It was pointed out to me that I got the dates wrong for the Florida Film Festival. The festival actually ran from April 10 to 19, 2026. When I was throwing together the comp, I just lifted type from previous posters to get the impression of what the final poster might look like.
From several Airbnb’s and hotels in Germany I made revisions to the Florida Film Festival poster. First the soldier from my first pass of the poster had to be replaced because America is a country which embraces peace rather than war.
Since racial diversity was called for, I added a Chinese man, and an Indian woman. I didn’t know how many races to add, so I tested the water and waited to see if more was needed. Many of the distant audience was still just blocked in without detail. The festival asked to add details that are unique to the Enzian Theater. I sketched inside the Enzian when renovations were being done, so I was familiar with the look of the interior. I have never sketched the theater looking back from the stage. I searched Google images to see what the back wall of the theater looks like. I held off on polishing the painting to a final look since I was certain that more changes were to come. Working digitally is ideal for changes. Each character in the audience was drawn and painted on their own layer. If a character had to be removed, I could do that with the touch of a button.
For the rest of my trip through Europe, I heard nothing about the need for more Florida Film Festival poster changes. My assumption is that another concept was approved for the festival poster and promotional materials. The concept I was working on was a mine field of possible problems with hundreds of possible revisions and refinements. The poster concept I had been assigned must have been been rejected.
My attention shifted back to a full time dedication of documenting a time in 1945 when America defeated fascism at the end of WWII.