Dangerous Liaisons : The 3 Posters Project

It started as one poster, based on one sketch done in my kitchen, from an idea that occurred to me while helping my 5 year-old make a Mardi Gras mask for school. What better metaphor for a seductively beautiful—but socially incompatible—relationship than a gorgeous, fat, pretentious, pink cat luring a little birdie with her feathered party mask? It’s so Baroque and so aggressively immediate at the same time. I tried to follow the rule that posters should be made quickly. While the drawing took just 5 minutes with my Pentel brush pen, the finished art for the silkscreened poster took a full (but electric) day. This is what started it all:

D&L Screenprinting in Seattle printed the final 5-color piece (on red paper) from a multichannel Photoshop file I made from various tissue layers, all made with the brush pen. Even the type is rendered this way.

This project led me to make a series of sketches of this relationship between cat and bird. In some, I wanted to let the bird take the dominant role. In others, I wanted the viewer to question who was in control. I allowed them to take on human characteristics—both physical and emotional. The look in the cat’s eye could be either lustful or suspicious, depending on the context and point-of-view. 

When an opportunity arose to give a presentation about poster design at an upcoming student design conference, I decided to make use of these sketches to create two additional posters—each for the same subject as the first, but for different theater groups. The three unique “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” posters, in my mind, would allow me to demonstrate that while there are numerous “right” answers when it comes to realizing an idea, the actual “act of making” is crucially linked to the ultimate success of the poster. 

My second poster was the result of some sketches I had already done for ceramic bowl paintings.

The bird became the whiskers and mouth of the cat. Is the bird really there or is it made manifest by the cat’s inner desire? If it is really there, is it in danger or living in a symbiotic relationship with its host? It seemed to me, this was as iconic an example of a dangerous liaison as I could make.

The third poster was my effort to give the bird the upper hand. Stylistically, I also wanted to harken back to the ornate setting of the movie I remembered and loved. While I think I had some drawings that were more elegant and “refined” than the final poster drawing, I deferred to my first drawing in the series. It felt more honest for me to do it that way. Too often, I take too many steps. I don’t trust my gut the way I should.

 

 

And then, the final poster (made for silkscreen printing, of course).

Is the cat afraid, angry, nervous…? Is the bird wary or relaxed? Confident or cautious? That’s the fun part… allowing you to decide.

© 2009, Legendre+Rutter