2013 Writing Contest

Here's some work I did recently for the Philadelphia City Paper, who I always enjoy working with. This time, AD Reseca Peskin contacted me to do the cover as well as an illustration inside the issue for their annual Writing Contest issue. The winning fiction story, which you can read here, is about a woman who works as a casino card dealer. When her child dies, she and her husband take a trip to New Orleans to help get their mind off of their loss.
Reseca had the idea for the cover of a black voodoo pin, which is used to relieve pain, pushed through the suicide king playing card. As for the illustration inside the issue, she had the idea of an airplane made out of playing cards.
When I began sketching, I went through several variations just to push the ideas.

Cover sketches

Plane sketches

We wound up combining the normal king face and my more gruesome skull king into one and going with the plane covered in the elements from the card rather than made out of cards.
I had a great time working on both pieces in all of their great detail.

Final

Final

Thanks again to Reseca for a great gig!

--CKL--

The Battle of Hogwarts

Here's the poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and I think it might be my favorite of this poster series thus far. Or at least tied with Chamber.
Wonderfully directed by David Yates, this movie is such a satisfying conclusion to the franchise. It's swift and doesn't waste a second away from the story. Although that ends up leaving out some key parts from the book. its a solid, emotional, and impressive film as well as a great bookend to the films.
So when it came to the poster, I decided to pare down and concentrate solely on the battle between Harry and Voldemort in the Hogwarts courtyard.

Detail - Voldemort 

Hogwarts  has been beautifully captured in the films since day one (and I loved depicting it before on Prisoner) so I really wanted it dominate the image on top. I feel like it really drives home the point that Hogwarts is Harry's true home and it is under attack. Simple as that.

And with this one, I've got seven out of the eight posters done. Now time to go back to the very beginning with Sorcerer's Stone. I originally started Sorcerer's after Chamber, but was having trouble with what direction to take it. So I shelved it. That way, I could tackle the other movies that I simply enjoy more and get a more definite idea of what I was doing with these posters. Anyway, look for it soon!

--CKL--

P.S. Here's one of my favorite songs from the film score by Alexandre Desplat.

I've Just Had An Apostrophe

Hook is my favorite (non-Star Wars) movie, as has already been documented. That being said, when Joe from the Bottleneck Gallery asked me to participate in their next group show, I Love You Man, an ode to bromance, I thought of Hook and Smee right away.



I just adore every frame of this movie and this scene between Hook and Smee is a standout favorite. There's a great rapport between veteran actors Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins and they are clearly having fun with their characters. From Hook's childish narcissism to Smee's idiot savant idea, they're an oddly perfect match for one another.

Sketches

So to show their bromance, I picked the specific moment where Smee is using his earwax to tweak Hook's mustache. Such a moment could only happen between true brosephs.

The show is running at the Bottleneck Gallery at 60 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11249 from Friday May 10th until the 26th.  Given the quality of their past shows, I Love You Man should be filled with great work by some ridiculously talented artists. A portion of the proceeds from the show will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund. Sales online for work from the show begin at noon on Saturday May 11th at http://www.bottleneckgallery.com/collections/i-love-you-man

The piece is available as a 10x18" limited edition giclee print through the Bottleneck Gallery at http://www.bottleneckgallery.com/collections/i-love-you-man/products/cameron-k-lewis-ive-just-had-an-apostrophe. Printed 300 gsm fine art rag.

--CKL--

The Silver Doe

Here's my poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Other than Prisoner of Azkaban, this is probably my favorite of the HP films. Directed by David Yates, the film is essentially the calm before the storm, before the final showdowns at the Battle of Hogwarts. It's surprisingly mature and emotionally rich, while still providing impressive action beats.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione go on the run and try to finish Dumbledore's work in destroying the Horcruxes. Meanwhile, Voldemort grows stronger and gains power and influence across the wizarding world.

Detail - Patronus

Front and center is the silver doe patronus that leads Harry to the sword of Gryffindor underneath the ice. The patronus makes for a great image and is pretty beautiful considering who sent the doe to help Harry.

As always, the piece is up at my Society6 Store at http://society6.com/cameronklewis/Harry-Potter--the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-1_Print It's available as a print, stretched canvas print, stationery cards, as well as cases and skins for your iPhone, iPad, or laptop!

With this poster, I'm 3/4 of the way done with six out of the eight films. Next up is the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which I'm tremendously excited about, before I go back and knock out Sorcerer's Stone.

--CKL--

The Cave

Here's my poster for film six of the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! The sixth book is probably my favorite of the series and I feel the film, directed by David Yates, does an admirable job adapting it. Naturally, a lot has to be left by the wayside in order to make it a digestible film. While there are parts of the book that are sadly missing and changed, I think that the streamlining of the plot to focus primarily on Harry was for the most part very smart.
At the top of the poster, we see the cave where Harry and Dumbledore go to seek out a Horcrux that contains a part of Voldemort's soul. Swarming them from both sides are the Inferi, which are dead bodies that have been reanimated by a dark wizard to do their bidding.

Detail - Inferi

The piece is available at my Society6 store as a print as well as other products like iPhone cases and laptop skins. Check it out at http://society6.com/cameronklewis/Harry-Potter--the-Half-Blood-Prince_Print

Well that's five down and three to go on this series! I'm very excited to do both posters for the two Deathly Hallows films. Or I at least feel that way based on my sketches. We'll see if I feel differently once it comes time to do the finished versions.

 --CKL--

Beyond the Veil

Halfway done! This is the fourth entry in my series of posters for the Harry Potter films and it's for the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Directed by David Yates, who went on to direct the rest of the films in the series, this film is the beginning of the build toward the battle for the wizarding world. Voldemort is back and once again building his army of followers.
For the scene at the top of this poster, I wanted to feature the spectacularly staged duel between Voldemort and the only wizard that rivals him, Dumbledore.




This also gave me an excuse to show the magma-esque "priori incantatem" - the phenomenon that happens when spells meet in duels in the HP universe.

Detail - Voldemort

Looming over Voldemort and Dumbledore is the mysterious veil from the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries. I felt this would be a foreboding presence in the image since it is where Harry loses the closest thing he has to family in the climax.
Once again, this piece is available up at my Society6 Store as prints and various other products. Please check it out (as well as the other HP posters) at http://society6.com/cameronklewis/Harry-Potter--the-Order-of-the-Phoenix_Print

That's four down and four to go. Next up is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

--CKL--

Flesh, Blood, and Bone

Another Harry Potter poster! This time it's for the fourth film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire directed by Mike Newell.
Because this is the film that marks the first real appearance of Lord Voldemort (played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) I wanted the scene at the top of the poster to be where he returns - the Little Hangleton graveyard. In the upper right corner of the poster, you can the Riddle House overlooking the graveyard.
In the center stands the Triwizard Cup that transports Harry to the graveyard at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. The cup sits at the base of the very sinister "angel of death" tombstone on the Riddle grave and is flanked by Voldemort's Death Eaters - thankfully, the later films would redesign the Death Eaters' costumes to be much less reminiscent of a certain evil organization. I'm fairly certain that the "Death Eaters" name alone already sells that they're bad.

Death Eaters - Detail

Anyway, this piece is now on sale at my Society6 Store as a print, stretched canvas print, stationery cards, as wells as cases and skins for your iPhone, iPad, or laptop!
Check it out at http://society6.com/cameronklewis/Harry-Potter--the-Goblet-of-Fire_Print

I've also made laptop and iPad skins available for both Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban.
Well that's 3 films down, 5 to go. Next up is the fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which will be out in one week!

--CKL--