Let me tell you about my boat…

Commission Illustration: The Belafonte (from The Life Aquatic)

The Belafonte is Steve Zissou’s beautiful old rehabbed long-range sub hunter from the second World War, in Wes Anderson’s quirky sad and surprisingly bleak film, The Life Aquatic. This illustration was commissioned by a dear friend for their private collection and locally printed at 40” x 18”

THE ART

For this art, the client wanted the classic Holtermonster vector-style illustration (like my Time Warp Drive-In posters), but applied to a full cross-section rendering of the Belafonte sub from The Life Aquatic. I made sure to include Klaus in the sauna with the Swedish masseuse, Eleanor in the library, Pele strumming in the kitchen, and Jane in her bunk. Steve fishes wistfully off the back deck while the seeker dolphins swim below.

THE INSPIRATION

This is the scene that inspired the art! The film includes this amazing cross-section shot, which is truly a set built to scale, not a miniature!

THE CLOSE UP

I packed as much detail into this illustration as a could, with references, characters, moments from the film tucked inside. Scroll through these close-ups for the full experience.