As the year is winding down, I always seem to start reflecting on what the past years have been like and start thinking about what the year ahead will bring, Stumbled across this the other day and thought I would share a quick story about my time with Deadpool….. So leading up to the release of the second Deadpool film, I received a call out of the blue by a friend I had met years earlier at SDCC. We tried to collaborate on some promotional artwork for the first Deadpool feature but as it was schedules did not allow us to work together and I was beyond disappointed that I would be able to contribute to a new feature film, let alone one with as much buzz and anticipation as Deadpool. Fast forward a few years and the phone rang again and I could not believe it was happening. I was finally going to paint that man in red that I missed out on that first time.
I had visions of epic Deadpool shenanigans, action, violence, humor, a movie poster for the masses that I would finally get to showcase what I had been working towards for nearly two decades. As we got done catching up on the phone we jumped right into it. The first thing that he needed to clarify was how good was I at painting landscapes. I envisioned, an epic sprawling landscape with explosions, helicopter crashes, something that would be the backdrop for Deadpool and all the villains and heroes I could fit into a one sheet poster. I was a bit confused when we dove a bit deeper and Matt asked me if I could paint landscapes similar to a Bob Ross style painting. Actually if I could do multiple landscapes in a Bob Ross style. I was baffled at why this conversation was the one we were having. Again, I was building myself up for disappointment…. clearly this was not the Movie poster I had in my head. It would not be in the Theatres, it would not be in magazines, it would not floating around the net as key art for the film…..then I was given the brief of what they had cooking up.
Once I realized I was indeed not painting an action packed superhero movie poster, I had to reset my brain and I actually became even more excited about the project as he explained it in more detail. Well, it wasn’t what I had hoped for but it was far above and beyond anything I could have dreamt up. The kicker was that Ryan Reynolds might not be able to make the shoot due to a scheduling conflict so there was a small chance that I would get the opportunity to gear up and do the scene inside the suit, with Ryan doing the voice over for the trailer in post. Well, unfortunately his schedule cleared up so I stayed in the studio and watched it online for the first time like the rest of the world. I know my pal is off to new adventures in the world of entertainment and creating amazing campaigns, so I just thought I would let the new creatives working on the much anticipated Deadpool / Wolverine flick know that I can start doing push ups and sit ups now if you need anyone to stand it as a superhero! ;). Im sure everyone has seen this award winning marketing campaign but here it is just incase it slipped by your radar all those years ago in the old world. Seriously… the stuff the creative team did for these films was epic, winning all those killer awards with this one. Thanks Matt Motschenbacher and his partners in crime for including me in the world of Deadpool for a brief moment, you guys and gals knocked these trailers out of the park! enjoy…… again.
2018 Grand Clio Winner
2018 Webby Winner
2018 Cannes Lion
( The Rockwell style art at the end of the trailer was actually painted by the iconic movie poster artist Steve Chorney, had the good fortune of meeting him years later and had a laugh about this )
