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Comics 101
Art tips and techniques, reviews and interviews from my studio. Archived here and at World Famous Comics.

Comics 101 Archives

Comics 101 for 08/05/2004
Designing Star Wars Aliens!

Episode Six: Return of the Jedi-Artist


(or at last we'll reveal ourselves to the art director. At last we'll have our finals.)

Once the illustrations are complete I email the final TIFF files to my art director and hope that the Force is with me. I get the phone call that the finals are approved and they are placed in the layout of the magazine to eventually be printed.

Not only do I feel the need to impress my art director and Lucasfilm, but I also look forward to pleasing the Star Wars fans who will be buying this magazine. Especially the die-hard fans who grew up on the older comics and remember these particular characters. Since I'm one of those fans myself, I'm my own toughest critic which means I usually know when I've done the job right.

Adventure, excitement...hhmph... an artist craves not these things.

Of course I was very excited over this assignment. Not just because it was my first Star Wars gig for Wizards but also because it reminded me of that little boy reading Star Wars comics on the steps of the garage and tracing pictures of stormtroopers on cheap type-writing paper. I think this project in a way allowed me to tap in even deeper to the inner youth inside me...something I probably do as an artist and in my personal life way too often already.

But I actually believe this is what keeps artists and illustrators in particular so creative in the first place. We aren't like 'normal' people who too often get caught up in the mundane, every day stress of the present world or get too blinded by cynicism.

By keeping our imaginations alive with comics, games and movies such as Star Wars just as we did as children, we constantly look to the future with a creative eye. As artists drawing superheroes, monsters or aliens we should hopefully continue to inspire the next generation of creative minds with our own artwork.

See you back here next week for another Star Wars art step by step feature!

MTFBWY!

-Joe

<< 07/29/2004 | 08/05/2004 | 08/12/2004 >>

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Archives >>

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