Sphinx 1981

This movie poster, painted by Robert Peak, is all drama and action. Look at how the light just slashes across the surface, like golden knives! I can imagine Peak wrestling with this image, trying to capture that sense of urgency and mystery. It's like he’s asking, how do you paint adventure? He uses these bold strokes, mixing reds and golds, to create this feeling of heat and danger, but the faces he paints are what capture my attention. There’s the woman, running for her life, and then these creepy, ghostly figures lurking in the background, they're so anxious. You can see a bit of Drew Struzan in it, and those other movie poster painters, but Peak has got his own thing going on here, using color and light to tell the story, hinting at something ancient and powerful. It’s a conversation between painters, each trying to capture a feeling, a moment, a story.