If you know me, then you know I’m a huge fan of legendary poster artist Drew Struzan. Believe it or... read more]]> I finally found the time to illustrate a poster for our short film Star Wars: Episode IV – A Toy Story.

If you know me, then you know I’m a huge fan of legendary poster artist Drew Struzan. Believe it or not, I actually contacted Mr. Struzan to see if I could commission him to paint a poster for our film. Since he is retired, I didn’t expect any sort of response, but he was kind enough to send me the following encouraging words:

Raymond,

We know the mighty oaks begin as mere seedlings just as great lives all begin as just an idea, a hope and fantasy. Those who continue to dream large, work hard, and sacrifice for a big dream are the ones who make this world turn round. You are off to a great beginning. Thanks for sharing with me and with all the rest who have seen your Toy Story.

……drew……

Now that’s the best rejection letter I’ve ever received! His message inspired me to dust off my pencils and illustrate a poster for our film. I’m not a painter, nor do I claim to be an artist, but this is a composition that I imagine Drew might come up with. I used graphite and white charcoal on paper for the base illustration, which was drawn to scale for an 11″ x 17″ print. I scanned the sketch at 1200 dpi so I could scale it up for a 27″ x 40″ poster if needed. Final compositing was done with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

For those of you who enjoyed our film, I hope you like the poster art as well. And to Mr. Struzan, thanks for being such an inspiration for decades. I look forward to your coming out of retirement periodically to wow us with more of your magic. I can only hope that this teaser poster for The Force Awakens is just the beginning of more beautiful art to come in the future.

Like the film’s Facebook movie page here to find out when it premieres: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherShortFilm. Together was written... read more]]> I just finished this poster illustration for the short film Together. I also did several visual effects shots for the film.

Like the film’s Facebook movie page here to find out when it premieres: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherShortFilm. Together was written and directed by Faruq Tayo Oyekan, produced by Edwin Frank Ortiz and Faruq Tayo Oyekan, and stars David Scherer, Molly Maslak, Taylor Koster, Jennifer Scibetta, and Mark Anthony Cox.

I created this in... read more]]> Comic-Con is coming to an end today, and I wanted to show my geek pride by sharing this movie poster concept I made in 2001 for my favorite Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back.

I created this in 2001 between the releases of Star Wars Episodes I and II. I was truly inspired by the beautiful poster created by legendary illustrator Drew Struzan for Episode I: The Phantom Menace. If you don’t know him by name, chances are you know his work. Mr. Struzan is the creative genius behind the movie posters for many of the film industry’s iconic movies over the last three decades, including the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future franchises.

After seeing the poster for Episode I: The Phantom Menace, I thought to myself, “If I could commission Drew Struzan to create a new poster for my personal favorite, Episode V, I’d ask him to create one using a similar concept and composition as the Episode I poster.”

I’m not a trained artist, but I’ve enjoyed drawing since I was kid, and I’ve always thought that in another life I might be a comic book artist or an illustrator of some sort. The idea of creating a movie poster concept popped into my head, and I thought it would be a nice personal project to work on in my spare time. I went about gathering just the right reference photos, which in itself took a long time, and then I proceeded to develop the sketch in my spare time. I honestly can’t remember how long it took to complete the 11″ x 14″ drawing, but it was on the order of months. When I finally finished it, I scanned it and mocked up a poster in Corel Draw (sorry Adobe…I wasn’t a Photoshop guy back then!). I was pleased with the way it turned out, and I always intended to create similar poster concepts for Episodes IV and VI, but I never got around to it. My previous career as an engineer in a start-up company consumed almost all of my spare time, and I never regained momentum.

This poster project began after the launch of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy. All the hype surrounding a new Star Wars movie, and the beautiful artwork created by Drew Struzan, inspired me to do something creative in the Star Wars universe, which I’ve loved since I was a boy. Now nearly 13 years later, production on Star Wars Episode VII is underway, and, to my delight, there are rumors that Mr. Struzan is coming out of retirement to paint the movie poster. I hope the rumors are true because I am eagerly awaiting another captivating piece of art from Mr. Struzan. It may be just the thing to stir the creative juices in me once again.

-Raymond Montemayor