Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry – Analog Artist Digital World

This was my first poster concept for Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry by Rachel Lynett which ran at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. After reading the script I was fixated on the brownstones in what was an all black utopia after a civil war in the future. It is a play about race and gender and trying to find happiness only among others who are truly black.

I added rainbow colors to the steps to add color and lighten the mood of the poster. It was felt that the door took up too much of the composition. It takes up about half of the image. I also felt that it had a bit of Sesamie Street feel as apposed to an urban feel. For a start I just had to reduce the size of the door so it didn’t dominate.

With the film wrapping up, I am realizing there are many images I have not shared here yet. I wanted to back up some files into the portfolio section but this first image could not be found on this site. I will share the evolution process for this poster over the net few days. This is the final version of the poster. The director of the play sent me some magnificent reference material that sent me in this direction.

In wandering Times Square when I lived in NYC, I used to sketch the intricate patterns created by layers of theater posters being ripped off of the billboards. I can’t imagine any other artist has ever paused in Times Square and sketched these patterns while the crowds rushed past. I used that sort of abstract layering of posers for the background for the final poster. I felt it gave the urban vine I needed.

I did get to sketch the play itself and I am glad I did because I fell in love with the cast and the message of perseverance they all shared. As an artist I identified with their strength of spirit. Seeing the play inspired me to keep pressing forward.