Phillipshaugen Lodge Poster
2015
2015 kicked off just right with an amazing opportunity to illustrate a custom poster for Øksendal's Phillipshaugen Lodge. This lodge is nestled in the mountains of Norway and honestly looks like something out of a wonderful dream (check it out here: http://www.phillipshaugen.no) It was a genuine pleasure working with Eir Husby to bring together a piece I'm very excited to see in print. Big thanks to Eir and to my wonderful agent, Deborah Wolfe, for helping out so much!
And now for the process breakdown!
Sketches
I developed 3 sketches for the poster based off my conversations with Eir and the brief she provided. The challenge for this piece was showcasing the breathtaking mountains, the lodge, and the skier in a compelling way. I decided to try 2 options with the skier above the lodge and a 3rd option with the skier approaching the lodge from below.
Once Eir selected the composition she felt worked best (Option 1), I refined a few details and overhauled the mountains to make sure they matched what she was looking for.
Once the final sketch was approved, I moved onto painting values and textures using custom pressure sensitive brushes in Photoshop and my trusty Wacom Cintiq. I do this step at full size so I'll know the piece is working before proceeding to color. For me, this black and white stage is always a favorite because it sets the mood for any color exploration. If I can make it work here, chances are it will work in color.
Color for this piece was a genuine pleasure to explore. I came up with 2 options to present to Eir and found what I thought was the perfect font for the piece (Coco FY).
Once the colors were presented, there were a few minor revisions to make to get things looking just right and just like that, we had our finished piece. Here are some detail shots:
I am very pleased with the results and extremely grateful having opportunities like this one. I ended up spending lots of time researching Norway, specifically Øksendal, and I hope to be able to visit some day. Researching for these kinds of projects is its own special reward as it shows me just how amazing the created world is.
Thanks for taking the time to view my work and for the likes, favorites, retweets, etc. I really appreciate it!!