In the creation of the Giant cinema poster, the initial drawings constituted the first creative stage, the artist’s first concept, which guided him in his next steps.
A group of such drawings constitute the core of The Starlets Collection. It is a valuable and complete archive since it contains all kinds of sketches, notes, preparatory drawings, and models made by George Vakirtzis for the cinema. This Collection includes drawings of Giant cinema posters for cinema façades and of lithographic posters made for advertising purposes. It testifies to the artist’s professional relationship with all the stages of the advertising procedure of every film. The drawings are also proof of the creation of the compositions that came after them, either as Giant cinema posters or as Lithographic posters. The preparatory drawing (Model) was the key at the preparatory stage for the commencement of the construction process. Vakirtzis follows the practices of the traditional craftsmen and conveys his initial idea on a squared drawing paper in scale, corresponding to the dimensions of the façade so as to achieve the size of the painted surface produced each time. These drawings have been created with the use of pencil and pen and are used to make any alterations or mark the dimensions for the workshop assistants. Vakirtzis sketches in small dimensions very densely, adding every detail. His experience makes him able to project in his mind the result of the transfer to its final dimensions.
The main elements of the composition (faces, background, letters) and their exact positions on the cinema façade were depicted on sketch book sheets, on the back of equal size pieces of paper that were once technical sketches using the ammonia method, or on sheets of rice paper. The latter were photocopied in one to three copies and were then distributed by Vakirtzis to his assistants, who prepared the backgrounds, to the carpenters, who constructed the wooden panels and the “découpé”, and to the workers who hung the Giant posters, so that they could calculate how the final work would be placed on the cinema façade. These drawings, apart from the aesthetic completeness they now reveal, functioned at the time as an illustrated set of directions for various receivers, as they included construction notes, color details and, often, personal suggestions to the technicians. Apart from the drawing itself, one can also trace the following data and indications on the surface of the paper: the dimensions of the other façade compositions, as well as the position of the names of the lead actors. Also noted are the exact places where inscriptions like “In Colour” or “Cinemascope”, as well as the logos of the producers and the distribution companies, appear.
Most of these drawings bear the following note at the lower part: Model of poster (décor), name of the cinema theater, date and the artist’s initials (Figs 25-27). Depending on the period, the kind of film, the artist’s disposition and the time available for their completion, the drawings preserved in The Starlets Collection serve as evidence of the many different outlooks Vakirtzis had on his work and the solutions he suggested.

Many of the preparatory drawings for the Giant cinema posters are marked by a rare painterly quality. These models, although simple sketches, bring together characteristics of finished drawings with elements of abstraction: VGM.107, VGM.121.

Always attempting innovation, he often views his compositions as a play of shapes, creating thematic islets incorporated in rhythmically repeated geometrical shapes: VGM.113, VGM.119 and Fig. 28, VGM.112, VGM.49.

In other cases he chooses a realistic vocabulary and concentrates on creating a space with the use of the classic rules of perspective and the creation of an almost baroque environment: VGM.117 and Fig. 29, VGM.108 and Fig. 30. Elsewhere, he puts the spotlight on the emotional element or the dramatic character of the film and stresses the movement in scenes, magnifying their scale as much as possible and letting the strength of the intense line create the corresponding emotional background: VGM.137, VGM. 17 and Fig. 31, VGM.21 and Fig. 32.
In examining the various elements of the drawings one focuses on the thematic core of the composition. The main character of the synthesis is the protagonist(s) of the film, usually drawn at the center and at a different scale from everything else.

The drawings for these characters constitute portrait studies on their own right. The drawing abilities of Vakirtzis made the transfer of the photograph easier by putting the emphasis on certain facial characteristics or expressions. Concise and powerful lines outline the main characteristics of the faces, while the artist insists on details formulated at the next stage with color or intense chiaroscuro. The face of the leading actor or actress dominates the composition, but it is also very common for the surface of the cinema façade to be supplemented by a scene at a smaller scale, where the leading couple appears in a characteristic scene from the film (Figs 33-36).

Often, the painter adds a theme from the film, drawn at a much smaller scale: an action scene, a landscape or a building, where the drawing is absolutely concise (a house, a palace etc., e.g. in VL.15).
The title letters also play an important role: their position, color and font type are crucial. The titles, apart from the necessary information they provided, also added elements for the film’s genre. The letters were designed by Vakirtzis himself and appeared in one or two lines. They were drawn at times densely or loosely, in relief, decorated, two-dimensional, sideways or wavy: VGM.110, VGM.141 (see also p. 234). Letters were, for the most part, capital, while a number or a question mark (?) in the title, was especially stressed: VGM.109, VGM.111, VGM.103. Some key words were often projected at the forefront or stressed more. (Figs 37-39).

The final, complete composition, mirrors the genre of the film. Some have a intense decorative attitude: VGM.87 and Fig. 41, VGM.95, VGM.119, VGM.57, some a special kind of austerity: VGM.105, VGM.106, whereas elsewhere there is an attempt to render intense motion with the peculiar use of motifs: VGM.89, VGM.132

Another group of tempera drawings is created exclusively for workshop use, with the colors for the titles and the compositions appearing in order to facilitate the necessary preliminary work on the background and the secondary decorative elements.
Vakirtzis also adds color to the faces, which serves as a basis on which the facial features and expressions are then added: VGM.39, VGM.40, VGM.46, VGM.70, VGM.102 etc.

As a final gesture, he added to the painted Giant cinema poster its imaginary third dimension by also using the “découpé” technique in most cases (see pp. 236-237), thus drawing the passerby’s look to his work.