Author: Drew & Dylan Struzan
Hardcover: 314 pages
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars
If you aren’t aware of the work Drew Struzan, first I suggest picked last year amazing release “The Art of Drew Struzan”. Drew Struzan has created artwork for over 150 movie posters, including “Star Wars”, Indiana Jones” and “Harry Potter”. This book features an additional 250 pieces of art and doesn’t just keep it to movie posters either. It covers movies, record albums, books, comics, stamps and even trading cards. It includes right up-to-date pieces of Struzan’s work including “Walking Dead” and “Cowboys and Aliens” but also of course some of the classics. What I like most about this release specifically is that it includes quite a bit of material that has never been published prior, including some of his personal work.
I feel that this book is a little more personal than “The Art of Drew Struzan”. This one really delves into the man, Drew Struzan, and his work. The first section deals with “Music” ranging from Alice Cooper to “Beauty and the Beast” and the works of John Williams. Next we comes to movies which is my personally favorite section. What I like most is the Struzan did a lot of variant posters that were never used like “Cowboys and Aliens”, since it shows the alien in the poster (sort of). I think it would have made for much better poster. Being a “Star Wars” geek though, the different drawings from that series are truly my favorite pieces of work. What makes this book unique is the commercial and personal works included ranging from portraits of the late Princess Diane to MAD Magazines to female portraits and abstracts. You can really see his range of work and explores some of the not so well known drawings. This book covers it all.
The book is co-authored by Drew’s wife Dylan and they have been married for over 40 years, which is huge. Also you have to understand if you are married, a wife has a huge influences on their spouses work and I am sure she had her had in many of his famous works. The foreword is done by Drew’s longtime friend and collaborator George Lucas…that’s right THE George Lucas. He really gives a great send off for Struzan’s work and this book. Overall if you follow Drew’s work and are a fan of REAL posters not today’s photoshopped terrors than this is a no-brainer.
This book is fantastic and a great comprehensive look at Drew’s art. I came across a DVD Drew created called “Conceiving and Creating the Hellboy Movie Poster Art.” Shot in Drew’s studio, he takes you step by step through all the illustration techniques he uses to create his famous movie poster art. It’s an incredible art lesson from the Master himself. You can check out clips from the DVD at his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Haveyjames#p/u/6/Cf-xlYvR1CY
Thanks Mike!