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<\/a><\/p>\nLot #318 – ROBOCOP (1987) – Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2019<\/i><\/p>\n
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What are you working on right now? Can you say?<\/b><\/p>\n
I can\u2019t say exactly, because they\u2019re not out yet, but I\u2019ve just done another book cover, a movie poster for a big movie that\u2019s going to be on a streaming platform, and I\u2019ve done a TV show and a couple of smaller movies, one of which is going to be theatrical. I\u2019ve just finished five jobs in four days!<\/p>\n
Would you say you work quickly, then? <\/b><\/p>\n
I do work pretty fast \u2013 I can illustrate a movie poster in a day, for example. But that\u2019s when you know it\u2019s laid out right and everyone\u2019s happy with it. You can just get stuck in without questioning anything. Whereas when you\u2019re starting from scratch, it takes a lot of effort and time to kind of conjure all the bits together and make it look like something that makes sense. That\u2019s the time-consuming part for me, the storytelling part. Then the other part is just the aesthetic of trying to make it look a certain way \u2013 painting it and colouring it and making it look cohesive.<\/p>\n
Lot #107 – GHOSTBUSTERS (1984), GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021) – Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2021<\/i><\/p>\n Tell me about how you started out.<\/b><\/p>\n Well, it\u2019s taken me about 20 years to become an overnight success! I\u2019ve been drawing and painting since school, really, and when I was at college I\u2019d do occasional jobs; anyone I knew who needed illustrations or drawings would usually ask me. Like, the wife of one of my university lecturers was an interior designer and she needed an artist to help do Michelangelo-style stuff on the walls and ceilings of these extravagant houses. So I did that in the summers \u2013 painting cherubs and stuff!<\/p>\n Lot #427 – THE THING (1982) – Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2021<\/i><\/p>\n What sparked your passion for classic movie posters?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been interested in movie posters. From the age of 12, probably even before that, I\u2019d put my name down for certain posters in the video shops and start populating my bedroom with them. Things like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Adventures in Babysitting. But my dad would always say, \u201cpainting movie posters isn\u2019t a proper job,\u201d so I never really thought I could do it until I noticed a signature that was on a few of the posters. It said \u201cDrew\u201d. So I spent a lot of time going to film fairs and collecting posters \u2013 mostly Drew Struzan posters \u2013 and then taking them home and studying them with a magnifying glass as best as I could, because it was the closest thing you can get to the original art.<\/p>\n How exactly did you study them? <\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019d try and figure out what techniques were used to make a certain thing, and why these pieces of paper affected me so much. Why they made me feel so good.<\/p>\n Why did Drew Struzan\u2019s art make you feel so good?<\/b><\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to quantify. It seems to come from a very pure place. It\u2019s not trying to be clever. It\u2019s not trying to condescend to anybody. It\u2019s easy to understand and it\u2019s non-threatening, generally. It\u2019s something that\u2019s accessible at a glance. [Fellow movie poster artist] James Goodrich once said to me, \u201cWhen you look at Drew\u2019s work, it\u2019s like a miracle that it even exists.\u201d And it is. He does definitely have something unique when it comes to his choices.<\/p>\n Lot #418 – STEVEN SPIELBERG – Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2018<\/i><\/p>\n But by the time you were graduating university in the \u201990s, posters like Drew\u2019s weren\u2019t being commissioned anymore. <\/b><\/p>\n Yes, my lecturers at university didn\u2019t like what I was trying to do. Even though it was an illustration course, they were more interested in fine art. Stuff you\u2019d have to read an essay first to understand. Whereas what I always try to do is make something you can instantly figure out. You instantly know who the hero is, who the villain is, if you wanted to see it or not. I\u2019d say to them, \u201cI want to be a movie poster artist,\u201d and they\u2019d say, \u201cNo one does that anymore.\u201d Well, I didn\u2019t care. I still felt like it was something I had to go for, even though it was all Photoshop and everything else now.<\/p>\n Have you ever met Drew?<\/b><\/p>\n I have! After university I went on a trip around the West Coast of America, and I had Drew\u2019s contact details, including his fax number, in an old book one of my art teachers once gave me. So I faxed Drew and asked if my friend and I could meet him while we were in LA, and he wrote back saying \u201cSounds great.\u201d So we used an airport shuttle to get from LA to Pasadena, where he lived \u2013 which was a three-hour journey of stopping at these random people\u2019s houses \u2013 and we knocked on his door and hung out with him for the whole day. It was amazing. He was very complimentary about my portfolio. And we\u2019ve stayed in touch over the years since.<\/p>\n What advice did he give you?<\/b><\/p>\n He said to keep knocking until the door is opened to you, if you believe in this cause. And I kept that with me: \u201cYeah, I\u2019m not going to give up.\u201d So when the Internet started becoming a thing, I\u2019d post stuff on Indiana Jones fan sites and get a nice response; at this point I wasn\u2019t even working digitally, it was all hand-painted stuff. And Penguin Books saw my artwork and got in touch. GQ magazine also got in touch and requested some illustrations. And before I knew it, things started happening.<\/p>\n Lot #386 – STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) – Signed and Hand-Annotated Official Sideshow Collectable Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2018<\/i><\/p>\n Has Drew given you much feedback on your career thus far?<\/b><\/p>\n Drew\u2019s not said it to me, because he won\u2019t, but I think he might secretly be proud that he\u2019s influenced me, and I\u2019ve actually gone on to do something like this and keep what he did alive. I never wanted to see this style of illustration disappear. I wanted it to stay alive somehow. It became a little mission of mine to keep it in the public eye. And now there\u2019s been quite an explosion. Everyone seems to want to be a movie poster artist now!<\/p>\n Lot #439 – THE HEROES (2020) – Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2020<\/i><\/p>\n Has the Mondo-driven phenomenon of alternative posters helped you at all?<\/b><\/p>\n The alternative movie poster is cool because it gives different perspectives on a particular movie. But I realised I wanted to do official art, and work with people on things before they come out. The exciting part for me is working with the studios or agencies to produce the initial art for new movies. Because that was always the thing that excited me growing up. Although, I still do the occasional alternative movie poster. For example, I just did Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for Arrow. Revisiting old movies like that is a joy.<\/p>\n Is it fair to call you the new Drew Struzan?<\/b><\/p>\n Some people say I\u2019m the heir apparent to Drew Struzan. I don\u2019t believe that I am, but the nice thing is, people see there is part of what I\u2019m doing that is a tribute to what came before. Yet if you put my work next to Drew\u2019s there\u2019s no comparison, really. There\u2019s an essence. That\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do.<\/p>\n Lot #110 – THE GODFATHER (1972) – Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2022<\/i><\/p>\n How does it feel to see your artwork in the Propstore auction alongside such classic images as Roger Kastel\u2019s Empire Strikes Back poster?<\/b><\/p>\n It\u2019s quite incredible. The one that really got me was the art of Tom Chantrell, because he did one of my favourite Star Wars posters of all time, and not long ago I learned that he\u2019s from Manchester as well! It\u2019s great to be a fellow Mancunian movie poster artist in an international auction. I get goosebumpy thinking about that. A lot of my stuff in the auction is from my personal studio proof collection, so they\u2019re not actually posters that have been in cinema lobbies or anything, they\u2019re just part of my work regime. When I create something, it\u2019s done digitally, but I\u2019ll print it out and I\u2019ll look at it physically, because I want to see something fairly big, and sometimes I\u2019ll make notes on it. It\u2019s just for my eyes, usually. So the fact that they\u2019re in this auction is a unique thing. It\u2019s a great honour!<\/p>\n What is your personal favourite item among your collection in this auction? <\/b><\/p>\n There\u2019s a couple of original sketches that I did for a charity. It was a box set of cards, and it was Star Wars-related, so I did Alec Guinness and the Ewan McGregor Obi-Wan from the new show. That\u2019s something I\u2019m trying to go back to a little bit: doing more physical rather than digital work.<\/p>\n Lot #416 – OBI-WAN KENOBI (T.V. SERIES, 2022) – Two Original Sketches with Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Print by Paul Shipper, 2022<\/i><\/p>\n There\u2019s quite a few pieces in the auction from your Empire magazine work, too. <\/b><\/p>\n Yes, the Empire work that I\u2019ve done is as important to me as the movie posters, really. The same amount of effort and detail goes into them. I was really happy with how the \u201cGreatest Movie Heroes\u201d cover came out. It\u2019s such a collection of heroes!<\/p>\n A few years ago, you became a contributing editor at Empire magazine. How did that happen? <\/b><\/p>\n I started reading Empire as soon as it came out, in 1989. And I\u2019ve collected nearly every issue. I\u2019ve got stacks of them, which I\u2019ve carried around the world with me! When I moved to New Zealand, where I lived for six years, I took all my Empire collection with me. It cost me a fortune! I used to think one day, maybe I could do a cover for Empire. Then I just happened to bump into the guys at a Star Wars Celebration in London, and within a year there was a potential project they wanted to do. Then to be made a contributing editor\u2026 It\u2019s like winning an award!<\/p>\n Finally, looking back on all your work to date, what are you most proud of? <\/b><\/p>\n Oh there have been a few moments where I\u2019ve pinched myself. Such as getting to work on franchises I grew up with, like the new Star Wars movies. To do movie posters for The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker was incredible. Working on actual movie posters is the one thing I always wanted to do, and even now when I see one of my posters in a cinema or on a billboard, it\u2019s like, \u201cWow. I actually did it!\u201d<\/p>\n Lot #409 – STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019) – Two Signed, Titled and Hand-Annotated Artist Proof Prints by Paul Shipper, 2019 and 2020<\/i><\/p>\n Find out more about the amazing selection of content and more in our Poster Live Auction on September 15, 2022 and how you can view the full catalogue and more now, at propstore.com\/posterauction<\/a><\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget to follow us on Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> to see more sneak peeks from our upcoming auctions and promotions that are coming up on our site, prosptore.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a> With his dynamic compositions, vibrant character design and \u201980s-nostalgia inducing style, 46-year-old movie poster maestro Paul Shipper is the closest thing we have to a modern-day Drew Struzan. Shipper does, after all, does cite Struzan\u2019s gloriously airbrushed one-sheets of the \u201970s and \u201980s as his biggest inspiration. That much should be evident from the Mancunian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,776],"tags":[30,527,28,779,135,526,778,32,780],"class_list":["post-26486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-auction","category-posters","tag-cinema","tag-cinema-poster-live-auction","tag-film","tag-interview","tag-live-auction","tag-poster","tag-poster-auction","tag-prop-store","tag-qa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26486"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26519,"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26486\/revisions\/26519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/content.propstore.com\/auction\/cpla10\/Paul+Shipper+Blog\/148114_Signed%2C+Titled+and+Hand-Annotated+AP+Print%2C+2021_1.jpg\")
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