Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Iron Man






I spent a couple of weeks doing costume illustrations on Iron Man for designers Laura Jean Shannon and Rebecca Bentjen. No, I did NOT work on the Iron Man suit. I sketched and painted gowns mostly, for Pepper Potts, Gwyneth Paltrow's character. I haven't seen the film yet, but will soon. So I don't know if any of these designs made it onto the screen (all the gowns were for one scene). Often they don't, they get changed somewhere down the line. The sketches are used to present ideas to the director and the actors, sometimes, and then if they don't change, they are given to 'the workroom' to build. I am sure I don't have a credit on the film either, because it is really difficult to get an on screen credit for costume illustration. Producers often only allow each department on a film a certain number of credits, and costume designers and other dept heads have to choose who to cut from the list (a lousy job!). Since the illustrator often will only work a few weeks (as was the case for me on Iron Man) compared to other crew members that work dawn to midnight for months dragging costumes around, we usually get cut. It is a shame, since the work of the illustrator can play a big role in the costume design process. I have managed to get a few screen credits for costume illustration due to the perseverance of designer Joanna Johnston. Storyboarding credits are more common for me.

Other news with me: I did some boards for "Jennifer's Body" directed by Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux, Girl Fight) and written by Diablo Cody (Juno), and for another film "Peacock" directed and written by Michael Lander (a newbie). They are both really interesting projects, in production now, and I look forward to seeing them. Currently I am doing some more boarding and prop work for "MadMen" on Showtime.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Phillip Boutte Jr. said...

Cool Robin! I saw the movie and it was awesome. I don't remember if the gown stayed the same however. We had an illustrators meeting a week ago and screen credit came up. I talked to Mary Rose about the guild raising more awareness about screen credit for us. I think it is grossly unfair that we can work on a project for months and not get credit but a PA gets credit for going to get coffee!!! lol

14 May, 2008 14:45  
Blogger Blauereiter said...

Loved the movie, and the costume you worked on ! :]

12 July, 2008 23:27  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Robin, these costumes designs are fantastic. It looks like a mix of watercolors and photoshop. In any case, I like the illustrations very much. You really got Gwen's look down pat. I hope everything is going well with you. I'd like to come back to CSULB sometime and visit the art department again, maybe join in on some figure drawing because I feel a little rusty.

23 July, 2008 12:01  
Blogger Anthony said...

Hey Robin! Great sketches. You've probably seen the movie since you posted this, but I found a photo on the internet of Gwyneth wearing the dress (here).

09 September, 2008 10:41  
Blogger Edward said...

These are really great Ms. Richesson! It's really nice to see the work on Iron man beyond just the suit itself!

08 March, 2009 22:15  

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