The Office: Step 2 - Black Underpainting

I began painting like this in high school.  For years, I've been a fan of comic book artist Alex Ross and admire the style he uses to render comic book superheroes in these beautiful, god-like watercolor paintings.  His method is part style, part speed.  Comic book artists have strict deadlines with quick turn-arounds and Ross has adopted a style that allows him to create these very pristine paintings, but since they are watercolors, he can do them fast.  And that fascinated me.  Reading one of his books, I took note that before he uses any color, he paints his entire image with only black watercolor paint.  He lays out the darkest, most opaque parts first and then spreads them across the paper into gradient shadows.  I tried it and, obviously, it stuck.  My style has become its own thing over the years, but everyone has to start somewhere.  It's become an important part in my process because I'm able to layout all the shading first and worry about the color later, which can be seen in Step 3...