The Comedy of Errors Final Poster

Posted on by Thor

The final version of the Comedy of Errors poster for the Orlando Shakes mostly addressed subtle changes to the upper half of the poster. A catch phrase was added which I incorporated in a flowing scroll below the new title treatment.

The woman with the gossamer wings was moved down into the parade crowd. She replaced one of the twin brothers and I added a few more costumed revelers in the parade. In the night sky I added warm glowing embers that could be interpreted as stars of the flaming embers of an exploded firework falling to the ground.  Many of my poster images incorporate some glowing elements. Once some magical light effect is in the scene I start to feel satisfied.

Most of the parade remained unchanged, I just kept working on subtle details while keeping some spontaneity. There was some talk of adding the waterfront at the end of the street, but that would have pulled visual interest away from the parade. I kept the grey city buildings at the end of the street to cut off any further depth to the scene.

The new type treatment was very similar to the type I was seeing on many Mardi Gras posters and flyers. I like how William Shakespear’s name fit below errors with the E and S book ending his name. This was a fun poster to pull together. I didn’t have a chance to sketch the production of the show. I would have liked to see this marriage of Shakespeare’s play and Mardi Gras. It must have been a fun show that would have been magnificent to sketch.

This production was in 2023. It feels like I worked on the poster yesterday. I have been updating the portfolio on this website, so I am going through all the past work I have done to populate different categories on the website. I have been adding artwork to the Theater Posters category and discovered I never wrote about these posters at the time. When I find that I didn’t discuss the process at the time, I am going in and doing it today so I can add the art to the portfolio.

The Comedy of Errors Second Pass

Posted on by Thor

For my second pass at the Comedy of Errors poster I focused on a Mardi Gras parade. I wanted a brass band and a wash board. I had been to a wedding in New Orleans and my most vivid memory caught in a sketch was of a brass band playing on the street. I started researching opulent Mardi Gras masks and costumes. I also wanted it to feel like the parade was proceeding down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. I also started having fun with the title treatment. I drew this swirly title by hand and I rather like it. I don’t know why it was ultimately abandoned. If I were to use in in the final poster I would need to clean up the edges by erasing and redrawing edges of the letters to make everything slippery smooth.

For some reason I fell in love with a woman with light blue purple chiffon wings. I raised her up above the crowd as if she was the figurehead on a sailing ship or was raised on a float. I kept the tow male twins from my first pass at the poster and just hid them in the crowd. The guy holding the bright yellow umbrella also crossed over from the first pass of the poster. I added a golden Mardi Gras Mask just because it was so fun to paint. There was a desire to make the title bigger, so the mask had to go.

Burbon street looked fine but it was rather dark in this rendition of the poster. I wanted more of an excuse to play with point lighting and neon glows. The upper hapf of the poster was dark to allow the title to be read but there must be a way to add more drama to that night sky.

In general everyone liked the parade but the woman didn’t need to be the center of attention. There was a desire for the title to feel even more like what is seen on Mardi Gras posters and promotional material. I started researching type that had that Mardi Gras flair. In general the lower 1/3 of the poster was working just fine. I needed to play more with the upper 2/3 of the poster image.

My favorite touch was the trumpet leading the eye into the deep space. That I would have to save.