Jason Edmiston’s ‘The Hateful Eight’

 

 

There is art that is better than the subject it is commenting on. There is also art that does not achieve the heights its subject deserves. Canadian artist Jason Edmiston specializes in the former. With each portrait he reminds you of the things you love, specifically, about Dracula, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Joker. In his hands, The Iron Giant can make you weep again. He can make your heart ache and face smile. Through Edmiston, Jason Voorhies once again becomes the character you love to fear.

Mondo brought Edmiston on board to create a limited edition screenprint for Quentin Tarantino‘s 2015 film ‘The Hateful Eight.’ Tarantino takes the western genre and heightens it and Edmiston follows Tarantino’s lead, crafting a poster that feels of a different era, but one that could not exist at any other point than right now.

It’s an illustration that captures more than actor likenesses and mood, which it does, but also shows an artist pushing himself, his craft, and the very medium of printmaking. The print itself began as a 24″ x 36″ pencil drawing before Edmiston created a black and white acrylic painting to use as the line work to be colored digitally, as Edmiston explains —

“Stylistically, Italian western posters of the 60s and 70s influenced my approach since this production shares many of those films’ typical characters and plot cues. I also wanted to maintain as much of my painted style as possible within the limitations of screen printing. I maximized the three-dimensional quality by purposefully layering my background, middle-ground and foreground elements to tell a story. Starting with a full value, black and white traditional painting, I then finalized it digitally. Comprised of 10 layers, created one at a time, the completed work combines a mix of opaque and transparent inks to emulate a full color watercolor painting. The entire process from concept to final poster took nearly 6 weeks. It was a labor of love and perhaps my proudest accomplishment to date.”

 

‘The Hateful Eight‘ is a 24″ x 36″ 10 color screenprint

available in the Mondo shop as a timed edition through Sunday April 24th