Star Wars Artist Series: John Alvin
October 14, 2004

From Celluloid to Canvas

As a preeminent designer and illustrator of cinema art and one-sheets, artist John Alvin has created some of the world's most widely recognizable movie art including the collectible Star Wars Tenth Anniversary poster as well as posters for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, The Lion King, Blazing Saddles, and many, many more.
Alvin has also produced many special works for the Star Wars saga; hisStar Wars Concert and Star Wars Tenth Anniversary poster are among the most collectible Star Wars art in the market today. Additionally, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. exhibited Alvin's The Phantom of the Paradise as one of the best posters of the 20th Century. Recently, Alvin was commissioned by Twentieth Century Fox to create three new paintings for the international video re-release of the Star Wars Trilogy.

As a youth, Alvin was almost as fascinated with the previews of coming attractions as he was with the movies themselves. He couldn't wait for the Sunday paper to arrive to see what movies were playing.

"From the time I was 12, I guided myself toward the entertainment industry, at times unknowingly." Alvin reveals, "The closest I could get to the movies without being an actor, author or cinematographer, was to draw 'terrific art' about them."

Alvin acquired a full array of artist's skills and techniques as a student of the distinguished Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. After college, Alvin found himself working for the prestigious Hanna-Barbera animation studio.

"In my first years out of art school, freelance work was irregular and as my wife Andrea and I were beginning our life together, Hanna-Barbera offered me a chance to bring home a weekly paycheck," Alvin recalls. "Andrea was then a professional animator and for a short while, we both worked there. I designed and drew layouts that set up the scenes for animators."

In 1974, after a year working with Hanna-Barbera, and doing freelance work on the side, Alvin got his chance to put his love of film and his artist training to work by creating the campaign art for Mel Brooks' comedic Western Blazing Saddles.

"It turned out that Mr. Brooks was unhappy with all the advertising materials to date and this proved to provide the outside chance for some one new (me) to give it a try," Alvin says. "He loved what I painted and that started a very interesting and rewarding career for me."

When Alvin is hired to create a one-of-a-kind poster for a film he will sometimes get to see a rough cut of the feature.

"This is the most ideal because it gives me a very good idea of what the audience will soon experience," Alvin says. "On certain occasions, I've been given only a script. In almost all instances, I work from still photos from the production and, if they are available, special unit photography. Concept art tends to be exactly that and not necessarily completely accurate as to what's on the screen."

An Extra-Terrestrial Project

When Alvin was creating the memorable poster for E.T. he discovered that he had to show as little "spoiler" material as possible, but still convey the adventure and excitement the movie had to offer.
"E.T. is a good example of a most challenging assignment," Alvin explains. "I could not show the main character as he was, early on, a secret. The cast was wonderful but at that time, there were no big names and famous faces to show. The poster had to be symbolic and still true to the story and interesting enough to get people to want to see the film."

This most challenging assignment turned out to be one of Alvin's most rewarding projects, earning him the Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards' grand prize, and it was the only movie poster ever to be honored with the Saturn Award from The Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films.

Aside from creative challenges with creating film posters, Alvin found his biggest obstacle to be time itself.

"Coming up with a concept that is appropriate to the film isn't easy," Alvin interjects. "Resistance from those with a less creative view of the task ahead and politics get in the way. I try to overcome these and any other unforeseen obstacles by persevering with why I'm there in the first place: to create imagery. In the face of resistance, this is sometimes the most difficult thing to commit to and accomplish. Also, over the years, I have developed an unfailing belief in myself and my skills. Now, with greater experience, I have finally learned to trust my instincts and it is paying off in spades."

For over 30 years, Alvin has created award-winning posters for a number of films including several animated features from Disney Studios such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Many memorable science fiction and fantasy films have also been represented by Alvin's work including Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dark Man, Arachnophobia, Cocoon, The Lost Boys, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Willow, Blade Runner and Legend.

Alvin's art has such a strong identity with the films they promoted that they are still used to advertise the films' re-releases, video covers and other special uses.

"I feel that the most rewarding posters are the ones that keep showing up time after time on video and DVD packaging and in ads many years after I created the artwork," Alvin confesses. "I have no control over such displays and it's very gratifying to see that people still want to relate my image with a particular film. Blazing Saddles is like that: they still use the image nearly thirty years later. The same for E.T., Blade Runner, The Lion King and Victor/Victoria, just to name a few."

Force-sensitive Art

With all the film campaigns Alvin has contributed to with his art, the Star Wars saga is one of his favorite film series to work with, having been a fan of the films since their initial theatrical release 27 years ago.
"Theater audiences were lining up around the block night after night and Darth Vader appeared on the cover of Time magazine," Alvin recalls. "The impact on my life is reflected in the impact on my art and Star Wars has been a key part of my career since then. It still is and will be for a long time."

Alvin's first Star Wars poster featured the two famous droids C-3PO and R2-D2 as musicians. "The Star Wars Concert poster has become very rare and quite collectable," Alvin says.

Another very collectible and fan-treasured poster was a wide banner-like poster celebrating the 10th anniversary of Star Wars, made available in 1987.

"Using the tagline 'The first ten years' on my Tenth Anniversary Star Wars poster was my idea. It seemed more uplifting and promising to commemorate the first ten as though there would be no future limit and, so far there hasn't been. In the poster, I also wanted to reflect the broad expanse of the widescreen cinematic vision we all saw in a theater," Alvin adds. "As most posters are vertical, I thought the anniversary piece should remind us of the movie experience and hence, the horizontal format. I wanted fans to be carried along again as Luke is compelled by great forces to recognize and embrace his destiny. We see what he sees as though he is saluting the very saga we see displayed within the larger-than-life title."

Alvin has also taken his appreciation of Star Wars into his personal work by developing a series of paintings called "The Force of Influence" wherein each painting depicts a critical relationship between two or more characters.

In "A Destiny Unfolds" Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi looms over a young Luke Skywalker.

"Obi-Wan is the means by which Luke is drawn toward his own destiny and as the Jedi Knight's tale comes to a physical end, he must point 'the new hope' in the right direction if there is ever to be peace in the galaxy," Alvin explains. "He profoundly influences Luke by what he says to him and when he says it. I wanted to show respect for the great character of Obi-Wan and at the same time, pay homage to Sir Alec Guinness who so brilliantly portrayed him.

"Kenobi's presence is grand, full of wisdom and larger than life," Alvin continues. "He dominates the scene and yet he enfolds and cradles the innocent farm boy Luke -- for all intents and purposes, a lost youth with no direction or goal. Yoda's magnificent and enduring influence on Obi-Wan is gently suggested by the ghosted image of the Jedi Master in the sky. I wanted to set a mood of somber purpose and yet one of great affection and regard. Of all my work, this is one of my favorites."

In another poster in Alvin's "The Force of Influence" series -- "Like Father, Like Son" -- the Fett family is the subject of honor.

"I thought that there are few more profound relationships than that of father and son in life and this is especially true of the Star War saga," Alvin explains. "Like any long time fan, I was captivated by Boba Fett and I thought it interesting to pose him at rest and full of potential violence. I like to think that the fire behind him depicts the gruesome end of yet another bounty. Look at the tip of his flame thrower. It's very hot as though he was making good use of it and he has now turned to us and we should be fearful.

"Promoting our fear is the lethal legacy Boba Fett brings with his considerable skills, and this heritage is shown in the proactive and very dangerous posture of his father, the legendary Jango Fett," Alvin continues. "It's as though Boba wants us to know that he is the logical extension of his father and everything we fear about him, we do so with good reason. I wanted to portray the Fett lineage to reflect of the powerful hold these characters have had on all of us from the instant George Lucas put them on screen."

In addition to his Star Wars series, Alvin has also created specialty pieces for the Star Wars Fan Club including the poster art for Star Wars Celebration I.

Alvin confesses that there are still plenty of Star Wars characters he'd like to depict in his artwork, including Queen Amidala and her daughter Princess Leia Organa, as well as many of the Jedi Knights.

"I think all of the principal Jedi Knights are very interesting as are their inter relationships," Alvin says. "I would love to portray Jabba the Hutt and Han Solo with Chewbacca. They worked for Jabba, apparently just before we met them in Episode IV. The characters I would love to portray the most, however, are those most familiar to us as they will mature in Episode III -- Anakin/Darth Vader and (again) Obi-Wan Kenobi and the conflict between them."

When Alvin sits down to begin a new Star Wars project, he finds that his Muse can be accessed easily by taking a brief walk down memory lane.

"When working on any image relative to the Star Wars saga, all I have to remember is how I felt when I first saw the Rebel Blockade Runner overtaken by the Imperial Star Destroyer in the opening of Episode IV," Alvin explains. "From that moment on, I was forever a part of the Star Wars universe. Everyone who has experienced the Saga has some anchor point of attachment to the story and they are all as fine and exhilarating to them as that opening sequence is to me. What I must add to that feeling whenever I'm beginning some new Star Wars art is whatever it takes to be absolutely true to the texture of the story and the enduring nature of the characters that George Lucas has created for us to enjoy. I believe the story is character-driven and that the mythology inherent in such an epic is the predominant feature that binds the story together and must be considered creatively. The hardware, the aliens, the locations all act in support of the core storyline that introduces us to the Skywalker lineage and the destiny of its members."