things I tried to do was keep the colors as close to the original as possible. It didn't work in all cases (I attempted some color theory as Ian has been nice enough to go over here), but her skin color is that way. A bit more orange would have probably been good. I also wanted to make sure there was strong separation between their bodies and their flame (and in her case, hair).

I do appreciate your kind word Mark. Thanks for taking time to look and comment.

Ahhh! Gotcha! A lot of what you've been nice enough to go over with us here was attempted in this piece. Even some color theory.

Nice job, you are getting better and better! Jumping into pros anytime soon?

I like this a lot, Matthew. Nice work!
(you know you wrote "after Bryne" and not "Byrne", right?)

Heh... No plans really.

Thanks for the kind words Vlad.

Just a little background. This is one of my favorite images by Byrne from one of my favorite stories by Byrne. And that image is the best part of all of it.

As a kid I remember loving the idea of finding out that one's girlfriend has the same super power. It is a nice metaphor for a relationship going to a deeper level of intimacy. So, later, when Frankie decides to become Galactus' herald, rejecting Johnny, it was just brutal. I really felt the pain of Johnny pursuing Nova as she exited Earth's atmosphere. This image, where they are kissing just reiterates the exhileration of the moment and later, make the pain more potent. And, additionally, the image is (to use a bad pun), hot. They look great kissing. The Thing's reaction is an added bonus.

So, with THAT said, this was to be my commission. I seriously debated having old Byrne do this. But, the more I was at his board, the more I just disliked the man. I tried to convince myself that I didn't need to like the artist to love the art. But, after a while, even Byrne's recent commissions started looking bad.

And then I found IMWAN and Mr. Carpenter and through his great artistry and generosity, you have what is posted above. How cool is that? A great piece of artwork! And, I did not once have to pay $2,000, be called anal boy by Byrne, or receive some less than what I wanted comission.

I like that other artists are commenting. I am interested in what Hugh and Gerry T. have to say, as I always appreciate their skills and opinions.

Of course, I am just appreciative at this point. Very IMWAN experience for me.

Thanks Jeff! I didn't realize that actually. I need to fix that.

And you're very welcome Charles. Thanks for the kind words.