Even after having been exposed to amazing art work for any number of years most comic book fans still have no idea how much skill and ability it takes to be good at figure drawing. To actually imagine a character in your head in some kind of dynamic pose and be able to put that image in your head onto paper or canvas is nothing short of a gift.
There's so many things you have to get right such as the perspective, angle and especially the proportions. Is the head the right size for the body it's attached to? Are the legs to long or are the arms to short? To me, getting the proportions right is usually what sets apart fan art that looks like it was done by a professional and that which is more amateurish looking.
The following figure studies of ROM are excellent examples of some artists who possess that kind of skill. Unfortunately I don't who did any of these three illustrations which is really sad cause these guys deserve to be accredited accordingly. I consider my self to be a fairly descent artist by any reasonable estimation but I'm obviously not at the level these guys are on.
Special thanks to Gary Martin Jr. "a ROM curator" for providing me with this amazing art work for me to share with you all.
July 4th Update: Some new info. was just brought to my attention the top illustration is by Marat Mychaels, bottom right Darryl Banks and the bottom left is Bob Layton.
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