Movie Poster

Leah C.

December 4, 2009 - 8:30 PM

Its finally done.... I finally finished my ArtD 360 project. I had to ask for an extension for the "Movie Poster" assignment that was due last week, because I would have never been able to complete it on time. My professor said I was really bold in my approach, which was to vector my image while other people worked mostly with photos. I was really relieved that I got the extension. Vector artworks consists of layers upon layers of colors and shapes to create the form of my figure. A close up of my poster can be viewed here. (Click on the image to view full size). There are 550 layers for my lion alone. I spent over 15 hours working on it. It was also my first time attempting this style of art which is why I took so long. To create the poster I worked on Photoshop instead of illustrator because I was more familiar with the program. I also used a Wacom pen tool that enabled me to "draw" like a mouse.

The image is of a Chinese Lion with two dancers. To those who are not familiar with the image, it is of a southern Chinese lion costume. Two people, one at the head, the other the back, dance and perform tricks in the costume. I based my image of the lion off of a photo that I had photographed during Chinese New Years. I really liked how the lion was portrayed in the photo. It really captures the liveliness of the performers. I didn't really think too much about the story of my movie. Only that there would be a competition between the southern Chinese lions and the northern version. If I could, my movie would have had two different posters. The second would be of the northern style Chinese lion, which has more fur and a golden head with a gaping mouth. The dance and the types of tricks performed also vary in style.

Although I turned my poster in, I wish I still had more time to add more detail to the lion. The lighting is also not complete in some areas and I would have liked to add more strands to the fur lining. This is one problem I always come across as an artist, and that is I am never satisfied with any work I make. There always seems to be something that needs to be added or fixed. Which is really frustrating when I don't get it right. I guess you can say I'm a perfectionist.