"A Close Shave" ("The Italian Job")
Okay, let’s get this straight.
Two weeks ago I as write this rambling (around May 17 or so), I told Jake a new idea I had for this upcoming film, “The Italian Job“. Now one has to bear in mind that during the course of our Summer Blockbuster Gallery, and even when the Gallery is on hiatus, Jake and I were constantly tossing ideas back and forth on all kinds of flicks. It was part of our creative process. Some of our best pictures have come out of these brainstorming sessons. Now when I told my pal Jake about my idea for this flick, “The Italian Job” wasn't even on the schedule. We weren't going to do it. We had “Finding Nemo” in its place, as what we assumed (and rightly if you ask me) was the best film to represent that particular weekend. But things have a way of getting out of whack, and “Finding Nemo” was moved up a week, leaving a gap in our schedule. And since I myself said there wouldn't be a delay or a missed week during this season, that left me responsible for filling said gap. Okay let me just say this: There will be gaps next year, we will miss movies! Ha! Got you Jake!
But as I said, I told Jake about this idea I had for “The Italian Job“. Now when we plan these Summer Blockbuster pics there are four ways we can draw the flick: one is a picture based on the activities of the film, one is a play on the title, we can make our own poster based on the film, or finally we can have a pic based around the actual actors from the film. My idea fit into the "play on the title" category. I was going to have Erik working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant. Hence… "The Italian Job".
Well as you can see I didn't go that route. Instead I took the more difficult path. As you may or may not know, the film has a car chase scene that has a car being chased by a helicopter. Knowing this, and knowing that I have never really successfully drawn a car, or even a full fledged action scene I decided to tackle that scene as though the characters of our beloved comic were the stars. The results just happen to be my best efforts ever. This is hands down one of the best pictures I have drawn to date. The characters are spot on, the perspective is tricky but it works, even the car and the helicopter look good. I even managed to pull off a really cool windshield effect; something that is so subtle you wouldn't even notice if I didn't mention it. To say I am proud of this pic is an understatement. This one ROCKS! - Tony