Ten essential movie poster and DVD cover artists

ERNESTO CABRAL

I discovered the wonderful world of Ernesto Cabral through ‘Comic Art Magazine’ back in 2003. That Mexican artist’s style is a pure pleasure for the eyes and, for me, opened the door to the madness of ultra-colorful Mexican movie posters, now sadly a lost art. If you’d like to give yourself a visual multiple orgasm, you could do worse than clicking on to this fantastic website:

http://illostribute.com/2011/08/ernesto-garcia-cabral/

AL HIRSCHFELD

If God doesn’t exist, at least Al and his awe-inspiring talent did. He’d draw just a few lines and he’d nail a celebrity on the spot with a virtuosity that nobody could top. This site will expose you to most of his amazing art.

http://www.alhirschfeld.com/index2.html

The 1996 documentary, ‘The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story’, is a very effective portrait of that eccentric genius. I also recommend you watch this YouTube clip of Al discussing his work with Art Spiegelman. Two cartoonist legends for the price of one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOBHGWLfr-M

DANNY HELLMAN

Forget the mayonnaise! The only Hellman that matters is this one. Danny is one of my favorite cartoonists and all it takes is one glance at one of his caricatures to know exactly who his famous subject is. His great artwork alone should have kept smut king Al Goldstein’s infamous Noo Yawk City sex paper, ‘Screw’, from folding. For a taste of some of the ‘Screw’ covers Hellman illustrated back in the day, go here:

http://screwmagazinecoverart.blogspot.ca/ 

His illustration blog is on my blog list as well, so don’t delay, take a look at Danny’s drawings today!  

RONALD SEARLE

Searle’s style was unique. There was nobody else like him. Nobody! His naughty sense of tumor, sorry, pardon the pun, humor made him possibly the most famous British cartoonist of all time. His devilish drawings are highly recognizable and you can’t help being mesmerized by his minute sense of detail and mind blowing imagination. But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so here you go:

http://ronaldsearle.blogspot.ca/

And while we’re on the subject of the mighty pen of Ronald Searle, these two YouTube clips are definitely worth your while!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy0oE4vMk-k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAphPpFa-sc

JACK DAVIS

Another fantastic illustrator! Jack Davis’ work for EC Comics and ‘Mad’ magazine’ made him a star in the ‘50s and ‘60s. One could spot his unique cartooning style a mile away and couldn’t help but beg for more. And getting to see much more of his work was no problem given how incredibly prolific Davis was. Hollywood should have commissioned him to come up with more movie posters, though. 

For more of Jack Davis’ magic, check out this site:

http://www.americanartarchives.com/davis,jack.htm

DANIEL CLOWES

Daniel Clowes of ‘Eightball’ comics fame should need no introduction. The Criterion Collection folks hit the jackpot when he agreed to do some illustrations for those fine purveyors of DVDs. In the ‘90s, this American cartoonist was a great inspiration to me, and the visual world that he creates on paper is very cinematic, with a surreal David Lynch-like atmosphere in places. But I guess I’m not the only who feels that way because director Terry Zwigoff did a masterful job of putting Clowes’ ‘Ghost World’ story to celluloid in 2001.

To put yourself in a delicious and delirious delicious trance, click here!

http://danielclowes.com/

And if you happen to find yourself in Chicago this year, be sure to catch the Clowes exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

http://mcachicago.org/exhibitions/next/all/319

DREW FRIEDMAN

Don’t even think of becoming Drew’s friend on facebook. The Prince of Pointillism already has 5000 friends and for good reason: the guy’s been one the best illustrators around for the last three decades. He revived the art of highly detailed well-executed caricature, capturing the occasionally forgotten figures of the underbelly of American showbiz. Friedman happens to come from an ultra-talented family, His father, Bruce Jay Friedman, is a writer who years ago edited racy men’s magazines and his brother, Josh Alan, is also an author, having written the essential book on the sleazy 42^nd Street of yesteryear, “Tales of Time Square”. For more of Drew Friedman’s wild work, go to my blog list for the link to his blog.

SEAN DOVE

I only recently found out about this talented Chicago-based cartoonist when I bought a copy of the above poster off him at this year’s Toronto Comics Arts Festival (or TCAF for short.)  The twenty-five bucks I spent was a bargain because I love the humorous way Dove pays tribute to mid-20^th century graphics. I highly recommend you explore the colorful visual world of Sean Dove at http://andthankyouforflying.com/

VICTOR JUHASZ

It’s quite possible that you’ve seen the work of Victor Juhasz before. He’s had a long career and his list of contributions to newspapers and magazines around the world is endless! The New York Times adores his distinctive illustrations and so do I. You might too once you’ve had a peak at his website.

http://www.juhaszillustration.com/

TYLER STOUT

You may have gathered that I have a thing for Tarantino’s films. So you can just imagine how delighted I was to recently discover this poster paying tribute to one of that motor-mouth’s movies. Stout has come up with other similarly gorgeous highly-detailed poster homages to everything from ‘Repo Man’ to ‘The Big Lebowski’. Go here for a look and if you like what you see, you can find his blog on my blog list.

http://koikoikoi.com/2013/03/movie-posters-by-tyler-stout/

Well, I hope your eyes have gotten a big thrill from this list of incredible illustrators. Hollywood execs should get these guys to make posters for them. Well, the ones who are still breathing, at least. And if they ever do a remake of ‘The French Connection’ with an all-French cast including Vincent Cassel and Gerard Depardieu, feel free to knock on my door. My poster illustration’s ready for the printers! 

If you like my drawing style and happen to be in the market for some illustrations, please post a comment here and I’ll contact you back.

Cheers!