The above illustration was my homage to the methods of Drew Struzan (1947-2025), who passed away recently. In my illustration, I started with a pencil drawing (see below) on illustration board of a double-wattled cassowary (a great subject for the exploration of textures!). Over the graphite, I applied ink to refine and darken parts of the drawing. Then I airbrushed acrylic paint in layers to slowly build up the color. Over the airbrushing, I applied color pencils, pastel, and acrylic paint with traditional brushes. I used a variety of techniques, such as splatter brush with masking/stencils, and even from razor blades to scratch out texture effects.
It’s difficult to measure the impact of Drew Struzan’s art.
Consider that his movie posters for some of Hollywood’s most iconic films - Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Back to the
Future - were seen by millions around the world, and sparked the imagination of
generations of upcoming artists and filmmakers. It’s not a stretch to say that
Drew may have had more impact on popular culture than any other illustrator of
the 20th century – perhaps even of all time.
I discovered Drew Struzan’s work first in the pages of
Airbrush Action magazine, and later through stories shared by my instructors at
the Academy of Art (AAU) in San Francisco. Drew taught only very briefly at AAU
(back when it was still Academy of Art College), but he left behind a treasure
trove of signed prints and posters. I spent a good deal of time feverishly
poring over these signed prints, studying every detail in a state of transfixed
rapture.
Drew’s work appealed to me for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest was his emphasis on drawing. I love to draw even more than I love to paint, and in Drew’s approach, the drawing carries the weight of the illustration. Design, composition, anatomy, value structure, and lighting are all resolved in the drawing stage. This frees the illustrator to focus purely on color and finishing touches during painting. It’s a method that resonates with me: I can leverage my strengths as a draftsman, and when it’s time to paint, I can relax, knowing I have a solid foundation of composition and lighting. At that point, I just turn up the music and get lost in the flow of painting.
In an interview, Drew mentioned that once you have a solid drawing, you can get very loose and painterly, splashing paint around the studio like an abstract expressionist. You don’t need to worry too much about screwing it up, because you have that solid drawing underneath, guiding you towards the finish. Well, I can tell you that I screwed up a lot of finishes due to my own lack of expertise in handling color, but I am forever grateful to Drew Struzan for developing this technique and utilizing it so well. Of course, Drew Struzan’s impact goes far beyond developing a technique that I love, but I just wanted to add my own 2 cents of gratitude to the man and his work.
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