The Best Directors - Tarantino, Spielberg & Burton (Original Pen & Ink Illustrations by J-VO)

Who doesn't love Quinten Tarantino? Well... maybe a lot of people, BUT — for every person who finds him distasteful, there is someone who finds him to be a BRILLIANT creative director of the silver screen. This particular series of illustrations were really important to me - the challenge was to pick three people who were influential to you and through a variety of additional "props" so to say, you would be able to identify who this person was.

I have always been a big movie person - and by this point had a set top three favorites of all time - ever - ....and they were:

1. Quentin Tarantino
2. Tim Burton
3. Stephen Spielberg
   (The links above will take you to their pages on IMDB.com and give you an idea of all the movies they have done, their backstory, etc. - if you are interested)

Some of my favorite Quentin movies have really stuck with me - for both visual and conceptual reasons. His movies are bold, gritty, unforgiving and in-your-face loud - but they are visually stunning and extremely captivating - from the cinematography and beautifully composed scenes to the insane thrill-ride he takes you on - these moves are just - amazing and I highly recommend you see the following (if you haven't - it's ok, but you seriously owe it to yourself to see at least one)

1. Pulp Fiction - From the easter eggs to the freakin' crazy story line, vulgar obscenities, and beautiful cinematography - this is my all time favorite - its crazy, but its also just crazy good - not to mention the all star casting - Uma, John, Samuel - so good.

2. Kill Bill VOL 1,2 &3 - Yes they are all good, yes you should absolutely watch them all, and yes you should watch them in order :)

3. DeathRace - Its grungy - its crazy - it feels B-Rate - but I love it!

These three movies influenced the "props" I used in the below illustration:

I have always loved Spielberg - I mean he is the director behind some of the biggest flicks that have ever been shown on the big screen. I mean - E.T., Jurassic Park Series, Back to the Future, Gremlins, Indiana Jones, and more.. we can't barely name a blockbuster from the 80s & 90's that Spielberg didn't help to produce. His movies still live with me from my childhood and this illustration was a lot of fun to draw, these are the elements I used to help identify him in his portrait:

1. He's riding a dinosaur to represent Jurassic Park
2. A Moon to represent E.T.
3. He's dressed in full Indiana Jones' get-up to represent no one else but Sir Indiana himself.

Burton is another one - he is definitely my most favorite of all time - even though I have him listed here last. But I have always been the kind of girl that likes to leave the best to last :D From the time I was a little girl, I fell in love with the man who made Edward Scissor Hands, BeetleJuice, Nightmare Before Christmas (I couldn't wait for that movie to come out!), Batman, Corpse Bride, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. His drawing and personal style as an illustrator is so freaking good - I definitely attribute a bit of my style to Mr. Burton.

The elements for this portrait were:

1. Jack Skellington costume - on top of the iconic hill in the movie
2. Scissor hands for Mr. Edward
3. Gears - because .. FUN FACT - Burton ALWAYS shows a gear in some way, form, or fashion in each of his movies -it is a bit of a signature for him and it has hidden meaning. To him gears mean progress and you will see these little glimpses of this message through and within every film he does.

So there you have it, three of my favorite Directors/Producers ever and my personal stylistic take on a charicature rendering of them. I hope you like them and will let me know what you think below! If your feelin' froggy and may want to see more of my work, please follow me :)

@j-jvo