Drew Struzan Paints Hellboy

Drew Struzan’s movie posters from the last three decades have defined the look of modern American cinema. And with this new decade beginning, his influence on hand-drawn posters is still unmistakable.

A new 95-minute DVD video shows exactly how he creates his classic poster images. Using the Hellboy poster as a case study, he demonstrates each of the steps.

The footage includes plenty of close-ups, lively editing, and Struzan’s voice-over explaining his thinking with every step:

1. Black and white presentation comps to show the client.
2. Projecting the photo reference onto the illustration board.
3. Refining the graphite drawing on a light gray-toned gessoed board.
4. Painting in the black shapes with acrylic.
5. Cutting a quick frisket from tracing paper.
5. Splattering textures with acrylic using a typewriter-cleaning brush.
6. Airbrushing transparent color over all the areas.
7. Modeling and defining the light areas of the forms in Prismacolors.

It ends with a one-minute time lapse montage of stills showing all the steps, as Struzan says: “Two days to draw, one day to paint, and two days to render it out.”

Along the way, he also shares valuable insights into his aesthetics: reserving values to save the ultimate light and dark punch, how to make men and women even more attractive, a tasteful approach to edges, and cultivating a professional attitude.

Here's a trailer.
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For more information, visit Reel Ideas.
Film by Kris and Jim Sanders.
Hellboy I is ©Columbia TriStar 2004.
Drew Struzan's website.