Captain America Redesign: Reference and Sketches
Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 12:27PM Nothing ever happens in a vacumm. As I am locking down a redesign I go on a hunt for visual inspiration while I sketch. It's my favorite part of the design process and it usually nets some beautiful images in their own right. With this design for Project: Rooftop, a sketch inspired by a remembered closeup still from Howard Hughes's film Hell's Angels started the ball rolling.
The stars in the shape of the A was inspired by the personal style and design of Gen. George S. Patton. He was a man who was very aware of the costuming of war and loved a bit of high polish flare.
He designed the last US Army Saber, a (rejected) uniform for the Tank Cavalry and oversaw the dress code personally of his Third Army. If there was a General in the Army in 1941 who would have a lot to say about what Captain America wore, it would be Patton. From there I fell down the research rabbit hole. Enjoy.
;)
Captain America, Comics, Project Rooftop, Redesign in Redesign
Reader Comments (4)
If I had known that all I had to do to win was stick Captain America in a referee shirt, double-breasted smoking jacket and vespa helmet with matching goggles, I would also have entered. Ohwellz :/
I really want to disagree with the above comment here, I think this design goes far beyond a smoking jacket a referee shirt and a vespa helmet.. Really I don't see any of those things in this design.
I already commented on this over on project rooftop but there are a few main points for why I loved this so much, first off it's actually the only design I really liked. There were a couple nice ones here and there but this design was clearly well thought out and it just works well.
Second it's totally ageless, there is nothing in this design that would seem out of place during any time since the 1940's. It definitely states military, and the patriotism is very clear, but it's also toned down enough that nothing look cheesy. I could actually see this outfit in the real world as well as comic books, and I can also see it as a uniform that other heroes like Spiderman or Iron man could really look up to.
Maybe I like your designs so much because you seem to go down paths that I also move towards when redesigning a character, I didn't submit a design for this contest but I started by looking up images the same way. I was actually looking more at olympians in the 1940's, but I really like your inspiration chart here.
It would maybe have been cool if you added some medals to his coat, I don't think I saw anyone do that.
@Jouma: The thing is that you didn't know. Only I knew the secret recipe for winning. Your Mom whispered it to me so you'd be jealous.
@Calvin: Thank you so much for your reviews here and on P:R. I began this contest with Pulp Heroes and their power suits floating through my head. I tried to imagine what Captain America would have looked like if that circus performer in the red cape hadn't leapt over a building in single bound and set hero fashion trend for the next 75 years. He's still dressed in an American Flag, but he's wearing men's clothing. And timeless menswear has been a recent obsession of mine. Thank you for getting that.
And believe me at one point his coat was festooned with shit. Captain's bars on the collar, shield patch on the sleeve, 4 captain stripes on the cuffs, and white piping around the quilted collar in addition to the back stencil and silver star buttons. It was best that I edited down.
It's great to see some of the things that inspired this design. Very cool.