When you think of a classic movie, there's a good chance the image of one of Drew Struzan's amazing hand-drawn posters comes to mind. He created the iconic promotional art for films such as Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China and Back to the Future, and is probably the best-known of the Hollywood poster artists. Regardless of whoever designed the piece, though, the fact is that hand-drawn movie art has an otherworldy texture to it that Photoshop just can't replicate: it adds another layer to the image, separating it from, say, Harrison Ford just playing dress-up, and helping sell the idea of him as a legendary adventure-hungry explorer before you even get in the movie theater. Modern poster art is sadly almost entirely digital, and though there are plenty of extremely talented computer artists, studios too often defer to generic drag-and-click templates, complete with hilariously awful airbrushing. Can It Make A Comeback?: Not a chance. The beautiful work of Struzan and his colleagues is just too expensive and time-consuming compared to the snappy designs that can be mocked up in 15 minutes on Photoshop. Nowadays, hand-drawn poster art is confined to a specialist novelty that collectors are forced to pay over the odds for due to the low demand from consumers at large and the studios themselves.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
