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

Halloween Machine 2014!

Hello interneters, and a very happy Halloween to you all.  As anyone who's followed my blog (all 3 of you) for any length of time knows, I'm a pretty serious Halloweener.  And this year was no different.  Despite the fact that I had 2 major jobs land on the same month (a set design for a play and illustrations for an animated video), and I had precious little time, I still managed to hit all my usual Halloween traditions, including creating a costume based on a dated (usually film-related) reference from yesteryear, my annual costumed carving party, and an illustrated invitation to go with said party.  

This year I went as Scrooloose, (maybe the greatest mute, feral, post-apocalyptic child-shaman character ever put to film) from the 1980's classic "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome."  My friend, Rachel, went as Auntie Entity, the somewhat more iconic character played by Tina Turner.  

As for the invitation art, it was done in the same style as I've done in past years like these, this one, and these, but with a nautical theme.  Happy Halloween everybody!

Greg White- Illustration

We Built This City

How do you like that title?  Yeah, that's right.  It's gonna be stuck in your head all day now.  Anyhow, here is the final piece of phase one of my Oklahoma City illustrations.  I'm hoping to get some more done when time permits.  This one was taken from atop McNellie's pub, (the building that can be seen in the background of the Kaiser's piece) and shows the downtown skyline.  This one is probably my favorite of the three because of the color composition.  

Greg White-Illustration

Loitering on Public Property

So here's part two of my new series, which features The Paseo, the hippy-art mecca of my fair city (not to be confused with the hipster-art mecca, which may get featured later on down the road).  You'll notice that a girl quite similar to the one in my last painting makes an appearance here.  Don't be fooled!  Even though she isn't wearing glasses in this piece, it is the one and same character, and that is because the same, gorgeous woman modeled for this piece too.  She is my lovely roommate for those who were curious.

Greg White-Illustration

A Little Nightly Stroll

Guess what movie this piece is based off of?  Give up?  Good, cause it's the first non-movie poster design I've done in what seems like ages.  This was done as part of a series I started that centers on some of my favorite little locations throughout the city.  Three of them are displayed at a Gallery near downtown and I'm planning to do a few more when I can find some time.  That may be a while, though, as this summer has provided me with an absolutely insane workload.  When it rains, it pours.

Greg White- Illustration

I Will Not Be Threatened By A Walking Meatloaf!

"An American Werewolf in London" is one of my all-time favorite flicks.  We're talking top-ten territory here. So with an abundance of time on my hands this summer, I decided to indulge myself and do this poster as a gift to my favorite client--me.  Sure, I'm a demanding perfectionist who forces me to do countless revisions and stay up till all hours, but at the end of the day, I'm a client who gets me and is in sync with my artistic vision.  

How can I accurately put my love for John Landis' "An American Werewolf in London" into words?  It's like the "Jaws" of werewolf movies as the beast is rarely shown, which only makes it scarier. It also features one of the greatest werewolf transformation scenes of all time and is peppered with some fantastic gore and makeup effects that still hold up today.  The film has a pitch-perfect tone that is both darkly hilarious and vicious at the same time, and is one of the few films that works equally well as both a comedy and a horror film.  There is some debate as to whether this or "The Howling" is the better 1981 werewolf film, but to me there is absolutely NO contest.   

 

Greg White Illustration

Lawrence of Arabia

I'm a Lawrence of Arabia freak, so when the opportunity to do a commissioned work for it came along, I jumped at the opportunity.  I think Steven Spielberg summed it up nicely when he referred to Lawrence of Arabia as a "miracle."  It's a film that had every right to fail according to traditional movie standards.  It's four hours long, has no female characters, takes place almost entirely in the desert, has little action for a wartime film, and features an extremely unconventional protagonist.  And yet, it is amongst the most beautiful and celebrated films of all time.  

The poster came together with very little fuss.  I drew the original design as a portrait, but decided to do a B-side for myself in landscape that I actually like even better.  

Greg White Illustration

  

There's Something Lodged in My Blogspot!

After the 7-month, on-again off-again teeth-pulling test of human endurance that was The Warriors poster, it was nice to have something quick, simple, and Hitchcockian to fall back on.  This little piece comes from Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 silent film, The Lodger, and like the last Hitchcock poster I did, it came together in just a few hours over 2 days. Give me a deadline, a Hitchcock theme, and a lot of red pixels and apparently I'm able to crank this stuff out like a frickin' vending machine.  I'm also posting an updated version of the Psycho poster with a title and slightly different dimensions.  I think it works better this way.  Expect to see a few more reposts along with my new work in the coming weeks as I've added titles and tweaked some older posters that needed some sprucing up.  

Greg White Illustration

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

Hello friendly friends!  Here's a little poster I did recently for a big comic book-themed event at the Paramount.  I'm an unapologetic comic book nerd, so it was a welcome chance to get to draw some of my favorite super heroes for a gig.  I decided to base them off of the movie versions of the characters in my usual style, but with a vintage comic book design influence.  

 Here's Thor, complete with Chris Hemsworth's squinty little eyes

 And Captain 'Merica with Chris Evans' striking baby blues

 Iron Man doing his...thing

 And Hulk in pre-smash mode

 I'm especially fond of this little touch

Greg White Illustration

Can You Dig It?

Sakes alive, this poster was an absolute bear to complete.  An angry, p.m.s.ing mother polar bear.  Depicting a favorite film of mine, (1979's "The Warriors) I began this poster back in September with the naive optimism of a five year-old.  Previously, the largest number of characters I'd ever included in a single poster was seven for the Doctor Who poster, (eight if you count the dalek).  But for this poster, I drew 33 individual characters, each one based on a specific actor in the movie.  Sure, some of them are based on extras who are only seen for a moment or two, but I figured authenticity is a mark of true geek devotion and stupidly decided to spend an eon and a half trying to capture the likeness and unique, spiritual essence of every single one of the figures.  But first, I had to spend an eon and a half doing extensive photo research for all the characters.  The other aspects that made this one so time-consuming were the background, which was more involved than I usually go for, and a color and lighting concept that was dark, moody and sometimes difficult to see. 

I essentially put life and REM sleep on hold for two weeks while I tried to crank this thing out in time for my first gallery showing at The Paramount.  My efforts were rewarded when a woman claiming to be the sister of Brian Tyler (who plays Snow in the film) excitedly pointed out her brother on the poster.  She didn't buy one, though.  Nobody bought a Warriors poster.  Doctor Who prints won the day.  But that's okay.  I did this one for myself and only myself.  It's my angry, p.m.s.ing, mother polar bear rug; proof that I can conquer any beast that comes before me, if only I have the insane will to make it submit.

The Warriors

The Rogues

 The Baseball Furies

 The Turnbull ACs

 The Lizzies

The Punks

The Saracens

 And The Orphans at the bottom of the totem pole

Greg White- Illustration

Metropolis

This newest poster is for an upcoming screening of the classic silent film, "Metropolis."  If you're ever in the mood for movies to just shut their stinking pie holes and be quiet for once, this is definitely one to check out.  It's beautiful, unapologetically gaudy, and ridiculously ahead of its time.  I mean, film as a medium was still barely a toddler at the time of Metropolis' creation in 1927 and it still impresses me today!  

 Here's a closeup of my favorite part of the poster.

Greg White- Illustration

All You Need Is Love

Would you look at the state of this blog site?  Someone should really call the authorities and have my blog taken from me for neglect.  One might think I'd died since my last post, but fear not.  I am not dead.  In fact I'm alive and writing a new blog post!  I've also been working like a pack mule throughout the winter and I've got a good amount of work to show for it!  Here are a couple of the posters I've done for the Paramount recently.  The first was for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles takeover of America, and the second was for an old silent film called "Tumbleweeds."  More movie posters to follow in the coming days!

Greg White Illustration