Most Star Wars fans are familiar with the work of Russell Walks, who has been illustrating for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes since the early 1990s. Walks recently created a retro-inspired Star Wars poster (currently available at StarWarsShop) that we've asked him to tell us a little bit about:
What inspired you to create this retro-style Star Wars poster?
I really love illustration and design from the '50s and '60s, when guys like James Bama, Robert McGinnis, and Saul Bass were all doing wonderful work -- work that, while it's very much of the time in which it was created, also seems timeless. It occurred to me that Star Wars is also timeless, and I thought it might be fun to explore what the movie poster might have looked like had the film come out in 1967 rather than 1977.
What genre are you drawing from?
The style of this piece is based on type of posters used to sell the action/adventure films that came out in the mid-sixties; movies like Bullitt that used minimal imagery with lots of white space and strong, masculine typefaces. (I love the one-sheet for Bullitt -- Steve McQueen in a black turtleneck, wearing a shoulder holster, cars careening toward the viewer, all of it on a dynamic, bright white background. If you look at the Bullitt poster next to the Star Wars piece, you can see that it was definitely an inspiration for me).
Do you think this style of poster can bring something to Star Wars that traditional contemporary posters cannot?
I hope so. We've become so familiar with the characters and story, and there have been so many Star Wars related works of art that it's tough to come up with something that hasn't been done before. I hope that this "retro" style brings a freshness to something that's become exceptionally familiar to many of us (to be clear, I'm not using the term "exceptionally familiar" in a negative way -- I'm talking about familiar in a comfortable, secure sense).
That Luke/Leia pose appears to be based on an early publicity still. Nice that it captured the retro feel you were after!
Yes! I LOVE the images of Luke in his black shirt, and his expression in the photo I used for reference is classic. He's determined and confident, but clearly still innocent, with no idea of the challenge he's about to face. On the other hand, the Leia in the pictures from that particular photo session isn't the Leia we know and love. She's a dewy-eyed waif, terrified and clinging to Luke with her face pressed against his chest.
Although it looked cool (and had sort of a '30s Flash Gordon/Dale Arden vibe, which is what I'm sure the photographer was shooting for), it wasn't true to the characters as we know them now. A search through some other images, and a quick photo session with my wife provided me with the reference I needed to portray our favorite princess in a more accurate, less submissive pose.
Are there more posters to come in this series?
Again, I hope so! I've already finished the artwork for a '40s film-noir piece, as well as a Saul Bass inspired, '50s image, each of which is designed to hang as companion pieces to this one (these are not available at this time).
Be sure to check out more of Russell Walks' work at russellwalks.com, and to stop by StarWarsShop to pick up this great poster!
