Swords of Time: Movie Poster

Do you know who Drew Struzan is? He’s the artist behind movie posters like the whole Indiana Jones series, Blade Runner, Batteries Not Included, Hook, and a whoooooooole lotta pop culture icons.

Why are we talking about him? Well, being an 80s kid I grew up gobsmacked by those posters and I wanted to see all those movies (which I did!). Who could resist the mystery, the epic adventure that awaits behind those posters? As an adult who grew up to be a self-taught artist, I always wondered how he made those gorgeous pieces. Oil paint has never been my medium, which is totally ok. You don’t have to master every paint or art style out there, Momo.

And then…I stumbled across a couple of YouTube tutorials on how to make an “oil painting” effect in Affinity Photo. You better believe the first thing I asked myself was, am I going to try to make a Drew Struzan-style movie poster? YES, I’M GONNA MAKE A DREW STRUZAN-INSPIRED POSTER, DANG NABBIT!

Here she is…

Photo credits from Unsplash: Alex Perez, Danie Franco, Jeffery Erhunse, Eunice Lituanas, Gabriel Silverio, Prince Akachi, Samuel Dixon.

Now, is she a dead ringer for Struzan’s style? Not exactly, but you get the idea, right? Granted if I had photos specifically shot for the poster that would be a game changer (thank you, Unsplash), but for now I’m pretty happy with my first attempt at a digital “oil painting” and look forward to honing this skill.

Later Gators,

Morgan