This year's pieces are both from my favorite Disney animated feature: Robin Hood. This one meant a lot to me growing up and definitely influenced what Mouse Guard became.
Below are the process steps and photos I took as I worked.
I started with pencil drawings that were assembled in photoshop with some corrections and drawing fill-in done digitally. For both pieces, I wanted to try and draw the characters the way I'd treat them (more like real animals) but balance that with their cartoon likeness.
Next step was to use transfer paper to transfer the large printout of the rough onto the thick illustration board. Using a ballpoint pen I traced over the rough's outlines to get the linework on the final surface.
The transferred drawings ready to paint.
My painting setup. One large and muddy watercolor tray and lid with dried up paint tubes I use like cakes and a spare set of colors I never use, but are stored in the larger tray.
From here on out, I won't type more commentary until the end.
To get the fireflies, I used clean water and a brush to lift the pigment and blot with paper towel.
The last step was to reinforce the linework with color pencil. Almost like inking my work, but rather than a bold and harsh black line, I opted for a softer dark brown color pencil.
As I said, one of these pieces will go into the art auction at Heroes Con on Saturday––the other will be available at my table on Sunday morning for a price based on the auction's results.
Also, since I've been asked, I don't make prints of characters I don't own/have the rights to––so I'm not making prints of these.
Bonus:
Here are the past Disney-themed pieces I've done for Heroes Auction art:
Ducktales:
Process Blogpost:
Gummi Bears:
Process Blogpost:
Tale Spin:
Process Blogpost:
https://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2025/06/heroes-con-2025-paintings.html
Rescue Rangers:
Process Blogpost:
