I had never heard the name Drew Struzan before, but I certainly know his work — he has painted almost every iconic movie poster I can remember from my misspent youth, including the early Star Wars posters, one for the original Blade Runner, plus posters for everything from Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Goonies to Hook and Hellboy and The Shawshank Redemption. Apparently he is 78 years old and his Alzheimer’s has progressed to the point where he can no longer draw or paint, which is sad.
About his career, Struzan has said: “I was poor and hungry, and illustration was the shortest path to a slice of bread, as compared to a gallery showing. I had nothing as a child. I drew on toilet paper with pencils – that was the only paper around. Probably why I love drawing so much today is because it was just all I had at the time.” In addition to movie posters he would also create album cover artwork for a long line of musical artists, including Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, Black Sabbath, Glenn Miller, Iron Butterfly, Bach, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Liberace.
Struzan once lamented on the decline of traditional art in an e-mail exchange:
I love the texture of paint made of colored earth, of oil from the trees and of canvas and paper. I love the expression of paint from a brush or a hand smearing charcoal, the dripping of paint and moisture of water, the smell of the materials. I delight in the changeable nature of a painting with new morning light or in the afternoon when the sun turns a painting orange or by firelight at night. I love to see it, hold it, touch it, smell it, and create it. My gift is to share my life by allowing others to see into my heart and spirit through such tangible, comprehensible and familiar means. The paint is part of the expression.
Bridgy Response
Bridgy Response