I just came across this picture that really jogged my memory. In 1987 John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness was the first new release movie poster that I did the finished art for. They'd just posted it up around Hollywood Boulevard and I couldn't resist the opportunity for a picture in front of it.
On Hollywood Blvd in front of the billboard for Prince of Darkness
In 1987 most of the key art was still either illustration or composite photography using dye transfer and then airbrush retouched. I had the first computer based retouching systems for movie posters in the US and I used the computers rudimentary features to composite the elements, colorize and then distort the image. My favourite is the cockroach stripped into the mouth,
Prince of Darkness One Sheet
