Fury Road

I like movies.

This is not a blog about movies, and I don't plan to make it into one, but there is no denying that I fell in love with the new Mad Max movie last year, and it's been inspiring a lot of art ever since.

The older Mad Max movies from the eighties have long been favorites of mine, but there is no denying that the newer film, 'Fury Road', is a visual explosion above and beyond the original films. Maybe it helps that the creator behind it is the same as ever, getting the chance to make a fresh take on his own ideas. I'm a quiet member of the fandom, but Mad Max; Fury Road inspires cosplay, inspires fan fiction, and inspires art.

Furiosa & Max (coffee, watercolor)

All of the above are coming out of this movie, for me, but most notably it's set me painting a lot, trying to recapture the feel of the film. In most cases I've been driven by texture, looking for a gritty rough feel, like sand in your teeth.
Back in an earlier project on this blog, I tried painting with tea and had very limited success. For some of my Mad Max art I've taken to painting with coffee, and double-boiled and laid on heavily it gives some good blotchy texture. I've still found myself resorting to sepia watercolor to get really good darks, but mixed directly with the coffee it gets the best of both worlds.

Keeper of Seeds (coffee, watercolor)

I'm not the only artist inspired by the movie, of course. Recently I splurged on the book above, 'Mad Max Fury Road Inspired Artists' (I will admit he cover typography leaves me a little confused if there's supposed to be any punctuation in there).

Some of the art inside has been floating around the Internet in some fashion or another, and some of it was pretty clearly created based just on movie trailers, before the film came out. It is all, however professionally done, fan art. To see fan art validated by being published like this, as the tribute that it is, feels rewarding for the fan artists like myself who make the art because we're so in love with the source material.

Art by Jim Lee

Art by George Pratt

NThis book is nothing but art, some of it full of symbolism, some just splashy scenes trying to capture the vivid and chaotic energy of the film. On the last few pages are brief blurbs about each artist, and their thoughts about the piece, with a little detail thumbnail of their art to help you match it up. The way some of the double page spreads make artwork fall into the gutter is a mild annoyance, but still, page after page of pure art. I'm not sorry I got this book. I made another painting, after looking through it, this time in full color.

Badass trio (colored pencil, fine markers, watercolor)