Tag: john alvin art

“Like Father Like Son”: Jango, Boba, and John Alvin’s Love of Star Wars

Today, we’re going to talk about Boba and Jango Fett, and a piece created by John Alvin called Like Father Like Son. I love The Mandalorian. I love Padro Pascal, I mean, who doesn’t? In fact, Grogu has become my second favorite Star Wars character after Yoda. All that being said, as bounty hunters go, my heart will always belong to Boba Fett, the OG bounty hunter. As even Star Wars series mastermind John Favreau will tell you, without Boba Fett, the Mandalorians and Mandalore would not exist.

I’m sure if John Alvin were still here today, he’d love Mando and Grogu, too, but as it was, he was one of the first diehard fans of Boba Fett all the back in the late 70s.

WHAT’S UP WITH BOBA?

Boba has been in the news a lot lately. There’s been a lot of conjecture recently about whether they’ll be a second season of The Book of Boba Fett, and it’s looking more and more, based on recent information, that we won’t be seeing a season two. The Mandalorian, however, is trundling along into another season, and a feature film spearheaded by producer/director Dave Filoni is now in the works.  The film will, in his own words, “focus on the New Republic, and “close out” the interconnected stories that are told in series including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ shows.” It’s being called the “Mandoverse”, and a number of folks are imagining the various powerful characters working together as a sort of version of Star Wars Avengers. Still, let’s be honest. As far as bounty hunters are concerned, (and to paraphrase a famous Disney quote), It all started with Boba Fett.

If you’re not someone who can win every Star Wars trivia contest, you may be wondering how the Mandalorian and Boba Fett, and Boba Fett and Jango Fett are connected.

BOBA AND JANGO HISTORY

There’s a huge difference between Mando and Boba. Mando (or Din Djarin) is adopted by the Mandalorians as a foundling, and grows up learning the way of the Mandalore. Both are bounty hunters, but Boba Fett isn’t a Mandalorian.

Jango Fett IS a Mandalorian. Like Din Djarin, Jango is raised as a foundling, and in the ways of the Mandalore, After fighting in the Mandalorian Civil Wars, Jango becomes the best and most renowned bounty hunters in the galaxy. Subsequently, Sith Lord Darth Tyranus hires Jango to be the template for millions of clones, secretly bred on the lonely aquatic planet of Kamino in the outer rim. His body, face, and all his DNA are used to build an army of clone troopers. As payment, Jango is given a clone, whom he calls Boba, to raise as his son.

Jango was a bad dude. He took part in a plot to assassinate Senator Padmé Amidala, and conspired with Count Dooku to decimate the Jedi Order. He was beheaded in the First Battle of Geonosis.

Boba Fett, who is the first bounty hunter represented in the Star Wars canon, not only has all the talents and skills of his father and genetic donor, but uses an altered version of Jango’s Mandalorian armor. Driven largely by a need for revenge against his father’s death, he works both with the gangster Jabba, and the Sith Lord Darth Vader. While trying to prevent Han Solo’s rescue by Luke Skywalker, he falls into the Great Pit of Carkoon, and into the jaws of the man-eating sarlaac. BUT WAIT! He survives and escapedsthe sarlaac and joins forces with a Tusken tribe, where he finds a stronger sense of honor and integrity, building his own moral code. He becomes the ruler of the territories of Mos Espa, and gains the respect of its citizens by protecting them in repeated attacks by violent outside forces.

Maybe you’d like to see an official timeline for Boba’s life and career. LucasFilm is only too happy to oblige, and you can read it here:

or perhaps an official video might be better at breaking down Boba’s history. You can see that HERE, or below:

Boba Fett, and by extension all the Mandalorians, are, in part, based on what was dubbed in the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone as “the man with no name”. George Lucas was very strongly influenced by Leone’s films, as indicated by this quote. “There were quite a few films made about bounty hunters in the Old West. That’s where that came from. He is also very much like the man-with-no-name from the Sergio Leone Westerns.”

Boba Fett figures far more prominently in terms of inspiration for the original trilogy than you might imagine. In Lucas’s early draft of the Star Wars: A New Hope, Boba Fett was the prototype for Darth Vader. Vader started out as an intergalactic bounty hunter. When Darth evolved into a sort of dark knight, Boba Fett became the bounty hunter.

So: how did a character that has very little screen time in the original Star Wars trilogy become so popular? Toys. Two years before Empire Strikes Back was released, Kenner created a series of action figures, and Boba Fett was one of the hardest to obtain, making that toy highly prized by Star Wars fans.

For fans of what is NOT arguable the best Star Wars movie, here is a video of behind the scenes from The Empire Strikes Back:

“IT’S ALL ABOUT BOBA” (John Alvin)

That brings us to John Alvin, and his love of Boba Fett and Star Wars (and the piece Like Father Like Son), because Andrea Alvin remembers that toy.

I spoke to her about her memory of John and his interest in and fascination with Boba Fett, which he had from the beginning. She explains, “Whenever you bought one of the toys, there was the chance of a special prize, and that prize was a Boba Fett action figure. It was before he was a big deal, after the first movie. He had gotten enough attention from fans that they used him as a premium, and he was very hard to get. You’d have to buy a bunch of the toys over and over just trying to get him. Of course, John got multiples of it.”

John was also a huge fan of the Sergio Leone movies, so it was no surprise to her at the time that he was attracted to the character. “He was always a fan boy for Boba. He and his friends would talk about plot points, and where they thought George would take him in the next movies. They’d all parse out what his connection to the rest of the characters might be, who he might be related to, how he might figure in future plots, and if they’d ever get to know his backstory. With all the many characters, heroes and villains, Luke Skywalker’s journey towards being a Jedi, Leia’s stint as a scantily clad slave, it was still all about. Boba. He was always the one they’d talk about.”

BOBA, “LIKE FATHER LIKE SON”, and the inspiration for FORCE OF INFLUENCE Series:

Out of his fascination with who is related to whom and the timeline of it all, John Alvin created a series called “Force of Influence”. Many of the originals from that series were purchased by George Lucas himself, because he too used the connections between characters as a lynchpin for the whole saga.

One of the first pieces John worked on in the series was “Like Father Like Son”, with Boba and Jango Fett together in one image. Andrea remembers him working on the original. “The piece was really big, at least 20 x 30. He watched the movies the whole time he was painting it. We must have seen the original Star Wars trilogy hundreds of times. It was in constant rotation. It got to the point where he could literally speak the whole movie while painting. Much as I loved them too, I knew what seemed like overkill to me was inspiration to him. It’s why he wanted to gHet the “heavy light” and the emotional truth of the visual image exactly right.”

She goes on to talk about the color story of Like Father Like Son. “The color is very much in his aesthetic, that turquoise blue and orange. Jango is the father figure, so he’s standing behind, and there’s this fiery light between Jango and Boba. It has this great composition with the fire swooping up from left to right and right to left is this lens flare and smoke. John was a master at leading the viewer’s eye. It’s great visual storytelling and a very dynamic piece.”

In going through the archives a few weeks ago, Andrea found a small number of hand-signed limited editions created from this original, which is owned by George Lucas. For a limited time while they last, the John Alvin art estate is offering these limited editions to Star Wars fans. Click on the image of Like Father Like Son or HERE to buy this iconic image of two classic Star Wars characters.

 

Movie Poster artist John Alvin and the Art of Steven Spielberg’s Hook!

It is said often online, or really anywhere where people talk movies, that the movie Hook is beloved by anyone who was a kid when it came out in 1991, while adults were less enthused by the film. Here we are, almost 30 years later, and those kids are now adults, and they are loud and proud about their fandom. There are websites and wiki pages and fan Facebook pages, all celebrating Steven Spielberg’s riff or extenuation of the story of Peter Pan. There’s even a famous, award-winning song by the musician Skrillex called ‘Bangarang’, inspired by the famous battle cry uttered by the Lost Boys. 

SHOUTS TO ALL MY LOST BOYS!….

There are so many interesting aspects of the Hook movie that not everyone knows. 

So it’s particularly cool that we have Hook movie art! We are so excited to have an exclusive piece of movie history direct from the John Alvin estate, that occupies a unique place in movie history, in that it is both a prop and movie campaign art. There is a map, the original of which is 40 x 60, that was used in the making of the teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Hook. I was talking to John Alvin’s wife about the piece, which we have in his archives. She mentioned, off the cuff, that she had all of the printed versions of the map. They were created on special paper, so that at a particular time during the trailer, the map could catch fire. We have partnered with Andrea to sell these great images, which are also 40 x 60. There are only 6 of them available! 

The movie art of an old map created by John Alvin for the Steven Spielberg cult classic Hook.

Here is a video of the trailer that uses John Alvin Hook art nearly the entire time, and switches to live action right after the map goes up in flames:

I spoke to Andrea Alvin about the John Alvin Studios working on Hook, and she relayed a few interesting tidbits fans would love to know. John Alvin was hired, initially, to do a treatment as a potential movie poster. He came up with a design of Wendy’s window, with curtains and Wonderland in the distance. He only did one graphite, and one full-color image that was 20 x 30 inches. Eventually, as most people know, the finish was illustrated by Drew Struzan. However, John Alvin also worked on the advance poster for the film, which was just a single hook. The marketing people had created a large image of the hook used by the captain, but the image looked flat. So they sent a large print of it to John, and he “Alvin-ized” it, adding light flairs and reflected light to give it a more dramatic, compelling look.

John Alvin called what he did “the promise of a great experience”, which included creating curiosity in potential viewers, often by using iconic imagery imbued with light to add a mystical, ethereal quality. He certainly did that with this Hook image!

Around the same time, the studio came to John and asked him to create a map that would include Neverland and part of the real world to be used for the entire teaser trailer, and John came up with the now-famous map, meant to look mysterious and centuries old.

He knew the map had to be big, because to use it for the whole trailer, the camera would have to pan across it. He also knew in the trailer it would be burned through. So he made the 40 x 60 map, and they printed copies on special paper that burns easily.

Explains Andrea Alvin, “We had a layout that we had to follow, for what the actual map would be, for example, where Wonderland would be. We had to follow that, and design it to look like an old map on parchment. A lot of the painting was done in thinned-out acrylics, and sponged on, to make it look like parchment. Then he drew the little locations over the top. He had to find a good compass rose to put on it to make it look old and original, so he did copious research in books, because this was before the internet had everything anyone would ever need, and he finally discovered the perfect image. John hand-lettered all the words on the map, too, which was unusual. Nearly no illustrators would do hand-lettering or design their own for their posters, but John did.”

Both John Alvin and his wife Andrea went to the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, where many other famous artists and directors have gone, including Ralph McQuarrie, Syd Mead, Eyvind Earle, Bob Peak, Drew Struzan, Zack Snyder, and Michael Bay. For those focusing in illustration and fine art, taking hand-lettering classes was mandatory. John Alvin had not only a love but an affinity for it, and you can see the expression of his talent on many of his one-sheets, including Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, E.T., Victor/Victoria, Gremlins, Willow, The Princess Bride, and The Phantom of the Paradise, just to name a few.

John Alvin knew that a great lettering design is integral to a great poster design.

Andrea Alvin continues, “Most movie poster artists hire a lettering artist and then drop it in. You can’t go buy at typeface that looks like that, and it’s essential to the art and the look of the poster.”

As to how John felt about the movie Hook, Andrea says she remembers he loved it, even though many critics panned it. “To John, it was like a musical without the music. John liked fantasy movies and he loved popcorn movies made to be entertainment. The goal wasn’t to make great art, it was to make a great movie that entertained, and that it did.”

It’s interesting that John felt that way. Originally, Spielberg wanted to make the film as a musical. His interest in the story went all the back to his childhood, and in fact he directed a story based on Peter Pan in school when he was only 11 years old. He had worked on various versions of the story in the early 80s, even considering creating a musical.

At the same time, award-winning composer John Williams and lyricist and composer Leslie Bricusse were working on a Broadway play of Hook, and wrote a number of songs, which could have been used for the movie, since Spielberg had hired Williams as the composer for the film score. Ultimately, there were two songs used in Hook, “When You’re Alone”, which went on to be nominated for an Oscar, and “I Don’t Want to Grow Up”.

The script needed some help, and one of the script doctors hired but uncredited for her work was Carrie Fisher. Here she is talking about being a fixer, and being hilarious, as usual.

Since its release, Hook has remained a favorite to many who saw the film as kids, and has expanded its fandom since then, not least because of all the quirky elements to be enjoyed. There are many star cameos, from George Lucas and Carrie Fisher playing a couple kissing on the bridge at the very beginning of the film, to Jimmy Buffett, David Crosby, and Glenn Close playing pirates, Gwyneth Paltrow playing a young Wendy, and Phil Collins playing a police inspector. Check a few of them out here:

Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Bob Hoskins are all in top form, although for Williams, another film he starred in around that time eclipsed this one, and for good reason. It was the following year, in 1992, that Disney’s Aladdin was released, with Williams as the Genie. The other high-profile cast member was a 24-year-old Julia Roberts, who was badly miscast, and also had a horrible year that led to so much tabloid talk, she had to do an interview only weeks before Hook’s release. To capture a female superstar early in her career who is clearly a novice at damage control, you can read the 1991 interview in Entertainment Weekly HERE.

In 2017, Dante Basco, who played fan favorite Lost Boy Rufio, executive produced an unauthorized short film, “Bangarang: The Hook Prequel”, that was funded through Kickstarter. It’s about how Roofus, a bullied Filipino kid, finds his courage and becomes a Lost Boy. This short is a testament to the power of the Hook fandom. The campaign raised nearly $69,000 when the goal was only $30,000! You can watch it here:

For those who are looking for a really rare, exclusive piece of film history, we can’t think of anything better than a map of the ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ world that comes directly from famed movie poster artist John Alvin’s estate. The art will also come with a certificate from Andrea Alvin designating it as one of 6 pieces that belonged to the Alvin family.

WANT IT? FIND IT HERE.

To see Hook, you can go to any major streaming service, or look for listings on your cable schedule. It’s playing repeatedly for free on mine this June, and I’ll be watching it soon. Join me. Maybe we’ll hear each other screaming BANGARANG!

We’ll end by posting part of my interview with John 11 years ago at my gallery. You’ll notice as usual, he’s wearing his iconic red shoes!

John Alvin talks about his career and some of his favorite films with Leslie at ArtInsights.

The Story of The Iron Giant, John Alvin, Brad Bird, art, and a pandemic.

What do Vin Diesel, Sylvia Plath, Gun Control, Pete Townsend, John Alvin, and The Sixth Sense have in common? 

They are all connected in some way to cult classic and critical darling The Iron Giant, which was famously successful Pixar exec Brad Bird’s directorial debut, back in 1999. At the time, it was a flop. In fact, after sitting through the film on opening day surrounded by only 6 other people, producer John Walker stood outside an LA theater and offered to buy people tickets to see the film. 

While wading through all the wonderful art in the John Alvin art collection, we found original art he created for The Iron Giant movie campaign. Ever since I saw the giant make a dramatic cameo in Ready Player One, the big sweet robot has been more in my thoughts, so it was doubly exciting to find work by John representing the movie, especially since art from the film is so hard to come by. As with some of the best film flops like The Princess Bride, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Blade Runner, and Fight Club, The Iron Giant has grown in popularity and appreciation year after year, as more generations and savvy movie lovers get to see it and fall head over heels with it. 

However, as I discovered researching The Iron Giant for this blog, there is much sadness surrounding both the original story and the film. I guess somewhere in the deepest recesses of my collective unconscious mind, I must have sensed it was the perfect film to highlight while our global family is struggling with the sadness and shock of a sweeping pandemic.  

The story is based on a book called The Iron Man: A Children’s Story in Five Nights, by poet Ted Hughes, who wrote it to cheer his children through the loss of their mother Sylvia Plath, who killed herself by sticking her head in an oven, having sealed the room between herself and her children with tape, towels, and cloths. That’s a rather dire start, I’ll admit, but it came from a place of a parent’s desire to comfort, which resonates right now. The book was published in 1968, though for US publication, the name was changed to The Iron Giant so as not to confuse it with the Marvel character. 

Vin Diesel was the voice of the title character, and he was hired for the role very early in his acting career, having only been really landed on Hollywood’s radar through playing Private Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan. The Iron Giant also featured the voices of Jennifer Aniston as Hogart Hughes’s mom Annie, Harry Connick Jr. as beatnik Dean McCoppin, and Cloris Leachman as Hogarth’s schoolteacher Mrs. Tensedge.  

Pete Townsend took the book and turned it into a musical. This is where it gets awesome. It STARRED NINA SIMONE! (and John Lee Hooker, and Roger Daltrey..) On the strength of stage version mounted in 1993 at The Old Vic, Warner Brothers bought the rights to the story, and that’s how the making of the movie got its beginnings. 

Here she is, singing “Fast Food”, one of the songs from the musical:

Here’s a music video with Pete Townshend made for the breakout hit from the musical, A Friend is a Friend:

Since John Alvin had done work for the previous animated film by Warner Brothers, Quest for Camelot, Alvin Studios was brought in early on, to work on logo designs. They are some of the only images from the film out in the world. We are thrilled to have the only John Alvin art from The Iron Giant, all of which, if purchased, comes with an official certificate of authenticity from the estate of John Alvin.

Glorious logo designs for The Iron Giant, from one of the preeminent
movie campaign artists in film history, John Alvin.

Most of the production art resides, bizarrely, 650 feet under the ground in a salt mine that’s been in existence since the 20s, where Warner Brothers archives many of their films. The art is beautiful. (and you can buy a book on The Art of The Iron Giant HERE.)

One of the many reasons why the film didn’t do well in initial release, is the fact that other surprising films came out at the same time. Both The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch Project came out at the same time. Still, those films certainly don’t have the obsessive fanbase The Iron Giant has built since 1999. 

As to gun violence? When Brad Bird pitched the idea after reading the original book, he said he wanted to make it a bit different, and offered, “What if a gun had a soul?” This came out of mourning. Brad Bird’s sister Susan was shot to death  by her estranged husband. 

“Maybe because I was still trying to draw together my own pieces after the death of my sister,” he said, “I had an epiphany: What if a thing developed a soul and what if that thing found out that it was designed to kill, but didn’t want to kill? What if a gun had a soul and didn’t want to be a gun?”

About his loss, he said, “When you shoot somebody, you’re not just killing that person. You’re killing a part of all the people that love that person.”

There’s a quote in the movie by Hogarth to his gigantic friend, “It’s bad to kill. Guns kill. And you don’t have to be a gun. You are what you choose to be. You choose.” 

Brad Bird dedicated The Iron Giant to her. 

The message of the film is about sacrifice, and, as the quote “You are who you choose to be” says, it’s about embracing who you are, not who others wish you to be, or what a hard life, or challenges, (like the ones we are experiencing now!) have allowed you to become. These are all so powerful, given the current state of the world. For most of us, nothing we are doing right now is easy. There are many sacrifices. However, we can go beyond the idea that we are just about money, and power. The world community can show right now that it is more than that. We can show love and compassion to each other. 

The Art of Blade Runner by John Alvin

When a future sci-fi classic and an sci-fi-loving art geek collided

ArtInsights Gallery just got the last two original paintings representing Blade Runner created by the campaign artist who designed and painted the official movie poster in 1982. John Alvin is the illustrator for the iconic image used to promote what would become one of the classics of the science fiction film genre. He made only a few paintings featuring the characters from Ridley Scott’s film, and we can now proudly say we have or have sold every one of them. The last full color mixed media images of Blade Runner art are in the gallery right now.

A DUSTIN HOFFMAN DECKARD?

Imagine Dustin Hoffman as Deckard. It’s hard to do, and yet, he was one of the major actors not only considered but attached to the film early on. Also in play were Paul Newman, Al Pacino, and Gene Hackman. When Hoffman left the project over artistic differences, the filmmakers settled on Harrison Ford, who was just finishing Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time.

JOHN ALVIN & RIDLEY SCOTT SHARED A LOVE OF ARCHITECTURE

John Alvin wasn’t the first choice to make the movie poster, either. It’s not that they had someone else in mind, but rather, that the marketing folk had ideas they wanted to use. Alvin was in on an early meeting that included Ridley Scott, at which point he told Scott that he thought the architecture was really important to the poster and needed to be a major feature. Scott stopped what he was doing and saying and turned to John Alvin, asking him to explain what he had in mind. He explained what he had in mind for the poster, which would include Harrison Ford as Deckard, replicants Roy Batty and Rachael, with the architecture and gear featured in the film figured prominently. He would use what he called “heavy light” (what Disney executives would later consider part of “Alvin-izing”) to add a bit of film noir atmosphere. Though ultimately Roy was not part of the key art for the movie poster, the rest of John’s ideas can be seen in the famous finished poster image.

He would revisit the idea of Roy Batty as an essential part of the poster later, when he created an anniversary image that made Roy the dramatic central focus of the art.

Only four full color John Alvin Blade Runner original paintings were painted later representing Blade Runner. All are shown in the book The Art of John Alvin:

JOHN ALVIN DID VERY LITTLE BLADE RUNNER ART

A page in the book The Art of John Alvin shows his Blade Runner images

The world and look in Blade Runner was very much influenced by futuristic architecture, as well as what Ridley Scott called, “medieval meets electronics”. He felt validated in this blend of aesthetics in seeing the harbor in Hong Kong, which had both junks and skyscrapers.

BLACK & PEACH WITH A PURPOSE

Of course another major influence was film noir. As Ridley Scott said, “The hunter falls in love with his quarry.” Rachael is not strictly a traditional femme fatale, though Deckard falling in love with her certainly could lead to his downfall. In John Alvin’s Blade Runner movie poster, the image of her hovers just below Deckard’s gun-filled hands, the smoke of her cigarette drawing the eye to both the lead character and the architecture featured in the poster.

Sharp light, a broody hot femme, guns, orange, peach and black = film noir awesomeness!

FILM NOIR STYLE SAVES THE DAY

Alvin’s Blade Runner poster is as far off model as he could have gone without losing the spirit of these characters. John Alvin himself talked about that. When he was painting Harrison Ford as Deckard, the only source material he had was a postage stamp-sized image of him in costume. He had to get a jewel’s loop and a magnifying glass to draw him. He determined that utilizing the stylized yet gritty representation so popular in film noir movie posters, with their sharply lit faces and angled light, would be a way of problem-solving or working around the lack of good images of the actors in costume. Even the shards of light in the Blade Runner art are an updated take on the way light was used in the early days promoting film noir.

These are some of the very few graphites presented by John Alvin that led to the finished Blade Runner key art.
John Alvin Blade Runner 10th Anniversary image “I’ve Seen Things”

Once the go-ahead from Ridley Scott happened for the John Alvin Blade Runner key art, there were only a few detailed graphites drawn before they chose a finished design. There are often many stages required to get to the final look of a poster. Collectors and fans, no doubt, wish there were more original images. John Alvin wished that, too, since Blade Runner was one of his favorite movies of all time. Though we aren’t 100% sure, we’ve been told people have seen the original art for the poster, and it’s with Ridley Scott. The original art for the 10th anniversary image, which features a much larger Roy Batty in the poster, went at auction over 20 years ago, for almost $100,000, a record for the time.

Once photoshop made traditionally illustrated movie posters largely a thing of the past, John Alvin and his wife Andrea moved to across the country to be nearer to their daughter, who was building a career in theater and around Broadway. He started creating images for the fine art market, and became quickly very much in demand to movie lovers who knew his work and new collectors who were just starting to see the value of illustration art as “real art”, and original movie poster art as an important aspect of film history.

Since George Lucas had been one of his biggest collectors for years, and had commissioned a Star Wars art collection that John entitled, “The Force of Influence”, there were lots of studies for that work that art galleries were able to access and buy to offer to collectors.

JOHN ALVIN REVISITS A CLASSIC

Blade Runner was a different story. It was only because John loved the film so much that he decided to revisit the film and create a few images to develop ideas he wasn’t able to play with when he worked on the Blade Runner movie poster. One of the things he wanted to do was design a poster image that had Roy Batty as the biggest figure in the art, while still incorporating the architecture. The original Blade Runner art we now have in the gallery on display and for sale includes this piece, and as you can see, John was able to use better source material. This allowed the characters to be more on-model. He wove the architecture into Deckard’s jacket, but also used points of light to draw the eye across one of concept artist Syd Mead’s famous “spinner” crafts so recognizable from the film.

In this Blade Runner original illustration art by John Alvin, Roy Batty looks almost like a specter who is haunting Deckard, and making him question his own humanity. Last Blade Runner available for sale from the John Alvin Estate!

There was also interest on John’s part to create image that included Pris, played by Daryl Hannah, who is not only a fan favorite, but represents a strong female character, albeit a replicant known as a “basic pleasure model”. He also loved the character Eldon Tyrell, who he felt expressed the quality of hubris, especially as he was playing God in experimenting with Rachael in creating her, using memories from his own niece, but not telling her she was a replicant. Alvin saw Tyrell as a tragic figure, and wanted to create an image with Tyrell and his “children”, including Roy Batty, his prodigal son. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to finish this graphite in full color.

The flow of his image gets across the conflict between Deckard and Batty, but also captures Tyrell, the father, and his replicant family. *The original is sold.

In addition to the conflict between Deckard and Batty, John believed the fascination Deckard and Rachael held for each other, though doomed from the start, was one of the aspects of the film that held the story together the most. Much like the film noir plots from the earlier 20th century, he felt their magnetism for each other is part of what made good on what he called the “promise of a great experience”. John always said that’s what he strived to deliver as a movie poster artist.

The love scene from which John Alvin got the name for the below original, called “Kiss Me”, is accompanied by music by the great score created by Vangelis, with the tenor sax solo performed by renowned British musician Dick Morrissey. The plaintive notes on the sax express the mix of idealism and fatalism in their relationship. John Alvin, who loved Vangelis’s score and played his hard-to-get copy of it often, strived to capture that duality. He also believed their story was inseparable from the world they lived in, so he wanted that expressed as well in the art.

John Alvin Blade Runner original art “Kiss Me” shows the shadow and light representative of Deckard and Rachael, and their starcrossed lives. *The original is sold.

The Blade Runner art itself is like all of John Alvin’s original art. It has a way of breaking apart close up and coming together when seen from a distance. Seeing the art in person, it is exciting to be able to dissect how he achieved the emotionally intimate quality for which his illustration art is most well-known. He was someone who did not like to paint in front of others, keeping secrets about how he reached his artistic goals, both big and small. He used any and every tool and medium at his disposal to translate what he had in his mind into physical art. It’s a shame there isn’t more Blade Runner art by John Alvin out there. He passed away over 10 years ago, and even with the release of 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, the 1982 film only becomes more of a classic. Though the film didn’t win a lot of awards, cinephiles did have the good sense to give it a Hugo Award fro Best Dramatic Presentation in 1983. Stop by ArtInsights while the art is still in the gallery to see some of John Alvin’s masterwork. If interested in the only original official Blade Runner piece for sale created by the movie poster artist, CHECK THIS PAGE.

Read an interview with Ridley Scott about Blade Runner

HERE with Harlan Kennedy. HERE with WIRED about a director’s cut.

You can read the original screenplay HERE.

Movie Lovers Gift Guide 2018 from ArtInsights Gallery of Film and Contemporary Art

Movie Lovers Gift Guide from Film Art Gallery ArtInsights Offers Film Fans

Art Celebrating Cinematic Anniversaries and Releases

All By Official Studio Artists

Reston, VA -You’ve seen “alternative posters” and “minimalist posters”, but what about art by the folks who actually helped you fall in love with the movies in the first place? Somebody has to champion them, and that would be you and us! That’s right! A movie lovers gift guide that is all art by the folks who make movies and promote them! Artinsights certainly has perfectly timed for what’s happening in pop culture this holiday season, all with art that is not only officially licensed, but created by studio artists.  Steamboat Willie has its 90th anniversary on November 18th, and Yellow Submarine turns 50 on November 13th.  Both Disney and Warner Bros. have highly-anticipated tentpole films releasing in December, with Mary Poppins Returns landing in theaters December 19th, and Aquaman swimming to screens on December 14th.  ArtInsights Gallery has art representing all these properties, making  holiday gift giving easy for the loved ones of fans who search in vain every year for something special and unusual to make the season bright.  Prices range from $150 to a king’s ransom, with several highlighted pieces in the lower range to keep budgets in mind.

No movie lovers gift guide would be complete without less expensive art! There is a page on their site with a selection of dozens of pieces below $250. (https://artinsights.com/production/santas-little-helpers-presents-for-christmas-hanukkah-yule-kwanzaa-under-250/)

Fans of Mickey Mouse and the Beatles have been celebrating all year. Yellow Submarine returned to theaters this summer, and there’s a new graphic novel release of the story.  Disney is having what they’re calling the “world’s biggest mouse party”, and have a new exhibit in New York called “Mickey: The True Original Exhibition”.  ArtInsights is ready for those with friends and family who are fans, with official art by Alex Ross featuring the Beatles called “The Fab Four “ in a limited edition mini canvas for $150. 

Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie reminds Disneyphiles where it all began.  For them, the gallery suggests one of two limited editions by highly-collectible Disney artist Tim Rogerson, one a giclee on canvas featuring Mickey through the years called “Mickey’s Creative Journey” priced at $150, the other a hand-signed giclee on paper capturing the character in a grey-toned piece called “Mickey at the Helm” for $350.

Mary Poppins, starring Emily Blunt, directed by Rob Marshall, promises to be a huge hit, especially with fans of the Oscar-winning 1964 classic.  The gallery has a limited edition signed by Tim Rogerson called “A Mary Tune”,  that shows Mary and her cohorts painted against the sheet music for Feed the Birds, written by the Sherman Brothers, who won an Oscar and Grammy for Mary Poppins. It is priced at $495.  Also offered, for the fans who have everything, is art by matte background painter Peter Ellenshaw, who, indeed won an Oscar for his work on the film. “Practically Perfect”, which is signed by Ellenshaw, who passed away in 2007, is $1100, and would be a highlight of any Disney film fan’s collection.

For Aquaman, the gallery has an image created by famed DC and Justice League Unlimited animation director Bruce Timm, which includes not only Aquaman, but many of the members of the Justice League, including Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, all of whom have been making news in live action studio news this year, called “Guardians of Justice”. Also suggested is a giclee on canvas by DC comic book cover artist Alex Ross that features Aquaman with the lead members of the Justice League called “JLA”.  Both retail for $150.

There are a number of other pieces corresponding to film art news, including art from Pinocchio, which was recently announced as a property Guillermo Del Toro will reinterpret with a new stop-motion film. Whether purists strictly stick with the original Harry Potter series, or love the newest releases written by Rowling, art from the Harry Potter book and film series is alway popular, and coincides with  Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.  Many are created by Stuart Craig, the production designer for all the Harry Potter movies as well as the new Fantastic Beast series.

There are a number of images by Star Wars production artists, including the limited edition “The Cold of Hoth” by John Alvin, an exclusive giclee on paper for $150 from everyone’s favorite film in the saga, as well as images representing DC and Marvel characters.  Of course, there is a veritable parade of Disney princesses represented in art, which is perfectly timed with the release of Ralph Breaks The Internet, in which the Disney princesses figure prominently, (including the use of the voices from the original feature films!)  You can find all these options on the gallery’s new blog.  See the bottom of the press release for links or contact the gallery for more information. Images of available art sent immediately upon request.

ABOUT ARTINSIGHTS

Since 1994, representing a wide range of film and animation art at the gallery in Reston Town Center, ArtInsights focuses on proprietary projects and artist representation relating to the history of animation and film, and the celebration and examination of popular culture, all by artists working in the film industry. With artists like iconic movie poster artist John Alvin, studio concept artists William Silvers and Jim Salvati, and Marvel and DC cover artists Alex Ross, the gallery builds collections of original and limited edition art for their growing worldwide collector base. See the work and read the blog on  HYPERLINK “https://artinsights.com” www.artinsights.com. For more information about ArtInsights’ 2018 gift guide, go to https://artinsights.com/the-artinsights-2018-gift-guide-celebrates-film-anniversaries-and-new-releases/ 

# # #

“Fab Four” by Alex Ross https://artinsights.com/product/fab-four-yellow-submarine-limited-edition-mini-canvas-by-alex-ross/

“Mickey’s Creative Journey” by Tim Rogerson https://artinsights.com/product/mickeys-creative-journey-treasures-on-canvas-by-tim-rogerson/

“Willie at the Helm” by Tim Rogerson https://artinsights.com/product/willie-at-the-helm-mickey-mouse-steamboat-willie-giclee-on-paper-by-tim-rogerson/

“A Mary Tune” by Tim Rogerson https://artinsights.com/product/a-mary-tune-mary-poppins-embellished-giclee-on-canvas-by-tim-rogerson/

“Practically Perfect” by Peter Ellenshaw https://artinsights.com/product/practically-perfect-limited-edition-giclee-on-canvas-by-peter-ellenshaw/

“Guardians of Justice” from Justice League Unlimited by Bruce Timm https://artinsights.com/product/guardians-of-justice-dc-comics-lithograph-on-art-paper/

“JLA” by Alex Ross: https://artinsights.com/product/liberty-justice-jla-mini-canvas/

“The Cold of Hoth” by John Alvin: https://artinsights.com/product/star-wars-the-cold-of-hoth-giclee-on-paper-by-john-alvin/

“Journey on the Hogwarts Express” by Stuart Craig: https://artinsights.com/product/journey-on-the-hogwarts-express-harry-potter-giclee-on-paper-by-stuart-craig/

Spotlight on Studio Art: On Pearl Harbor Day, The Evocative Band of Brothers Art by John Alvin

John Alvin did art for the campaign to promote the wonderful, timeless HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, which won 6 Emmys.  I thought on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I’d examine the story behind John Alvin creating Band of Brothers campaign art and find out more about the process, and the general fascination with World War II history I recall John having and discussing with me on a regular basis.

Concept art for Band of Brothers by John Alvin
Concept art for Band of Brothers by John Alvin

I remember John Alvin and I talking many times about World War II.  He never mentioned his personal history, or how he was connected to it.  I told him some of the stories about my family, which he found very compelling.  My grandmother Colette had been working in London when France fell and Charles de Gaulle made his speech about the importance of everyone doing what they could do in the war effort.  She was working directly under Rene Pleven, as part of de Gaulle’s Free French Forces.  She went to de Gaulle and asked him how she could help, and he told her he needed her in New York.  She had grown up in New York, spoke both French and English, and knew many important people in the US who could help, so he sent her there to organize relief for the Free French.

My dad, who was only 5 or 6 at the time, had to come from Paris to Vichy, France, to North Africa and onward to New York to reunite with her while she was doing her work for de Gaulle.  My dad told me during that time he saw a man get kicked down a long flight of stairs in the subway by a German officer, cracking his head open.  He remembers it vividly to this day. He doesn’t remember Pearl Harbor, because in France, they were already deeply into the war.   

John was fascinated. He never told me his story himself.

Concept art for Band of Brothers by John Alvin
Concept art for Band of Brothers by John Alvin

When he spoke to me, it was about that book and that series, and how great he thought it was.  I, too, fell under its spell, especially as so many great actors took part.  I’d been a fan of Tom Hanks since Mazes and Monsters. His second collaboration with Steven Spielberg, the Emmy Award-winning miniseries was about “Easy” Company, a parachute infantry regiment. It made Damien Lewis famous in the US, (a gift that keeps on giving..) and was at the time the most expensive TV miniseries ever made by a network. The first episode premiered on September 9th, 2001, two days before the September 11th attack.

I just spoke to Andrea Alvin about why she thought he was so connected to his work on Band of Brothers. As you’ll see, John Alvin’s connection to the subject ran deep.  His father, Albert Alvin, had been a career military man.  He was a captain in the Army, and spent World War II as a military intelligence officer stationed in Italy, because he spoke fluent Italian.  His mother Rena had been an Army nurse and followed Patton’s troops.  She was at the Battle of the Bulge, where she worked right behind the front lines caring for the injured from all forces; American, German…anyone who needed urgent medical intervention.   The battle lasted from December 16th, 1944 to January 25th, 1945.  For the rest of her life, she would get weepy every year around Christmas remembering the horrors of that traumatic experience.

Graphite concept art for HBO's Band of Brothers by John Alvin
Graphite concept art for HBO’s Band of Brothers by John Alvin

Also, as a young child, John Alvin lived for about four years in Germany.  His father was part of the occupational army helping rebuild Germany*.  When John was 4 or 5, his dad took him to an abandoned Messerschmitt factory.  It was like a graveyard of airplanes.  He was allowed to climb on and in the planes.  It made a huge impression on him, and Andrea counts that experience as one of the main reasons he was so obsessed with building models.

The art John Alvin created for the Band of Brothers campaign, though not ultimately used, has an emotional quality and visual authenticity derived from his love of history, interest in research, and his personal connection to that time. The color images look like they are done in pastel, but John never worked in pastel.  He worked on pastel paper, and used Prisma color pencils and freehand airbrush to get the effect of pastels.  Though not sure, Andrea thinks John may have also used some actual pictures of his father as reference.

Whatever his inspiration, he captured the bravery, and the intensity of focus and commitment the men of Easy Company must have maintained as they struggled through the terrifying experience of surviving war.  On the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, we think of all those men and women who gave their lives or lost their optimism and their innocence, and who fought bravely to keep this country safe. 

We also remember that standing up for those being endangered around the world, as well as on our own shores, is the true mark of patriotism.

If you’re interested in any of these great images, click here for the John Alvin Band of Brothers art page. 

*years later, John would find out that the entire time he lived in Germany, they had a bodyguard who followed them everywhere.

 

Happy New Year from ArtInsights! What’s in store for 2017?

What does 2017 bring for ArtInsights? What can our friends and fans expect? We’re very excited about our plans, and we’d love to tell you a bit about them!

2016, by all accounts, was a pretty iffy year.  We, like the rest of the art world, were challenged by the experiences, losses, and surprises we all faced.  In the US, many artistic people are concerned about the future in a Trump presidency, even as our right-leaning friends suggest there’s nothing to worry about.  We have many wonderful LGBTQ and immigrant clients, so yes, we worry.

With that in mind, we have an amazing new project we will be promoting with Tennessee Loveless.  We can’t talk about it, really, but it is spectacular and very exciting.  It is political in nature.  How does this fit in with a gallery that focuses on animation and film art, you ask?  Well….

We are going to split focus starting in 2017.  It has been in the works for some time now.  As many of you may know, I (Leslie) have been working directly with artists creating and building proprietary projects unique to ArtInsights.  Two examples are The Art Outsiders with Tennessee Loveless, and The Image Projects with Jim Salvati.  Both projects just seem to be getting better and better, and more known, and we couldn’t be happier about that.

Here is our favorite piece so far from the “Musician’s Image”, a collection of music legends created not from any single picture, but from studying many different pictures and extrapolating a unique image from the collection of them.

jimihendrix_jimsalvati_art

Those of you who are artists know how impressive this is.  Very few artists can do this, but Jim Salvati excels at just that.  We have been slowly building our collection of these images and have some great announcements about the collection we’ll be making very soon.  Jim also started the “Sporting Image” with his instant classic representing Arnold Palmer.  We’ll be adding to that soon as well.  All these are part of a greater plan, and are going somewhere we can’t talk about at present, but those who are interested in commissioning their favorite musician or sports figure should contact me soon so they can get in on our plan, because it’s super cool (as are most things in which Jim takes part!) Of course Jim and I have to approve the image as part of our collection, but there are many very famous and wonderful musicians and athletes not yet spoken for…

arnoldpalmer_jimsalvati

Tennessee Loveless continues to get hotter.  Not only does he spend much of his “free time” building his collection of interviews and portraits for his personal project “Drag Landscapes”, he also just gets better with each successive Art Outsider portrait.  That’s not so say the first few aren’t amazing, they still floor me when I see them.  He’s just always changing, always evolving.  The latest pieces are just beautiful, especially Marlene Dietrich and Kate Bush (someone who inspired us both in our youth through to today).

Kate-Bush-Art-Outsider-Tennessee-Loveless-ArtInsights

He just charges forward, and he has more commissions already committed, as well as our new project that will be unveiled all at once, instead of one at a time.  Believe us, they will be more potent that way!  Follow us to see the art as it is released and announced, and of course if you are interested in a commission, let us know as soon as possible, especially as more is happening in his and our world together we can’t even talk about that will significantly influence his fame and, by extension, the prices of his originals!

marlene

(Marlene Dietrich Art Outsiders by Tennessee Loveless: contact us if interested)

As to the splitting of focus, we will still be representing the best of interpretive and original film and animation art, it just won’t be front and center on our site or our brick and mortar store.  Maybe you noticed we changed our name.  We are now “ArtInsights Gallery of Film and Contemporary Art.  We will have a new website that reflects all the new and awesome work we’ll be offering… and it will be a BETTER, SEARCHABLE site!  (HURRAY!) We will also have a dedicated section of our site, and will be happy to build your collections using our 28 years of experience.  We just are finding ourselves more and more committed to contemporary art and the artists who are searching for a place to speak their vision.  We want to help them speak, and find their audience, in any way we can.  We have not only the aforementioned projects,

and are EVER committed to representing and promoting the work of the incomparable and amazing film artist JOHN ALVIN, (who, in 2016, broke all records for the highest price for a piece of film key art with the 396k sale at auction of the E.T. movie poster original!)

but we have new ones in the works we are building in 2017!

We also have a great artist new to ArtInsights we will be promoting in the U.S. who is very successful and popular in his home country of England, Mark Davies.  His work will just blow you away.

goonies-hey-youuu-guys-limited-edition-mark-davies

(The Goonies)

Our show, which we are actively building as we speak, is a passion of mine and continues to excite me.  SO MANY IDEAS! Check out our new limited edition from his last show, all of which have remarques on them.

ET-Mark-Davies-limited-edition-Ill-be-right-here

(E.T.)

If you find his work compelling, contact us soon, because his work is going to go up in price really fast!  Right now, originals are around $6000 to $7000, and he loves nearly any movie you can imagine.  If he doesn’t, i’ll let you know and talk you out of it…you know my favorite movies?  He’s creating art from a number of them.  How synergistic is that for me, a film critic/art gallery owner?  VERY.

Lastly, those who live nearby or come to visit on occasion may have heard Reston Town Center is siting to paid parking as of January of 2017.  We have taken proactive action on behalf of our clients and friends.  We will validate your parking during the week, but also, since parking is free on the weekends, we’ll be open on both Saturday and Sunday, so we suggest coming to visit us then, because we’ll be making ArtInsights so much fun on the weekends you’ll WANT to come by!

We continue to be honored and touched by the support and loyalty of the clients and friends of ArtInsights.  After over 22 years in business, we are so appreciative to those who keep showing up, seeing what’s new, and embracing exciting new art year after year.

We know you could go anywhere.  And yet, you show up again and again, take our advice on new artists, and celebrate inventive, creative art we show you, whatever its origin or subject matter.  That is beyond cool.  It’s why we keep doing what we do.  Happy New Year to you all, and thanks for all your support, from Michael and I.

Best in the new year,

 

Leslie and Michael

ArtInsights Gallery of Film and Contemporary Art

John Alvin’s E.T. Phones in the Worth of Traditional Illustration Art

et-poster-john-alvin

Heritage Auctions just sold the original key art by John Alvin from E.T. for $394,000 after the buyer’s premium.  The bidding was brisk and committed, and started way above the lowest required bid.  Though the buyer wanted to remain anonymous, there’s no question a number of collectors were willing to go into the hundreds of thousands to obtain this original art from the recent sci-fi classic. Speaking as not only Cinema Siren, but also the owner of ArtInsights, the gallery that represents the estate of illustrator and movie poster artist John Alvin, the news of the hammer price came less as a surprise than a reaffirmation of the value of both traditionally illustrated film art and of the work of the renowned artist. 

Unfortunately, the artist’s estate was not the owner of the art at time of auction, as is often the case with original film art, especially key art.  With the insane timeline of deadlines, and the teams working to promote films ever turning towards the next project, even when the art remained the property of the artist, often the original art created during the campaign was never returned to them.  This was rarely intentional. Sometimes the director or producer asked for it, and sometimes someone in the design firm just put it in a flat file and forgot about it, because the focus by everyone involved had turned to the next film.  Little did everyone know traditionally illustrated film art was, even in the early 80’s, a dying art form. 

That’s not to say Andrea Alvin, John Alvin’s widow and artistic partner in Alvin and Associates, wasn’t thrilled to see such public confirmation of the value of her husband’s work. To her it reaffirmed the increased embrace of his legacy as one of the foremost artists in the history of film.  With the over 200 campaigns he worked on during his lifetime, John Alvin was one of the most prolific film artists, certainly, and not only recognizable, but so famed for his movie magic, the term “Alvin-izing” was coined by studio executives in referencing his style.  

There are many around the world who have been collecting the art of John Alvin or supporting his legacy as a fine artist through their mentions of his work on their movie blogs, or as in the case of Kevin Burke’s new documentary “24 x 36”, through film.  They know, unequivocally that those willing to pay nearly $400k represent far more than just fans of E.T.  Those collectors were vying for the art of John Alvin as much as for the iconic image he created.  That, after all, was what he was known for.  The posters he made were splashed across every platform.  His images were used throughout the world. 

lion-king

leroilion

Whether, for example, you saw The Lion King in Pasadena or Paris, the poster depicting a majestic lion in the sky was probably partly responsible for getting you into the theater.  That light-suffused and very emotionally evocative painting that was Alvin’s trademark was used for The Lion King poster, as well as the E.T., Aladdin, Cocoon, Empire of the Sun, Willow, and many more.  

The $400,000 hammer price for the art of E.T is not only a celebration of the love of movies, but also a celebration of the acceptance of John Alvin as a preeminent film artist and indeed as a fine artist. It suggests that original film art, which is an art form largely relegated to history, is indeed fine art.  It also shows, in a strange yet really real way,  his work continues to have relevance.  The estate recognized that phenomenon through the discovery of graphites John used in the making of two of the Pokemon movies. Who knew between that and every article on Blade Runner II using his famous poster for the original film, images attributed to John would continue to be used so frequently? 

We who represent the estate of John Alvin are very excited about our plans for the future.  We are busy with plans for museum shows, and with continuing to help people around the world acquire those pieces his family members are willing to sell to fine art collectors and film fans.  Fortunately for Andrea Alvin, she does have a few pieces of key art that will be kept in the family and handed down to future generations. John’s art for movie campaigns capture the essence of who he was, and even casual observers can see he put his heart into every image.  Every piece was personal.  The E.T. image is a perfect example; his daughter Farah’s hand was the model for that of Elliott’s as he reaches to touch E.T., Sistine Chapel-style, in the poster. 

john-alvin-cover-342x450

If you want to know more about John Alvin, of course there’s the great book released in 2014 written by his wife Andrea Alvin, which you can get here:

https://www.amazon.com/Art-John-Alvin-Andrea/dp/0857689290

and you can see the art available for sale through his estate HERE, as well as a series of chats with John Alvin.  

https://artinsights.com/artists/alvin-john/

John Alvin Honored by His High School

pacific-grove-high-school-hall-of-fame-john-alvin-art-artinsights

A few days ago, John Alvin was inducted into The Hall of Fame at his high school, Pacific Grove High School.  His sister Suzanne Alvin was there to accept the honor and talk a bit about John Alvin and his career.  She spoke to the kids, thinking about what John would have said, and what advice he’d give to aspiring artists. 

suzanne-alvin-at-hall-of-fame-john-alvin

We at John Alvin Art and ArtInsights asked her to tell us a little about it.  Here’s what she said:

“I only had a few minutes, and had to keep it really short. I told them what I though he might tell them: to not compare themselves to others; to exercise their own creative spirit, find their unique voice.

I finished with something he once told me: One time I was anxious about a situation that was not going well. He said:

“Just be yourself. After all, who else are you going to be?”

John Alvin in ArtInsights with members of the Empire...
John Alvin in ArtInsights with members of the Empire…

He would have loved the whole thing; he would have charmed them, of course, and made them laugh.”

It wasn’t a big deal, but we who knew John’s respect for not only his own art, but for others who struggle to create, as well as his mix of humility and desire to be appreciated, know this little gift would have meant the world to him.  It means, as he was a mentor and inspiration to many artists while he was here, he will continue to be an inspiration in a very real way, to kids who feel the artist inside themselves and need to know, with talent and drive, it IS possible to be successful in whatever kind of art they choose!  

Please join me in congratulating his wife Andrea Alvin, his sister Suzanne Alvin, and his daughter Farah Alvin! More schools should have artists in their Hall of Fame!

To see some art we at ArtInsights have of John Alvin original and limited edition art his estate, CLICK HERE.

Disney Fine Art and Film Art Update: New in 2014, New in 2015

Arendelle in Winter 18x36

(David Womersley’s “Arendelle in Winter”)

We hope your holidays were wonderful and that you are on your way to big things in 2015!  We at ArtInsights certainly are..

This last year has seen some great art and great film releases, and some awesome directions for our favorite artists.

Of course the first artist I’d mention is John Alvin, although of course since he passed away in 2008 it isn’t coming from John himself.  But 2014 saw the release by Andrea Alvin, his partner and wife, of the book The Art of John Alvin, which got universally great reviews and made a fair number of best art books of 2014 lists.  We loved seeing it at the top of Amazon UK, and all the press not only the book got, but John’s art as well.  It seemed like every image he ever did for Jurassic Park crossed the internet!

Andrea Alvin also started breaking out on her own accord as an artist.  She had been working with John all these ye
ars, and was an integral part to the creation of many well known posters of the 1980s and 90s, including the Batman advance and the Cape Fear posters.  Most recently, however, she has been working with Disney and Warner Brothers creating official art for The Wizard of Oz anniversary and Looney Tunes, as well as images for Pixar and classic Disney characters.

We love our collaboration with Tennessee Loveless, who is nearly done with his Ten x Ten x Ten series, which is getting more and more interesting while it maintains his edgy, of-the-moment pop aesthetic.  You can see many explanations of the creations in the series HERE.  Look for some new exciting work we’ll be doing with him in 2015!  There is no question his star continues to be on the rise, and there’s no telling just how far high he’ll go.  If you like his work, now is the time to get connected to his fascinating world—one we love being a part of and believe you would too!

Having Michelle St. Laurent was an absolute pleasure at the gallery this December.  We still have several of her originals and they never cease to impress.  So many layers, and so much integration of pop and traditional watercolor styles with illustration and animation—Toby Bluth would have loved it!  We learned Michelle was at the beginning of vinyl-mation, pin-trading, and ‘make your own ear hat” at Disney, and was behind a host of amazing environments at the parks.  How wonderful to see a woman rise so high as an official artist in the studio!

We haven’t had a chance to work with him yet, but very excited about the production designer from Disney’s Frozen, David Womersley, has become an official interpretive Disney fine artist!  This is very cool for those who love collecting artists working inside the studios actually shaping their favorite movies…and it’s a BIG deal!  I can’t wait to find people who will want to do a commission with him!   His first limited edition is based on two concept pieces he created to show the grandeur of the Norwegian landscape, and those pieces were instrumental in the finished design for the film.

We look forward to interviewing him to let fans and collectors get to know him better!

Treasures-on-Canvas-Landing-Page_01

The best news for fans of Disney art with a limited budget is the new collection called “Treasures on Canvas”.  It offers a variety of images that are also available in smaller editions that are hand embellished, in a larger edition size of 1500, gallery wrapped, and with a certificate of authenticity, all for only $125 each.  What makes this so wonderful is when we first started representing animation art some 30 years ago, everyone could afford it.  This collection makes it so again.  We have actually sold several to young kids who bring us money every week, and it means they can collect their first piece of art.  What a joy that has been!  It is also true that the artists in the collection getting a wider audience, and as many of them are close friends I love, this too makes me happy!

As to 2015, we look forward to some great changes and new offerings, which we can’t wait to announce.  We have some new artists we know are set to skyrocket into the limelight, as well as properties we know our collectors are wanting to be released officially we are championing on their behalf.  And in reference to that, if you are interested in a film having official art released, let us know and we’ll see what we can do!

Trust us, we have your interests, and the success of film artists who should have greater notoriety for their work, in mind.  Traditional illustration and concept work deserves recognition, and we as a gallery advocate as much as possible.

Here’s to 2015 expanding awareness of film art to the fine art collectors of the world, expanding acceptance of concept artists little known outside the studios, and expanding our collector base by our work in education and celebration of the art!

Happy New Year!

Leslie and Michael

ArtInsights

ArtInsights Holiday Gift Guide: The Art of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Classics

10 Pieces of Film Art for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fans that are Truly and Utterly Out of This World

Holiday-scifi

Some films not only never go out of style, they grow in popularity with each generation.  You know your spacey cyborg-loving loved one doesn’t need one more wind-up robot…We focused on original pieces here, but whether you are looking to spend less than $200 or you can part or ALL your Galactic credits, we’ve got your covered.

Blast off to a beautiful holiday by surprising them with one of these spectacular studio artist-created images!

 

(1)

I’ve Seen Things by John Alvin: Giclee available in both paper and canvas editions for $150 and $450

Blade Runner - I've Seen Things

(2)

Alien by John Alvin: created for the anniversary poster, now a limited edition for lovers of acid dripping monsters…who isn’t?  for $150

Alien

 (for all the official art of Alien, click here) 

(3)

Godzilla original movie poster design comp by Steve Chorney: mixed media on paper for $2400.

Steve Chorney Godzilla

(4)

Elven Archer by John Alvin: Mixed media original on paper for $5600

John Alvin LOTR Legolas study

(for all official art of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, click here)

(5)

Wizard of Oz – The Yellow Brick Road by John Alvin: Giclee on canvas for  $595

Wizard of Oz

(for The Art of The Wizard of Oz starting at $150, click here)

(6)

Navi’ of Pandora by Ben Curtis Jones mixed media on paper for $3800

The Navi' of Pandora

(for The Art of Avatar starting at $150 click here)

(7)

Star Trek IV Graphite Comp by Steve Chorney: Mixed Media for $3200

Steve Chorney - Star Trek VI sketch

(8)

King Kong by Mike Kungl: Giclee on both Paper and Canvas for $395 and $1695

King Kong

(9)

Narnia by John Alvin: Giclee on Canvas for $425

Narnia

(10)

Labyrinth Movie Poster Comp by Steve Chorney: Mixed Media original art for $8000

Labyrinth Movie Poster Comp

ArtInsights Holiday Gift Guide: Art of Star Wars

5 OF THE RAREST & MOST EXCLUSIVE STAR WARS ART IMAGES AVAILABLE TODAY

Guaranteed to put the ‘HO-HO-HOTH’ in the holiday, sending Star Wars fans into hyperdrive, this art by iconic movie poster artist John Alvin will get them right in the geek, making you look Yoda-wise and Jedi-clever.

 Holiday-SW

(click above to see ALL the Star Wars art)

The Cold of Hoth by John Alvin: Giclee on paper $300, estate signed exclusive limited edition for Star Wars Celebration ArtInsights Exclusive

Star Wars: The Cold of Hoth

There Will Be No Bargain by John Alvin: Giclee on canvas estate-signed for John Alvin $595, only 10 available for sale ArtInsights Exclusive

There Will Be No Bargain

 

Episode IV Decade III by John Alvin: Giclee on paper, original commissioned by George Lucas $1200 signed by John Alvin- Extremely limited and an ArtInsights Exclusive

johnalvinepisode

Original art for the Return of the Jedi movie poster, as it was originally called, REVENGE OF THE JEDI created and signed by John Alvin: For those searching not just for droids, but the rarest of the rare!

Revenge of the Jedi comp: McQuarrie

WHY OFFICIAL STAR WARS FILM ART BY JOHN ALVIN?

Have you seen the new top selling book The Art of John Alvin, written by Andrea Alvin?  If you haven’t, go HERE, and order it today!

If you have, “why buy Alvin now” is a question that answers itself.  He has more than 200 finished posters to his credit, passed away in 2008, and is now building new fans all over the world, and adding to his longterm rabid, loyal collectors!

All things Star Wars will only continue to expand in worldwide media reach as the hype about JJ Abrams and his Star Wars VI rises to new froth and drool inducing heights.   All the news may bore the not-so-sci-fi-savvy, but for those who love the series, it is a time of celebration.  There are so many Star Wars related toys and gadgets out there, and your loved one can find those easily enough, but official art by John Alvin, one of the top movie poster artists in film history, actually created for LucasFilm, will get even the biggest fan’s lightsaber glowing a pretty holiday green or red!

All Their Wicked Ways by Tim Rogerson

Commissioning Original Film Art: Designing A Dream

Did you know you could have art made specially for you by top Disney and Hollywood artists?

ArtInsights has been working with insiders licensed by the studios to create original art for our clients for over 20 years!

What makes this so special and unique is you can have a beautiful original piece of art to display in your home, in your media room, or family room… or a place of honor that reminds the whole family of favorite moments from a new or old classic film or cartoon.  It is truly my favorite thing to do at ArtInsights:  working with art lovers who feel as passionate as I do about the memories they hold dear from movies that may have been seen by millions of people, or by just a few true fans.  We find the perfect artist who may have actually worked on that film, or with that studio, or who is significantly influenced by the movie you celebrate and want represented.  Mixing a scene or scenes you love with the design aesthetic that has made them revered and successful in the world of film art, they construct a wonderful piece of original art JUST FOR YOU.

Even more exciting is the art is often chosen by the studio to be turned into a limited edition, which makes the original art all the more important.

We believe there is a conversation that occurs… a relationship between the artist and the collector…when a work of art is created and passed on to be enjoyed as part of the art that makes the collector’s living space or work environment unique and special.

It is exciting to know you can bring a little bit of Hollywood home, and celebrate the movies you love!  Here are just a few original pieces created with artists through ArtInsights:  (don’t fall too in love with THESE pieces, they were made, just as we can for you, as commissions–you’ll have to decide what would make YOUR heart sing as these pieces did for their collectors…anything you can dream of, our artists can bring into being!)

By Disney artist Tim Rogerson:

Dreaming-in-Color-tim-rogerson

 

Fantasia-tim-rogerson

 

Walts-Palace-tim-rogerson
By famed movie poster artist John Alvin: (creator of movie posters for over 200 movies)

willie-wonka-john-alvin

to-kill-a-mockingbird-john-alvin

wizard-of-oz-john-alvin

terminator-john-alvin

lord-of-the-rings-embrace-john-alvin

Lord-of-the-Rings-john-alvin

Galadriel-john-alvin

elven-archer-john-alvin

Hoth-john-alvin

indiana-jones-john-alvin

my-fair-lady-john-alvin

harry-potter-the-great-hall-john-alvin

casablanca-john-alvin

bullitt-john-alvin

holly-golightly-john-alvin

bladerunner-sepia-john-alvin

bladerunner-john-alvin

ive-seen-things-john-alvin

Bittersweet-Embrace-john-alvin
Tink-Shows-the-Way-john-alvin

By Disney art director Toby Bluth:

Fantasia-toby-bluth Teatime-with-Alice-toby-bluth The-Ugly-Duckling-toby-bluth Tidying-Up-toby-bluth peter-pan-toby-bluth

By movie concept artist Harrison Ellenshaw (concept artist for Star Wars, Tron, and many others)

Lets-Go-Fly-a-Kite-harrison-ellenshaw

Someday-My-Prince-Will-Come-harrison-ellenshaw

by artist Disney, Star Wars, and Warner Brothers artist Mike Kungl:

Beyond-Infinity-mike-kungl

Rabbits-Prefer-Red-Heads-mike-kungl

By Disney visual development artist Lisa Keene:

At-Odds-with-the-Sea-lisa-keene

By movie poster and Disney artist John Rowe:

Beyond-the-Door-john-rowe

The-Flight-to-Fantasy-john-rowe

What-is-a-Pirate-john-rowe

By Warner Brothers and Disney concept artist Jim Salvati:

Maleficient-jim-salvati

This is a very small percentage of the art we have created for our clients.  Up to this moment we have never had the artists we work with not absolutely exceed our and our clients’ expectations.  It’s why the Hollywood studios choose them over and over again even today!

We chose these pieces to show you because nearly all of these were turned into limited editions by the studios.  Most of these artists can be commissioned to create a wide variety of images from live action movies encompassing the entire history of film as well as Disney and other animation studio features.

Contact ArtInsights today to find out how you too can have a one of the best film artists create a one-of-a-kind work of art just for you!

 

 

 

johnalvin-bladerunner

John Alvin Originals at ArtInsights

John Alvin Originals CAN BE FOUND AT THEIR OFFICIAL GALLERY HOME!

ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery has exclusive rights to selling all official original art from the estate of John Alvin. If looking for available art through official channels directly from his estate,

please click here to go to this link!

Such great press for The Art of John Alvin! read our ArtInsights blog about it…

by clicking here!

This is the cover of the awesome book releasing from Titan
This is the cover of the awesome book releasing from Titan

Here is the new rehung gallery section, a tiny bit of the original art we have of John Alvin, along with his red shoes
Here is the new rehung gallery section, a tiny bit of the original art we have of John Alvin, along with his red shoes

John Alvin in ArtInsights with members of the Empire...
John Alvin in ArtInsights with members of the Empire…

We at ArtInsights have been proud to be have known John Alvin and are honored to be connected as the official conduit from artist, through his family, to collector. There is a special interaction inherent to the experience of collecting original art, and we believe when movie lovers can enjoy a piece of art by such a renown artist such as John Alvin from any movie on which he created images, they become part of celebrating the important aspect of film history that campaign art represents. Collecting posters is a wonderful thing, but having a piece of art used in the making of the poster is something those who have begun a collection of such can tell you is a truly joyful experience. John Alvin was a lovely man, humble, warm, and kind, who always had time for his fans and blossoming artists. We miss him and are thrilled The Art of John Alvin will create new fans and increase awareness about him throughout the world.

We hope if you are in the Washington DC area or would like to see a collection of original art by John Alvin you’ll come to our gallery where you can see them in person. Thanks for your interest!

Leslie Combemale
ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery