A month or so ago I was contacted by a London film company who are try to get funding for a film they are making. The film is about two boys growing up in the 1980's, who become obsessed with making thier own movies. For a small fee they have asked a selection of illustrators to illustrate along the themes of the film; the 1980s, Rambo, childhood, video games, etc . These illustrations will go up on thier website and help them promote the film.
Things started out on the wrong foot for me as their next email ended up in my spam directory on the BT sever and never got to my inbox. ( I have now switched spam gaurd off) By the time I found it there was one day left until the deadline, and I decided to quickly modify an older illustration to fit the 80s theme.
The film is all about an 80s childhood, but in truth I didn't have an 80s childhood but an 80s adolesence. In my rush I presumed that it was a relatively open brief. So drew the guy above. Anyone who was a teenager around 1985 will remember Casuals; wedge haircuts, Fila tracksuits, Kickers, and jumbo Lois cords. A relatively forgotten British youth cult.
A couple of days later I got an email back from the film guys saying that my illustration didn't fit the brief, and asking me if I'd like to redo it. I'm really hoping that I can find time this week, I've been busy with editorial jobs.
This is my final illustration for the Son Of Rambo project. For some reason my name isn't up on the title page, but you can see my image if you flick through from the start. I was trying for a more interesting composition with the boy close up and the viewer looking down slightly from above. The film is set in the 1980s and I hope I managed to get the feel across of one of those long hot school holidays - where you stay inside watching TV rather than going out in the sun. I'm old enough not to look back nostalgically on the 1980s really - it was a dreadful time to be honest.
