ARTISTS WE LOVE: DREW STRUZAN

If one of his posters was outside the theater, you knew something good was coming

One of the most influential artists in my lifetime (and probably the artist who most inspired my style) is the incomparable Drew Struzan. His photo realistic illustrations have graced more than 150 movie posters. A constant collaborator of both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Struzan’s work is synonymous with blockbusters.

A master of composition and design, a Struzan illustration is instantly recognizable. His likenesses are spot-on. His layouts paint a picture of the main characters and plot points. Hands down, when it comes to movie posters, Struzan is your man.

Struzan is a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He has said this about his early life: “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 his early career he started a small company known as the Pencil Pushers. This firm lasted eight years, working on numerous B movie posters and multiple album covers. (Struzan’s illustrated cover to Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare was named one of the top 100 Album covers.) The biggest break for Struzan’s career came when he illustrated the 1978 re-release of Star Wars. His portraiture work wowed George Lucas, leading to a lifetime of collaboration between the two.

Welcome to My Nightmare cover by Drew Struzan

Struzan became the go-to artist/designer for movie hits working on everything from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises to Coming To America, Goonies, Risky Business, and An American Tale. Drew was averaging close to 10 movie posters a year throughout the ’80s. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, a younger generation was introduced to his immense talents when he rendered the Harry Potter series posters.

Star Wars re-release poster by Drew Struzan

One of the most impressive things about Struzan’s creative process is that he prefers to work in 1-to-1 scale, meaning each of his works is done on a 27” x 40” sheet. Struzan starts by sketching out drawings on gessoed illustration board, then tinting the draftsmanship with airbrushed acrylic paint, finishing up the highlights and other details with colored pencils and more airbrush. The gessoed foundation allows Struzan the luxury of being able to accommodate any requested changes to the work. He is known for working very quickly, typically one to two weeks to finish a painting.

Even though he retired from full-time work in 2008, he continues to inspire a generation of artists. —LV

Coming to America poster by Drew Struzan