To design a poster of the main character of the Netflix TV drama “The Queen’s Gambit. The young chess champion played by Anya Taylor is an intense and complicated character, and I wanted to capture that in a single image.

Used two vector digital programs, the first Adobe Fresco and finished the illustration in Adobe Illustrator. I used a limited color palette of four colors plus black. I wanted the viewer to drink in all of the character’s (Beth Harmon) intimidating almost manic competitive stare. The background is a wall stimulate pills which in a strange way was the secret to her success.

The rendering of the main character’s eyes along with the intensity of her hair and skin made for a dramatic image. The chess piece and pills help tell the background story.