Halloween Machine 2015

Once again it's Halloween and so, once again, it's time for my annual post on all things spooky in my little corner of the world.  

I busted out my only-used-at-halloween sewing "skills" to construct some wearable art in the form of a Cyclops costume.  And not just any Cyclops costume; a 90's Cyclops costume.  My friend Colin and I have had many a ponderous conversation about the aesthetic shortcomings of the comic book trends that came to dominate the industry during our formative comic-reading years.  Chief among them: the pouchy, shoulder-paddy, metal-embellished, over-designed nonsense of comic book costumes of the early 90's, particularly the X-Men.  And so, that was the theme we went with, and over the months convinced several of our friends to join us in creating the most ridiculous versions of our favorite X-Men characters' costumes.  We ended up with a team consisting of Bedsheets Storm, Raincoat Jubilee, 60's-era Marvel Girl/Jean Grey, Minimalist Wolverine, Chef-Shirt Shatterstar, and Strap Overkill Cyclops.

My Cyclops Costume presented some challenges, particularly the belt pouches and gloves, which I hand-stitched individually.  The intercom button was a tap light spray painted yellow, glazed with red mod podge, and topped with an acrylic black "X." 

Finally, I had to do my annual invitation artwork.  This year I decided on a werewolf theme.  The previous years can be found here, here, here,and here.

Greg White Illustration

Because We Can...Can-can

This latest poster was a commission piece for a friend, but I do actually love Moulin Rouge for its raw energy, spectacle, humor, and of course the beautiful visuals.  It was a pretty straight-forward idea that didn't change much from my initial concept.  Prints are available at my store!

Greg White- Illustration

Madimus Maximus

Just in time for "Mad Max: Fury Road," (which has been my most-anticipated movie of the year and, with any luck, I will finally see tomorrow) this commission piece fell into my lap!  I do love "The Road Warrior" I do, and I took great pleasure in drawing Lord Humongous and Max's V8 Interceptor.  Maybe someday I'll do a poster for "Beyond Thunderdome" which, while ridiculous in every way and light on car-chase action sequences, is a movie I have a deep and abiding love for.

Greg White-Illustration

Star Wars 3: The Legend of Wicket's Gold

By the time I got around to my Return of the Jedi poster, I'd already been putting in mad hours for two weeks straight on the previous posters, but I was to find a new definition of pain and suffering upon this new endeavor.  With only 3 days until I had to go to print for the comic con, and with a monster of a movie with the most messy storyline in the trilogy, I had my work cut out for me, and basically went from 18-hour days to a final 22-hour couch-bound illustrating marathon.

Aside from the usual list of concerns, (color scheme, composition, character design) the problem of story theme and plot structure became problematic in ways I've usually not had to deal with in poster design.  For the first two posters, I started at the base of the image with Luke in one of his iconic, theme-establishing scenes at the start of his journey; first in Star Wars contemplating his hopes for the future as he stares at the duel sunset on Tatooine, and then in Empire where he's at a low point on Hoth and tasked with finding Yoda to begin his training as a Jedi.  The posters then tell the stories in a vertical fashion, introducing characters and events as they occur in the films, and culminating in the climax of the film at the top.  

 Like so

But there is no such theme-establishing Luke thinky scene at the start of Return of the Jedi.  He's basically shrouded in mystery until he shows up in Jabba's living room instigating the long list of shenanigans that comprise the ultimate Star Wars side quest to save Han.  While I love this part of the film, it does deviate from the previous formula that was working so well for my poster designs.  Luke doesn't really get his theme-defining thinky scene until the end of the film as he holds a funeral for Darth Vader ***spoiler alert*** and gets some much-needed closure. 

I wrestled with this for a bit, but with the deadline looming, it wasn't a good time for this poster baby to get its head stuck in the proverbial birth canal.  So I went with my gut and ditched the strict linear storytelling convention.  I also, sadly, had to leave out the ewoks.  Yes, small as they are, there was simply no room for them in the end.  Jabba gluttonously ate up all the remaining space.  But I'm still quite happy with this design.  I think the three posters work well together and I can, (for the time being) not worry about any more Star Wars art.  Heaven knows I'm not going through this much pain for that prequel nonsense. As stated before, you can pick up this or any of my other poster designs at my etsy store.

Greg White- Illustration

Star Wars 2: The Boba Fett Boogaloo

The Empire Strikes Back is one of my all-time favorite movies, and easily my favorite of the Star Wars films.  All the actors seem more at ease in their roles, the dialogue is more natural, the story more complex and nuanced, and the visuals are even more striking than in the first film.  There are so many iconic moments in this film, it made it difficult to know what to focus on.  So I began with the color script and worked up from there.  I tried to capture the film's color palette of whites, airy grays, and blues contrasted with fiery reds and oranges in a single image, and I'm really happy with the result.  Much like the first poster, this one tells the story of the film staring at the bottom of the image and working up to the climax at the top.  

I couldn't be bothered to mess with Chewbacca and his complicated hair issues, nor could I find a space for the droids, so they just had to sit this poster out to make room for Yoda, Lando, and the mysterious, (well, before those sucky prequels) Boba Fett.

Prints are for sale at my etsy store, and you can purchase the entire trilogy (or any 3 posters for that matter) at a reduced price.

Greg White- Illustration

   

May the Fourth be With You

So it looks like I'm back in the movie poster business again!  I had to take several months off from movie posters because I had to work on some other gallery work (which I will post soon) and because I was frankly sick of doing them.  But I found my second wind and then some when the opportunity to show work at a local comic con came up and I realized I needed more nerd fare to hock.  It was a tough turn-around, but I managed to get the entire Star Wars trilogy done in time for the con.  What can I say, the force was with me.  You can buy these at my etsy store for $18 each or all three for $40!

I'll be posting Empire and Jedi throughout the rest of this week, so keep an eye on this space!

Greg White-Illustration

My Phat Status XXI

It's been quite a while since I've felt compelled to write a new Phat Status, but maybe this one will help explain the shortage.  

Greg White Illustration