575 - "Never Grow Up" Poster Countdown with Billy Baumann
Mondo and Cyclops Print Works opened their doors to "Never Grow Up" at the end of April much to the delight of Poster Collectors and Disney Enthusiasts yearning for some officially licensed brand new prints. Mondo brought in over twenty five of their favorite artists who selected which properties they wanted to contribute work for to bring together this ambitious gallery show. Mark and Billy gather together their favorites in a side by side Top Ten Poster Countdown praising what works and offering their constructive criticisms when necessary. This art show and this countdown are a culmination of the creme de la creme across the board where style, composition, and color choices bring everyone's favorite films to life in a whole new light. It can be hard picking who is the best, but someone has to do it and Mark and Billy might be just the two to take this daunting task on.
Talking Points
- Crosshair-esque screenprinting and the return of The Double.
- Combining film elements to tell more of the story.
- Keeping your work true to the original work.
- Straddling the line between illustration and poster.
- Making something complicated look easy.
- Giving each element their proper space and the pains of color separations.
- A unique take will stand out from everyone else who plays by the rules.
- Drawing in your audience by showing them how the sauce is made.
- Line weights to differentiate.
- Atmospheric perspective on safari and taking a risk with stylistic choices.
- Contrast and clarity in your work to command the viewer.
- Telling a story inside your composition.
- Matching your type to your illustration style.
- The difficulty in capturing emotions in illustration.
- Encapsulating the spirit of the film and the times.
- Compositional issues from Billy's perspective.
- Implied motion through screen printing.
- Little touches that separate your work from the crowd.
- Planning out opposites in Wonderland.
- Dividing the world into good and evil while working with positive and negative space.
- Color schemes tell as much of a story in your work.
- Working your viewers eye and achieving a painterly touch within screen printing.
- Intentionally brutal plots to strengthen the audience.
- Difficult plots with an engaging execution.
- Graphic design in animation that captures the time period.
- Variants that are alternates.
- Emotion, composition, and colors come together to make a great poster.
- Staying on brand while maintaining your own personality.
- Using symmetry to make something special.
- Facing the difficulties of nature.
- Billy pitches his Cinderella concept and draws off Mary Blaire.
- Is Disney ever a black and white look, where did The Rocketeer come from, and Florian tries something new.
- Picking a side for Atlantis and trying to fit too much in the first time.
- Is A Bug's Life too graphic?
- Do you have to care about the property to appreciate the art from it?
- Compositional choices between art prints and tee shirt art.
- Researching your subject matter to make the details come alive.
- Compositional options for The Lady And The Tramp.
- Is Prince John too scary?
- A heated debate about pineapples on pizza.
- Watching movies at work.
- Buying into a dream and feeding artists.
TEAM BRIDGE BURNERS
* Don't kill yourself listening into AID 575 for all these pieces to be analyzed in the countdown. We wanted to include everything we got from our friends over at Mondo to let you see more of the incredible posters created even if they didn't make the countdown or an honorable mention. Would you have done the countdown differently? Will Billy determine you have terrible taste also if your countdown strays form his? Leave us some comments with your favorites and why!
Mark sits down with Mitch Putnam and Rob Jones in a Shop Talk exploring what it took to put together Never Grow Up. If you thought the art was great you should hear about the effort that goes into making this dream a reality.
Both Jessica and Dan not only were invited to participate in Never Grow Up, but they have been working collectively as Landland and Mark interviews them about their past, present, and future as an insanely talented duo.
Tom Whalen had a clean sweep in Never Grow Up when it comes to today's countdown. With a unique illustration style that many try and emulate and none achieve... Tom Whalen is a master of his craft and his interview is no exception to excellence.