The final version of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater poster for Becoming Othello focused on the actress, Debra Ann Byrd playing the male lead in the Shakespeare play. The poster became all about the bright white tunic against the dark background. I added gothic architecture in the background. Since the play is about the “Black Girl’s Journey”, I felt the need to show the actress as a woman, so an inset was added.
I went with a bolder title treatment which plays off the white tunic. What I like best about the image is how the shadows of the sword and dagger flow over the fabric and stone.
I am finding that the printing done for the posters tends to make the image darker than what I painted. When I paint the images I am looking at a screen which glows. Any printed image will not have that backlight. In the future I need to consider this and paint the image brighter overall. The sword has light blood red against the dark background and then it turns dark against the light tunic. The dagger does the same.
I usually make a creative choice that the character is either light against the dark background or dark against a light background. I made a different creative choice that the tunic would pop as the bright white and everything else would recede int0 the dark.
Becoming Othello ran at the Orlando Shakes from March 13 – 30, 2024.