The use of photo reference is a pretty amorphous technique among illustrators. Painters like Alex Ross tend to use it to capture lighting details, Tony Harris uses it to capture realistic body language and Greg Land seems to use it to capture...well, lots of things. But readers may not expect "Underground" writer Jeff Parker to team with artist Steve Lieber for a pretty slick rendering process, which kind of splices photo and illustration via portions of layered images.

Here Lieber's utilized the modeling talents of creator Erika Moen, who shared with us her experience striking a pose for the cover Image of the title's second issue.





I'd explain it to you, but I think Erika's own words sum up the process rather nicely:
"The left side is Parker's thumbnail with me providing photo reference for Wesley Fischer and a few bits sketched out by Steve. On the right is the finished product by Steve that is on display in many a fine comic book store."
"Underground" has been a really fun miniseries thus far, making this behind-the-scenes look at its cover art all the more endearing.

Does anyone else think Erika's making something of a Lara Croft fashion statement?