SHOE PALACE RELEASE NEW E.T. INSPIRED APPAREL RANGE
Shoe Palace and Universal Brand Development, a division of NBCUniversal, are bringing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to shoepalace.com and Shoe Palace retail locations. Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment changed the world when they presented E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to audiences in 1982. The Shoe Palace x E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial collaboration includes tees, hoodies, shorts and pants.
The line was crafted with reverence and love for the classic film. Original art was utilized for the collaboration, along with artwork straight from the Universal Pictures archive. Every piece was made using high quality fabrics and with great attention to detail.
Paul Shipper, one of the biggest poster artists currently in the industry, created art featuring E.T., specifically for this collab. Shipper’s work can be found on many of the pieces in the collection. The involvement of Paul Shipper makes the clothing something truly unique and special. We caught up with Paul to learn more.
THE DAILY JAWS (TDJ): How did you get involved with Shoe Palace for the project?
PAUL SHIPPER (PS): I recall Adam Chris Better reaching out to me as he liked my work. To see if I would be interested in creating a brand new image of ET that could be used across their upcoming officially licensed clothing line.
TDJ: When originally released, both E.T. and Jaws feature practically created creatures. As a movie lover and digital artist, what are your thoughts on the use of practical effects in today’s movies?
Well, I am first and foremost from the practical side of illustration first, so in that respect I completely adore the original craftsmanship that went in to breathing life into the original practical effects. Pure magic when it was done right. Undeniable.
TDJ: What inspired you to become an artist?
PS: I always wanted to do something creative. I loved to draw pictures as a child. I was massively inspired by the movie posters of my childhood which got me on the path to become a movie poster artist.
TDJ: Who are your biggest influences?
PS: Undoubtedly, Drew Struzan followed by Richard Amsel and Bob Peak for starters.
TDJ: There are so many wonderful moments in E.T., how did you decide on which to recreate for the Shoe Palace collection?
PS: Initially I was hoping they would like me to work on an ensemble piece but they wanted to focus on E.T. himself, so I wanted to try and capture the essence of E.T. as much as possible. The warmth of his heart and the caring nature you see in his eyes… I wanted to have the image of him in a dark wood and include the rainbow motif signifying hope and peace.
TDJ: If you were to create a Jaws collection, which moments would you choose to recreate?
PS: Oh my… well the characters in that film are fantastic. I did a painting based on the film some years ago which fans fell in love with . Sadly not an official piece but as a fan of the film I really wanted to have the three main guys on show there… they are a great trio and apart from the shark, truly make that film what it is to me.
TDJ: What are your first memories of watching E. T. and Jaws?
PS: When I was a child I saw ET at home on video first - it was quite the big event as I can remember it! Quite sure the whole family gathered to watch it - Almost the same story for JAWS, however I couldn’t finish watching JAWS the first time round. On a side note…My mother was pregnant with me when it played in cinemas and she went to see it! Scared her pretty bad she told me… so perhaps I had some residual memory of that… I eventually watched the film in its entirety and have loved it ever since.
TDJ: What do you think is the continued magic of these Spielberg films?
PS: Ahh… the secret concoction… if only we all knew the answer… well a best guess would be - Empathy to our humanity and good, emotional story-telling that grabs your heart-strings and takes you on a whirl-wind adventure!
TDJ: Any Spielberg films that you'd love to do designs for but haven't yet?
PS: Like many of us, his body of work has shaped our hearts and minds since childhood - there are many films I would like to create artwork for - however many already have insanely great artwork associated with them and they are some of the greatest illustrated film posters around - they helped put me onto this path - following in their footsteps while standing on the shoulders of these giants… it has got me to where I am today.
TDJ: Your work is amazing, including your stunning Spielberg Empire cover, where do you even begin on working on such a cherished and beloved properties?
PS: You are very kind. Working on that Empire cover was wonderful… Steven Spielberg was the guest editor of that issue. I am super pleased with how it came out. Spielberg surrounded by some of his most iconic movie characters. Great joy for me and I have had the pleasure of working with Empire magazine on a number of cover illustrations since then and was recently named as Visual Contributing Editor of the magazine which is a great honour.
TDJ: Talk us through the process and the tools you use to create your work?
PS: The process of creating starts with the brief and how to translate it into an image. Research is needed - gathering reference images for the project. This process can take some time and clients sometimes have reference material for you to look at. Then it is a case of working on the composition based on the dimensions of the product/art space we have been given. Its very much like trying to write a story with all the elements in place we need to edit down and ’shape’ the narrative but with visuals. The images speak to you. You may not realise this but you ‘read’ composition, colour and image content and it can tell you a lot in a single image. This is part of my job I really enjoy. Once that is agreed upon with the client, that is when I begin illustrating.
TDJ: How long does it typically take to create a piece of art work?
PS: From one day to 3 months… every project has different needs… and different deadlines… I usually give a project a 4 week turnaround from concept to creation. But yes, I have done paintings in a 24/48 hour window sometimes you have to drop everything else to help others realise their dreams too…
TDJ: Have you any personal favourites?
PS: Like many an artist has said before, we don’t have favourites, that said there are some projects that I do have a soft spot for - generally the films that I grew up with loving that I have had the chance to revisit and bring them to a new audience. There are also some projects that as a youngster were but a dream to me. Well, let’s just say dreams can come true.
You can follow Paul Shipper on instagram
Paul was interviewed by Dean Newman for The Daily Jaws
