Drew Struzman - Composition Study

This week we tackled recreating one of the iconic movie posters by the immensely talented Drew Struzman.  The Thing being one of my favorite movie posters of all time, I chose that one. 

I would credit the success of Struzman's composition to the Diamond and radial elements that focus the viewer on the unknowable but subtly identifiable nature of the titular Thing.  The light radiating from the Thing's face focuses the composition on the mystery of its identity.  The spiked halo surrounding the head adds mystery to the picture before you understand the location of the movie, revealing the hood to be a furred hood attached to an insulated winter coat, combined with the splotchy nature of the marks at the bottom of the poster, a keen viewer can guess the movie takes place in a cold environment.  The diamond is created by the Thing's stance combined with the whipping snow serves to frame the figure, the only representational element, as the primary and only focus of the scene.