I think every boy (including yours truly) has doodled a sketch of Batman at some point in his lifetime. And while many artists and writers have contributed to Bob Kane and Bill Finger's 1939 detective/superhero creation, my personal favorites are Frank Miller ("The Dark Knight Returns") and David Mazzucchelli ("Batman: Year One"). There is also another significant contributor who often goes missing in the list of notable Batman artists, and that person is Bob Ringwood, the costume designer for Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. I believe Ringwood was the first one to design the iconic cowl as a sculptural headpiece with an animalistic, dramatic effect giving it a charismatic screen presence of its own. The rest of Ringwood's costume had some hits and misses in my opinion, but the sculpted cowl with the expressive brow has reappeared in every cinematic incarnation of the hero since. This ceramic sculpture is my tribute to the legendary Dark Knight with a respectful nod to Ringwood's cowl, Mazzucchelli and Miller's military style utility belt, and to the original chest insignia (sans the yellow oval) that Bob Kane depicted on the Caped Crusader in his first appearance in "Detective Comics #27." My thanks again to the Ceramic Art Studio and Shop.

Wet clay model