DREW STRUZAN

I enjoyed the trip to the Society of Illustrators and seeing all the different styles and mediums used. An image that I was glad to see up close was Drew Struzan’s Harry Potter illustration.

Drew Struzan is primarily known for being the illustrator of many iconic movie posters such as: Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Goonies and many more others.I had recently watched a documentary about him and appreciated the opportunity to see his work up close and to view the texture and highlights he incorporates up close.

.Drew went to Art school in California and initially got a  job after college designing record covers, his covers caught the attention of numerous studio executives and he began getting commissioned to do movie posters.

I had recently watched a documentary about him and appreciated the opportunity to see his work up close and to view the texture and highlights he incorporates up close. Struzan’s process involves first making a   pencil drawing before painting with either acyclic or oil, he sometimes also uses an airbrush to layer over the pencil to give it a more translucent feel. Struzan then finishes details and highlights with colored pencil. I really like Drew’s compositions, no matter which movie poster you look at there is always so much going on.    I found it interesting that movie posters have a formula where a   certain percentage of the poster is alotted to actors based on their part in the movie, so not only did he have to make a visually appealing piece he also had to incorporate that formula into his composition. have become so

Drew’s illustrations have become so synonymous with the movies he has illustrated for that when people recall those movies,  his depictions,   not the movie are the first images that comes to mind for many people.