Star Wars Art Book, Part 2 ... the dreaded 'Double Pager'...

If you caught my older post, (where I hand drew and colored a one pager for the Star Wars book). Luckily that page (above) went off without a hitch... 

Well, the OTHER two pages.. became the total opposite experience, mostly due to my own neurotic  self-doubt. After the fun I had doing the weird little put put page, which Jonathan and George said they loved - 

... i  suddenly found myself loathing having to ink and color the double splash I'd submitted in pencil to George and Jonathan Rinzler.  Not just their expectation. More my own. 

I had just breezed through the put put, which felt like 'me'.  These other two pager seemed.. overworked and like i was TRYING... so anal, but not in a good way.  Now the stupid part is approached me and asked for me to just do it in my own style! It was my lame idea to try a stab at a Williamson-Frazetta EC style, which of course I frankly wasn't skilled enough to pull off. 

I seriously considered trying to beg off and leave them just with put put page, but Jon asked me to finish the other double page spread too since George had approved that one. 

Jonathan assured me, yes, the Put put page was good, but he and George DID like the double pager too... (grr!).. 

So i was screwed. Couldn't back out now. : ) 

Adding to my (self imposed) headaches.. while, yes, I *could* have inked/colored my first penciled page, I decided instead to re-draw the entire spread only larger, only bigger, then ink and color *that*.

Thus, increasing the tediousness of an already difficult task. I had to trace it, because (in my own mind, George gad already approved *those* exact pencils, so I had to make the painted one look *exactly* like those.) George in reality may not have even cared if it looks exactly like my layout pencils, let alone Jonathan, but *I* had fixed on it looking just like my original pencil version.

To my credit, i think i did manage to make the guys face in panel 3 look a little less stiff, and tried to add some life into the monster.. that's the bitch of inking pencils, (even your own!), trying NOT to lose the life and energy. Feel like your creating it fresh. 

Also felt pressure because no digitally 'net' on this one!  Because I knew George wanted the original art to go into the Ranch's Art Gallery, I decided to do it all by hand. Thus, I traced and blew up my own art, and was reminded how lifeless tracing can become.

So, while inking it I tried to Re-draw it in ink and color... if that makes since? 

Now, this is a study in how while you technically *can* you can redraw something, even your own art... yet run the risk of losing whatever the original energy was there...

Also a lesson in how... some things look better, some worse...

But it was too late to worry, I just had to sink or swim.. turn my brain off and let my hand do whatever it always does... or hopefully does.. 

Whatever, after tons of noodling, i finished it. No one seemed half as horrified with the finished result as  I was. Or maybe they were just being polite. Or  I am just a neurotic freak. Or both.

But the point is, they accepted the double splash.  I signed a few prints of the first put put one - end of story.

BTW..check out these cool boxes the prints came in -

..the publisher must have pastes in these black and white version of the put put print just so...?... they'd know at a glance who's prints to ship to who? Just guessing..

Thus ends the Star Wars pin-up stuff... 

Star Wars Art Book: the 'put-put' page

I was fortunate enough to be contact by Jonathan Rinzler and George Lucas, who asked if I'd like to do a commission for this big-ass Star Wars Art book. They did a cool one on Star Wars Illustrators,  and this one had tons of comic-book original art.

The book mostly reprints of old star was comic pages, but they approached something like 20 artists George specifically commissioned for new pieces. 

They told us it could be a pin-up, or a story page.  The only rule was.. try to only use 'sound-effect' words if possible.  In other words, try to let the pictures tell the story.  Plus we we're sought out to do it in our own style. it was pretty cool to just be asked.

Then, after the art came in, they choose 5 artists, me, Dave Dorman, Frank Quietly, Mike Mignola, Ryan Sook, to do signed and numbered prints too. Not to seem immodest, but considering the skills of these other dudes, I'm surprised I was asked.

Here's some behind the scene pics I took as I drew my piece, signed some prints of it and got the finished book in the mail last week.

When Jonathan asked me, I'd done some star wars work-for-hire art before.  Tons of artists have. But Jonathan assured me his was different, and promised me George did want my weird-ass style - and freedom to explore any star wars character I wanted to draw. Not just a hired hand to do licensed art. I asked if I could do two page spread, and they said sure, whatever I wanted.

I wasn't sure if George even knew my Maxx stuff, so I sent alone some sample art, to make sure he was cool with it. I dug up this, because I knew he liked Al Williamson Frazetta EC stuff, so I thought he might be okay with my fluid organic brush work.

So I sent one of my weird Maxx creatures, actually this one..

I also sent alone this pencil 'rough', I did.. I wanted to do a Williamson Frazetta style too, but I think it came off a little stiff, some because of stage fright George would be seeing it, also because... well, I'm no Williamson or Frazetta. But he approved it anyhoo...  

So Jon told me George also liked the Maxx piece too.  So they asked if I'd do a THIRD piece for the book,  in the style of my goofy Maxx creatures? Yeah. Like I'd gonna say "forget it'.  I was thrilled to do it.

Now the funny part is, this piece, (one Jon eventually called 'put-put' page), was the one that was the most fun. because i wasn't trying to be classic old school art, like in the double page spread.  I'd passed inspection from George on the two pager, so i just relaxed here, dug up some camel shaped Star Wars creature I could pour my 'outback' style into...

It all came together really perfectly, effortlessly. Only trouble was it was just one panel. I wanted  to do a little story stuff. using a sound effect. Maybe a string of small panels along the top?

 Jonathan mentioned how George loved another one pager another artists, Ian Gibson did (where a little R2D2 robot was going 'put put') - and the sound effect was the only dialogue on the page.

Jon said George's favorite part was that there were no words, just little sound effect giving 'motion' to the page. The funny thing is I never saw this page, Jon just described it to me over the phone. And Jon somehow remembered the sound effect Gibson drew as 'put-pit', so that's what I drew, 'put-put' -

So I decided to (shamelessly) suck up to George and do my own little robot that made the same sound.. 'putting' along in some tall grass, then bump into the chest of this four legged big-ass creature.

But it wasn't until after I drew mine, that Jon realized he told me wrong, and Ian Gibson's sound effect was 'tup-tup', NOT 'put-put'.  If your brain numb from all the tedious minutia yet? It's all moot now, but now... in a way, I'm glad it's put-put.

Also one other thing I cringe over..

I should have fixed the fourth panel balloon, so it didn't cramp up the vertical 'sight' dotted line.

I could have digitally,  but somehow, i felt trapped by wanting the printed page to match the original art. Looking back, i also could have pasted in a replacement panel too, but whatever... It's kinda cool to work without a digital 'net', working by hand, flaws and all.

I also just liked the idea of something so silly and light. Just a goofy little robot... and a weird little yellow orange monster sandwiched in such an big classy important Star Wars book.

Jon liked it the finished 'put-put' page, and (amazingly).. do did I.

And another amazing thing is..

that I'm finally out of...

..words!

Next post,  PART TWO: where I'll show the other piece I did for it, the double-page spread... how that came into being!