It's been a loooong time since I've posted anything. Completely changing up your art style for a project will do that. This is the piece where I attempted a different style than I'm used to. It's a bit subtle, but it's a tribute poster for one of my favorite films of all time, Back to the Future. Being a huge fan of Mad Men-type retro advertising, I thought it'd be fun to create my very own magazine ad promoting the town of Hill Valley, circa 1955. I wanted to make it as convincing as possible while still hinting at the influence of Marty's visit to his future home town of the past. I'm not sure that even makes sense, but you kinda get the picture. The Delorean is pretty obvious sign, but there's also one subtle hint that Marty was there. Can anyone guess what it is?
Having collected a bunch of ads from that era, the only way I could really sell the idea was to paint the scene just like they did way back then. Since I'm used to vectors, and pen tools, and pathfinders, it really was a challenge to get this to look the way I wanted. I haven't painted anything like this since high school so I definitely was rusty and it took about 5 times as long than the usual poster takes me. But I'm glad I went through it. Although it was an arduous experience with tons of mistakes, it really became a relaxing process and a new challenge.
When my friends saw this laying on my desk, their initial reaction was "where the heck did you find that?", which was exactly the reaction I was looking for. It was good to try something new and not to rely on all the things that are automatic or predictable. As a great man once said: If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything! I hope you dig it as much as I enjoyed making it!
The poster is limited to 150, signed and numbered, is 24" wide by 18" high, and will be available at the Crazy for Cult show starting July 9th at Gallery1988.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Are you telling me, that my mom, has got the hots for me???
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48 comments:
Love it The other hint is skateboarding? Congrats on another great job.
Geez av. you guessed that in no time at all! Yup, it's the kid on the skateboard. As a fan of skating myself, I really had fun playing up Marty's invention into the piece. I'm glad you like it!
The new style is a revelation! Very nice. Was it still all done digitally?
Would this print be considered a 'giclee'?
The crease is a nice touch. Are you hand-creasing each one yourself? ;)
Ready to buy now!
Absolutely brilliant! Back to the Future is my fave film of all time and this is really well done!
Very impressive. Not only the poster itself, but the knowledge that you normally don't paint anything. Really glad to see someone who pushes themselves into unfamiliar artistic territory now and again. And not only go there, but put the time in to successfully pull it off. Another great piece Eric!
Hi Eric.
This looks GREAT!
Are we able to buy any of your poster, old and new, direct from you?
Well...there's something else to look for on eBay...
Love it, Love it, love it.
I so have to dig out my DVD of the film...
"were sending you back.." "where?"..."Back to the future.."
Keep up the great work.
There is another hint, which is the clock tower: at 10h05 it can't be a coincidence — although through a picture there's no way of knowing if it's stuck there!
Brilliant work, sir! Well done!
how much do you supposed the print will cost?
Great work! Love it. Crazy for Cult sounds like its shaping up to be quite the show!
Nice work, Tanner. Always good to get out of the 'comfort zone'. It usually leads to a growth spurt.
That looks wonderful! So much fun!
Wow--that looks great. Hope I can get one.
Heavy.
Thanks for the kind words everyone! I really do appreciate it cuz I had no idea how this would be received. It's a bit of a departure for me but I'm glad it still works for you.
Sundeep, It's a combination of traditional painting with acrylics and composing in Photoshop. There's also quite a bit of touch-up work that was done digitally too because I'm a very messy painter. The printing is 4-color process on heavyweight, textured paper.
Trevor, yup I'd have to agree that the film is tough to beat!
Aaron, I'm glad you appreciate something that definitely was a challenge for me.
Billybud, Right now all the posters are sold either through galleries or Acme Archives. I will however, be putting up more and more of the old stuff I've done and collected on my own store site sometime in the future. I'll keep you posted.
Joe, Eliot, Mr. Rodacre, Sam, Beth, and DD: Muchas Gracias!!!
Alexandre, YES!! That is another hint I placed in there. I just thought it would be too minute a detail. You are good sir!
Liezl, the print will be around $60.
(paper + printing technique are a bit pricier than silkscreen)
Vince, I miss you big guy! I hope all is well buddy!! Thanks for the compliments!
Munchanka, there's that word again...
You are always pushing it to the next level, Tanner. This is incredible, to be able to illustrate AND design to the tiniest detail, remaining true to the movie and the time. You deserve a burrito.
:)
Aww thank Nic! I'm glad you woke up for a split second to check up on my blog ;) Funny u mention it, but I had 2 burritos this week! Not bad, eh? Ok, you can go back to sleep now.
Tried email for this Q but maybe you prefer here:
Really like that you signed the print "Eric Tan '55". Another nice touch!
Can you give us an idea of what to expect from the print quality of your new Back to the Future print?
ACME sells your other, oftentimes smaller, prints for at least twice (still worth it, in my opinion) what the BttF will sell for at Gallery1988. Is that simply an individual pricing decision that they (or you) made? Or does it mean that the physical quality of the printing for the ACME giclees is better than the printing for the BttF print?
Either way - I'm thrilled to be able to more easily afford an Eric Tan print! I'm getting it no matter what, but I wanted to get an idea of what to expect.
Thanks, appreciate it!
Hey Espiox, Thanks for the compliments! This is actually one of the prints you can get online & delivered & a lot less expensive than the Disney and Pixar prints. I believe at the G1988 website, a few of my older prints are still available.
The nature of the "prints" business is a strange one that I'm still trying to figure out myself. I'm finding that in order to get a lot of the cool, affordable stuff out there that I have to have for my wall, I literally have to research and figure out where & when the prints drop. There are companies like Mondo out there that do supply our prints at really reasonable rates (my Warriors print was $30 US). It does take some effort, and you have to act swiftly, but it is the nature of the industry I guess. Hopefully I'll get to do more of those in the future.
Love it. A real departure from your previous style.
How does somebody get in touch with you if they have projects that they'd like for you to work on?
Keep making awesome prints. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to get one on my wall. Maybe I'll eat a delicious burrito while looking at it.
Very nice! I love how you put the crease in to make it look genuine. I'm really into this retro art style right now, maybe playing Fallout is partly to blame, but I love it!
hey eric, not sure if my post worked yday,but i had a quick question about copyright issues.do you need special permission to sell posters based on existing movies and tv shows or is it ok because there are no official logos or trademarks used?
Thanks so much Linda! I'm glad you noticed the crease. I was definitely looking for ways to make it more believable.
Kevin, Thanks for stopping by! I'll keep cranking out the artwork so hopefully something gets on your wall soon. As far as extra projects go, I've really made efforts not to do so much work outside of my day job, because frankly, I'm always tired. I think it may have to do with over-thinking everything I work on. If I do feel like that extra challenge later on down the road, I'll definitely let you know. Thanks for the inquiry Kevin!
Hi Dave, I'm not quite sure what limits there are and they probably change with each country. I'm pretty sure logos and anything trademarked is a big no-no. Notg quite sure if likenesses of people or characters are ok. If anyone out there knows, I'm curious myself.
Love it, sucks I won't be in LA:(
I own three of your pieces and would love to make this one the 4th.
I am stoked. After missing out on your Lost print I was able to get the Back to the Future for my pop culture wall. Keep up the awesome work!!
Yeah it came and went and two are on ebay already:(
I didn't get one either:(
Looking at some of the pictures from people who picked it up last night, it looks like this turned out really great!
Do you think you will do any more in this style? Or is it too time consuming?
Eric,
Folks at the gallery unfortunately are less than professional. Called them 3 times to check when the prints will go on sale.
They said - don't worry. We have a plenty of prints reserved for online, as that is the only way to get them unless you stop by in-person. We are running behind on putting them up, but you will get an email when they are posted and would not take card to reserve a print.
Fast forward to end of the day. No email. Prints are sold out and now go for 350 and 400 on ebay.
Any chance there will be a second printing? You did an amazing job, and it sucks for everyone who is not in LA.
Thanks!
Stas
Hi Stas, the folks at Gallery1988 have always been very courteous and professional with me.
I received their newsletter email announcing the website URL just prior to the on-sale. Did you sign up for the Gallery1988 newsletter?
Missed it too!
Eric are you sure you wont be selling any of your prints anytime soon? I don't just mean these one's but any of your work?
Add me to the list of people interested to know if you'll re-print. I'd love a copy.
This is just amazing and extremely cool.. One of my favorite artists taking on one of my favorite franchises :)
I think it is very cool that you actually take your time to read and respond to comments!
I just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me to be interested in art.. I wasn't paying much attention to art before I saw your amazing Ratatouille posters.. so thank you for awakening me :)
Unfortunately I did not manage to get a poster so Im settling for a preorder of the bttf blurays :)
Thanks Jesper! I really do enjoy replying to people's reactions and questions about the work, and I thank 'em all for stopping by my little blog at all. It's always flattering for me to be reminded that people from all over follow the projects and can be inspired by what I do.
As for the print being unavailable, I truly am sorry to all those who missed out on the sale. It was a crazy crowd that night and there were longs lines at the register. It seemed like a run of 150 was more than enough to satisfy the in-store purchases as well as the online ones. All my other stuff for 1988 ('cept Lost) were printed in smaller runs and some are still available so I used that as a gauge. It's gotta be a sign that there are so many more people out there who are as rabid a fans as I am for BTTF. Awesome!! I'm not sure if reprints are going to happen at this point because all of the people who got the limited run will scream at me, but I'll keep you posted if there's a fair way to do it. And with future pieces, I may increase the print run so more happy customers can get what they want.
Well mr. tan, I came here to ask if you were going to do a reprint, because I fell into the category of just missed the boat. However, to increase insult to injury, I received pictures from people mocking me that I didn't get a print.
I know artists like Todd Slater, who did Rushmore print are doing a small private reprinting for their own email list. I guess Im hoping you might do the same?
If you're wondering why so many people were interested in your print and how it sold out so fast, yours specifically was promoted heavily on Tumblr by many people like TheDailyWhat, Paul Scheer, as well as myself.
What can we say, we're all big fan of Back to the Future, as well as that Mad Men advertising style.
This hurts more than when I got oversold for the LOST print.
I've been dying to get a piece from you on my wall Mr. Tan and being a huge fan of both Mad Men and BttF, this was a dream come true. Needless to say I was so upset when I missed this.
If theres any way we could see more of this, maybe a smaller size, a color variant, anything we would all be thrilled.
But also I think it would be amazing if some day you did an actual Mad Men print.
Can't wait to see what you do next!
I wasn't one of those lucky enough to score one. That being said, re-printing a 2nd or alternate edition of something that;s supposed to be limited is a slap in the face to anyone who scored one.
Hi Eric. I too missed out and would be really really appreciative if you did manage to do a second run.
You could always remove the crease, OR make it more "weathered."
But I do understand if you can't; but I'd give you one of my toes if you did.
Think about it. A free toe. Think of what you could do with that!
I also missed out on this print, but I agree with Collarinim2, Eric cant do a reprint as it would undermine those who have spent heavily on a limited edition original. We will all just have to try harder next time!
Kepp up the absolutely awesome work Eric!
I really like this! Of course I'm in the same boat as everyone else wishing that there were more than 150 prints available. Obviously I understand the dilemma with reprinting this but if there ever is a way I would love to purchase this piece of art!
Thought I'd drop-in and say that my print was delivered Saturday. It's the first print of yours that I tried for...and was lucky enough to get. Very nice...I'm thrilled to own it.
Thanks to all of those who expressed interest in the print. The support on this piece is really overwhelming to me. Of all the posters I've created so far, it definitely took the longest and I'm glad you guys appreciate it. In the future, I'll be sure to up the run a bit so more folks can throw it up on their wall.
Susan, I'm glad you were able to snag one!
Well I did it and sank $132 to get one.
Arrived today in rainy old London.
Have to say it was worth every penny. If any of you guys have the money and are unsure this is a thing of beauty.
The cardstock is incredible and it's been made to look aged slightly (along with the faux crease.) The Print job is just sublime and I'm so so in love with this.
Moving soon and this will hang up along with my Beastie Boys, Lost, and Warriors prints.
Eric, Do TRON next.
To this day,I still go in the room where I have this print...just to admire it.
Eric, anything in the pipeline from you in the SW/ST Mondo series? Hint...anything...? ;)
Eric,
BTTF is my ALL TIME favorite movie!!!!! I can't get enough of it. I'm even going to an outdoor showing of it at my local art museum this weekend, can't wait. I have only just now come across this poster and I am soooooooo disappointed I didn't see it sooner. I absolutely HAVE to have one. If there is anyway you will print more I would be eternally grateful.
I love this print and have been trying to get one on ebay for a long time. I noticed that someone has 10 available for a really cheap price and figured that something is wrong with that. I'm guessing that this isn't you selling copies of this print on ebay? I thought that I'd let you know (if you didn't already). http://www.ebay.com/itm/BACK-FUTURE-HILL-VALLEY-PRINT-11X17-RARE-ONLY-HERE-SEE-/271011397073?_trksid=p4340.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D15%26pmod%3D261081143921%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D1273189252622299757&_qi=RTM1062687#ht_500wt_1076
Thanks so much for the heads up Katie, no that's definitely not me selling them. It must be someone who was able to scan it and reprint it.
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