Each time I work on a poster the image evolves. Changes are all part of the artistic process. The first pass at the poser was rather menacing. I decided with this pass to hav Sherlock and Watson sitting in easy chairs contemplating the mystery they had to solve. I gave Sherlock a quizzical look as if he were one step away from solving the crime. Watson on the other hand just looks a bit flummoxed.
I kept the misty forest in the painting of the hound between them. I considered putting them in Sherlock’s apartment but decided they too needed to be seated in the forest. I later changed my idea about the setting. The dog is rather lanky and sinister still. I remembered that picture frames played a role in the stage production, so framing the hound made sense to me.
The feedback I got to this pass was as expected. There wasn’t enough information to let the audience know they were going to see a comedy. I needed to push the expressions more for comedic effect and the hound was still too scary. I needed to push for a little more Scooby doo without getting cartoony. The new creative challenges kept the poster evolving.
Having seen a staging of a similar production, I a say that you will have a blast if you go to see this show. I was laughing out loud as I sketched.