EXCLUSIVE – We chat with “Train to Busan” and “Peninsula” Steelbook artist Sam Gilbey
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With pre-orders now live for the stunning new Train to Busan and Peninsula steelbooks, we caught up with artist Sam Gilbey, who gave us a quick run down about his involvement in the releases, and how he approached the work.
I loved Train to Busan when I saw it a few years ago, so it was a huge pleasure to return to it when Studio Canal commissioned me to make some new art for a steelbook release, packaged alongside the animated prequel, Seoul Station, and then a separate cover for the Peninsula sequel.
From the get go I knew I wanted to make two ‘intense’ pieces of artwork, which felt appropriate for these visceral films, that could both work on their own terms, and complement each other as a pair. By splitting the front cover of Busan/Seoul using the vanishing point established by the train, this then gave me a horizon for the Peninsula art, with the truck racing along (on the back cover) rather than the train. Each front cover features a few of the main characters from Train to Busan and Peninsula respectively.
The colour palettes are different to reflect the looks of both live action films, with yellow as the common accent colour, in both the art and the type, as a further way to connect them as a pair.
With Seoul Station, I wanted to be true to the character designs of the cel-shaded art, but then add some of my own rendering to them, again with the idea of establishing a connection to the whole, whilst acknowledging the separate components. Studio Canal were great to work with and I hugely enjoyed painting both pieces.
It’s great to see steelbooks getting newly commissioned artwork, and Studio Canal do seem to be leading the way, having previously used Matt Ferguson for a number of releases. Here’s hoping for many more to come!
Many thanks to Sam for taking the time to tell us about this project, and you can check out more of his work here.
