11.09.2010

Angles in the outfield...

Im actually kind of proud of that title. So, time for something a bit different. Last week I was asked by Wes at the LATimes to do a large piece for the envelope section about the movie Inception. Its been about a year of working with the LATimes and Wes throws a lot of assignments my way, so I set out to really knock this out of the park. Basically, they were running a quiz about the movie and my job was to do my best capturing the spirit of the film. Daunting. After lots of roughs I set upon a very ambitios task. So many of the films aspects seemed inspired by, and reminded me of amazing artist MC Escher. Escher had an wonderful way of showing the sureal, in a way that is believable - I decided to do my research on his work, and on optical illusions. images that show a reality that could never really exist.
Inspired by this image and others I sent Wes a load of roughs and really tried to sell my favourite idea - Using this image as a template I set out to re-create this world of weird angles and numerious realities but infuse it with elements from inception - eg. water rushing in windows, mountaintops, a van going over the edge, explosions, a cafe like enviroment, a safe, an elevator, and lots of people fighting, or, just hanging out.Wes went for it. Shit. I had bitten off more than i could chew, as it was due in 3 days, along with a smaller spot image. I buried my head and started planning, drawing and painting. Days came and went, but i didnt leave my desk (except maybe to get coffee)
- i have more process pictures but they wont load for some reason :(
anyway, i tried to draw it out so it could be viewed from multiple angles - heres twoThere was also a spot - which is a little nod at Leo's totem in the film, with a mix of the surreal i was talking about earlier.finally, I submitted a LOT of roughs for this, heres one i was sad didnt make the final cut:Thanks Wes! This was a great project!! Its in todays paper - go pick it up if you can!!
thanks for reading :)

12 comments:

BTillustration said...

Very cool!

Mitch Bunt said...

Pete, this absolutely rules!

Evan Hughes said...

This is so awesome! I love your work.

Daniel Fishel said...

Knocked it out of the park Pete!

pete ryan said...

Thanks so much guys! Evan, love that Sufjan portrait you did!

Daniel Hertzberg said...

What a radically different piece than what you're used to. Some of your best work comes when you break out of your comfort zone. What an awesomely complex piece! And yet, it still feels very conceptual. Congrats on this big-ass achievement!

pete ryan said...

I agree Dan, it becomes all too easy for me to "plug in the formula" (see the last 2 or 3 illos posted before this one) - especially when i'm really busy. its nice to regroup and push for something new. Thanks

Chris Whetzel said...

Pete. Whoa. This is decidedly awesome. The dude standing on the wall in the middle is killer; his cast shadow really adds to the 243,987 dimensions you have going on here. I hope to see you getting more complex commissions like this!

mark smith said...

Very brave image and it paid off in spades! Looks great!

leslie said...

absolutely amazing Pete .... really really good!

JuanCarlos said...

WOW NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!
was this a Dream Assignment? Or...
Just A Dream....

http://inception.davepedu.com/

o_o

Alex Nabaum said...

Perfect feel for that film