From DamonCarltonandAPolarBear.com :
In celebration of LOST's final season and as a project of fan appreciation, 16 top designers and artists, who are also fans of the show, were commissioned to create artwork celebrating one of the series' most memorable, and unforgettable, "water cooler" moments. This ultimate "fan art" was then turned into labor intensive, hand-pulled screen prints, limited to an edition of just 300, with less than 200 available to the public through our websites. Each beautiful poster tells its own different story, allowing the fan to relive memorable and influential moments in an artistic manner, as the show's storied run comes to a close. Once this limited edition print has sold out, they will never be printed again. Celebrate the fandom, community and family created by one of televisions' greatest shows by hanging a little part of it's history, inspiration and influence on your wall.
Now that all 16 of the prints have been released, Lost Blog has set out to interview each of the respective artists. All these talented artists have different influences, different backgrounds, and accordingly...different takes on our favorite show. Over the next few weeks we will post our interviews with these incredible talents. Enjoy.
Our first interview is with Leia Bell. Her piece is entitled "The Love Triangle."
[caption id="attachment_2396" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Leia Bell - The Love Triangle"]
[/caption]Lost Blog: How did you become a fan of LOST?
Leia Bell: I wish I could say I was there from the beginning, but honestly I am not much of a TV watcher, at least not in real time because commercials drive me crazy. Instead, I watch a lot of shows on DVD late at night after the kids have gone to bed. I had horrible tendonitis in my hands (from screen printing) a couple of years ago, which left me unable to work for a month. I went to my buddy Adams's house to borrow some DVDs to keep my mind occupied while in recovery (he has over 2,000 DVDa in his home movie collection). I included season 1 and 2 of Lost in my choices at Adam's recommendation. Needless to say, I spent the next two weeks watching the episodes nonstop. The only sucky part was that season 3 was already halfway through on TV when I finished, so I had to wait months before getting caught up with the story.
Lost Blog: Describe the details about how you were contacted to do the poster.
Leia Bell: I received several messages at my work that I never replied to because the post-it written by my employee said something like "ABC television opportunity" and a call back number. I assumed it was a joke or some weird telemarketing scam. Finally I got an email from Jensen at gallery 1988 in Los Angeles and he explained the whole idea. They had already been working on the project for awhile by that point.
Lost Blog: What instructions or parameters were you given?
Leia Bell: To illustrate a "water cooler moment" from the show in my style. They said that most of the moments had been picked by other artists already, but the one they wanted me to do hadn't been picked yet-- the "oh sh*t" moment when Jack sees Kate and Sawyer together. They even sent me a DVD of the episode when it takes place (season 3, episode 6).
Lost Blog: What was your process for developing the poster?
Leia Bell: I didn't want to create a photo-real illustration, instead I wanted to illustrate a precise moment in my cartoon-like, simplistic drawing style. I used a limited color palate to convey the darkness of the Hydra station being underground (using black, gray and brown). Then of course blue was an important inclusion because of the presence of water.
Lost Blog: How did this project compare to your other creations?
Leia Bell: It's easy when as an artist you are able to create something you are excited or passionate about, and you're basically told to "just go nuts". That's how this project was for me -- like a paid vacation to Hawaii (but preferably not on Oceanic Airlines).
Lost Blog: Besides your own, what is your favorite print from the series?
Leia Bell: I love them all, but if I had to pick one, I am biased toward my favorite contemporary artist, Dan McCarthy (Rousseau's Transmission). I have a copy of that one, and since my second full-time job is as a custom framer, I am framing it in an elaborate antique-looking black frame with skull sculptures built into the corners. It'll be the main conversation piece of my house.
Lost Blog: Who is your favorite LOST character and why?
Leia Bell: For me, it's a tough choice between Hurley and Locke...but I am going with Hurley. He is unpredictable and genuine at the same time... and I like the way he starts every sentence with "Dude".
Lost Blog: Jack or Sawyer?
Leia Bell: If that's asking who should end up with Kate, my answer is I don't think she deserves either one of them. (Oh, snap!)
