#TheForce.Net – Page 2

Star Wars Artist Month – Sascha Raabe

Star Wars may have originated in the United States but it is hardly limited to an American appeal. Fans all around the world have been inspired by the story and inspiration is just the fuel for artistic creation. Nothing could be more true for Sascha Raabe, our featured artist today. George Lucas made a creative statement with his depiction of the Imperials dressed in stark blacks and whites, and some of the most pure expressions of art shine in a monochromatic palette. Pencils, black ink sketches, dark charcoals: they strip away color to let the viewer see a stark and clear expression of the subject. And that is where Sascha operates. His works are works of creative reduction and profiles of characters seen in a clear perspective.

My name is Sascha Raabe, I’m 23 years old and I live in Germany. I’ve been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a kid. In “real life”, I work in a notary’s office. For me, the Star Wars universe is a place to dream. It stands for creativity, it’s fascinating, inspiring and the perfect place to go when I want to escape the everyday’s life. In 2015, I joined the 501st Legion, which gives me the feeling of being a meaningful part of the Star Wars history. In this great community, I met so many great people that became my closest friends and chosen family. All this makes Star Wars a hobby unlike any else.

Drawing has always been my most favourite thing to do, and of course Star Wars quickly became subject number one. For me as a kid, it was interesting and challenging trying to draw all these different droids, armors and creatures throughout the universe.

I’ve always been trying to improve myself and find my own style. Through the years, I concentrated on pencil drawings. Now I’m at a point where I want to show my fanarts to the public, to be one of the many great Star Wars artists out there.

I don’t offer any products yet. But if there’s a growing interest I will definitely consider it!

You can follow me on Instagram right here:
www.instagram.com/allgaeu_trooper

Many thanks to our partners at Jedi News, Fantha Tracks, Rebel Scum, Force.Net, and Bantha Bricks for supporting SWAM 2020 and sharing our posts. What a great way to share the magic of the art community! Check them out and see just how big the galaxy really is!

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Marietta Ivanova

Community is the concept among humans that if you bring the right people together, they benefit from one another and are better for it. Artists often cite one city or country that drew them in, inspired them, fueled their creativity. It might be the flowers in Japan or the canals of Venice: something about a place or its peoples that help an artist channel their inner vision.

I’d like to think that’s happened with the Star Wars fan community. It certainly seems to be the case for today’s featured artist: Marietta Ivanova, who has both elevated and been elevated by her time in the 501st Legion Costuming Group. She came onto the scene by storm and rocked it with her paintings and her impressive craftsmanship in armor and other mediums of costuming.

Marietta is an illustrator and graphic designer from Finland. She loves making Star Wars fan art, comics and stories, and building Star Wars costumes. One look at her pieces and you realize they come from a special place. Dark hues intermingle with precisely placed illumination to create a very real sense that you are face to face with some of the most powerful figures from another galaxy.

“I make my art in highly realistic style with meticulous details. I often spend hours upon hours researching background material to give a very screen-faithful look to the subject of my art. However I love to mix it up by choosing unexpected topics and highlighting characters that don’t get that much attention. I really enjoy making stories, comics and art about stormtroopers, for example.”

What drew you to illustrating Star Wars as a subject?

“To me Star Wars is the perfect escape to a world of creativity and endless stories to visualize. Nothing inspires me like science fiction, especially the galaxy far far away. Many don’t know that before joining this community, I had been struggling with an “art block” – I didn’t make any art for almost seven years. That period ended when I was so inspired by Star Wars fan fiction by a fellow fan that I wanted to illustrate it. The creativity just caught on like fire and everything else followed.”

“Now I am endlessly lucky to be surrounded by all you wonderful people. In this community we keep on inspiring each other to be creative, to build, to laugh, to go to events and to have unforgettable time, to be international and make new friends, to support each other and to look for new challenges. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to give back to the community in the form of art. Thank you fellow fans and creators for the chance to share this wonderful adventure with you.”

“I am creating only Star Wars fan art, not licensed Disney products. This is why the art that I make is not for sale. But you can view all of them on my webpage and social media. People who like my art style can also contact me to commission a single custom piece of art with the subject of their choosing.“

Website: https://marietta.artstation.com
Email: marietta@cannonfodder.net
Instagram: @mariettaart
Facebook: facebook.com/marietta.ivanova.501
Facebook: facebook.com/artofmarietta

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Michael Duron

Michael Locoduck Duron is consistently high on life and markers. Having jumped at light speed from drawing comics on stapled pieces of notebook paper to being lucky enough to illustrate some of the greatest characters in any galaxy, he’s never looked back.

His earliest professional work began in 2005 with Topps Trading Cards drawing Lord of the Rings, Heroes, and Indiana Jones sketch cards and eventually making his way to Star Wars. In addition to the thousands of sketch cards he created for those universes, Michael has become very well known for his Marvel stylized trading cards from Upperdeck.

He’s more than a one trick ducky, and has also created comic book cover art for Betty and Veronica, Zombie Tramp, and is the creator of several comic book projects including his all ages adventure Sugar Boogarz. When not buried under that work, you can find him creating Caricature and event art all over Central Florida, but particularly at the Walt Disney World Resort. Michael is also an Honorary Member of the 501st Legion, and has created artwork for several garrisons and one of R2-KT’s very first patch designs. You may have also picked up one of his official t-shirt designs for Star Wars Celebration. He recently launched a new webcomic that helps him deal with the dark side of depression called Life N Death.

What drew you to Star Wars?

“Star Wars was the greatest fantasy and escape I could imagine. As a little boy I could picture myself taking on Darth Vader with a light saber one day, or being a scoundrel wooing the princess the next. The sheer amount of fantastical characters that George Lucas created has inspired me to create exciting images of my own.”

“I try not live in the borders of exactness when I’m putting line to paper. With this Universe you can interpret the heroes, droids, scum and villainy anyway you want and still manage to connect with the fans. Not to mention that Star Wars is always growing, and constantly giving us new things to discover and work with. Any artist that plays in this Galaxy HAS to imagine themselves as kid in a galactic candy shop!”

www.locoduck.com

www.instagram.com/michaelduron

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Dave Liew

Today’s feature artist for Star Wars Artist Month has been quietly putting out designs for the Star Wars community that have energized charity causes and raised the profile of fan organizations for years. He has created some of the finest graphic designs, campaign posters, concepts, and logos to make everyone look amazing. Meanwhile he creates vivid sketches of everything from Imperial armored troopers to fantasy figures to Chthulhu himself. All that look like lost pages from a Hollywood storyboard. When you look at Dave’s work you don’t just see a new style, you honestly feel like you’re peeking at an entirely undiscovered treasure trove of living, breathing story content with a lot of thought behind it. It makes you want to know more, makes you want to see where it’s all going. Art is at its best when it triggers the imagination and Dave’s work never just sits on the page. It compels you to take a journey…

Dave Liew has amassed 20+ years in the creative industry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He’s honed his skills in interior design, post production, architecture 3d visualization, and character conceptualizing.

In the last eight years he’s been working closely in the performing arts scene. He unofficially joined the 501st as a minder 8 years ago, starting his other creative journey designing for 501st members around the globe. Now he’s officially a member as Snowtrooper ST77107. Dave currently illustrates graphic novels and renders 3D models of spaceships for boardgames for a community-based alternate reality sci-fi storytelling group called Unity Macroverse.

You can view more of Dave’s work portfolio at : https://www.facebook.com/daveliewillustration/

Unity Macroverse website: unitymacroverse.com

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Giancarlo Bockos

Star Wars Artist Month has seen artists come from all sorts of backgrounds, and from all over the world. Today’s featured artist is Giancarlo Bockos: a pillar of the Star Wars fan community. His experience in design has given him a creative eye on everything from the visual arts to prop-making and costuming. His creative mind has pushed him to a wide array of mediums all in the pursuit of creative expression.

Giancarlo is an Italian Industrial Designer with 20 years experience in the product design field. Born and raised in Perù, he moved to Italy in his teens and has been working in the US for almost 10 years now.

Star Wars has always been a big part of his life. His first memories of anything Star Wars related was talking about it with his Kindergarten friends, wanting a 12” Darth Vader because the lightsaber was just like the one in the movie (not the “weird” one in the small scale Kenner figure). This attention to detail would reflect years later on his passion for props.

Drawing, model making and building LEGOs as a kid fed his passion for the saga. This led to Giancarlo to all kinds of new roles: amateur comic artist and caricaturist, prop and costume maker, 3D modeler and designer. And drawing characters and vehicles off the Kenner toys catalogs turned into drawing comic strips and illustrations

Giancarlo was part of the editorial staff of the biggest Italian Star Wars website in the late 90’s : guerrestellari.net, Just when Star Wars was coming back he worked with his brother, Piero, on digital comic strips to populate the far art pages of the website. Later some of these strips were published in the “Star Wars Alliance” Italian fan club magazines, as well as in the short-lived Italian publication of the Star Wars Insider magazine.

Costuming

In 2003 Giancarlo and his brother joined the Fighting 501^st Legion costuming organization, and have used their art to help the organization ever since. You might have seen the “V-Twins” at Star Wars events like the 1997 Special Edition release, the 2007 501st Rose Parade Spectacular (including the Documentary Star Warriors), or even in a cameo as the Jedi Council guards in the hit fan film Dark Resurrection.

Between them, the V-Twins have created dozens of logos, patches, pins, illustrations, posters, flyers, and caricatures for the Legion’s many Garrisons and members around the world as well as for other Star Wars fan organizations. Some of these include the Static Burst logo (501^st online magazine), caricatures for the featured interviewees, the Galactic Academy logos and characters, patches for R2-KT, merchandising for the Italica Garrison as MBO, and many posters, logos and merchandising for Italian Star Wars fan events.

One of the highlights of Giancarlo’s 501^st history was being part of the Rose Parade as a Biker Scout.

“This was one of the greatest experiences one could aspire to! On top of that my brother and I were able to meet George Lucas and hand him a copy of our Star Wars strips collection book!”

Propmaking

Building a LEGO X-wing and ED-209 as a kid, a self-designed paper Thunder Tank and a Ghostbusters Proton Pack for his brother led to prop making and his Industrial Design career. Discovering that the modelmakers at ILM during ANH were Industrial Design students made him appreciate his career path even more.

His love and knowledge of Star Wars and his passion about costume accuracy (remember the Vader lightsaber toy?) worked perfect with his 3D modelling and rapid prototyping professional skills. He’s been designing and printing parts for almost 20 years, way before 3D printing was a mainstream tool

Today Giancarlo still creates Star Wars art for himself or friends, t-shirts, merchandising, and more. He will admit he’s got way too many hobbies, including fixing up old motorcycles in his garage.

IG: the_vtwins

FB: The V-twins

teepublic.com/user/the_vtwins

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Malcolm Tween

Few artists can boast that their work has passed the approval process of an actual queen. But today’s artist has been involved in projects so broad in their appeal that even he seems surprised at the scope of it. Malcolm Tween got on the radar early, catching the eyes of Lucasfilm with his stellar professional works featuring Star Wars characters. Drawing off the influences of early Star Wars greats like Drew Struzan, famous for his Star Wars cinema posters, Malcolm has managed to bring the original big screen splendor of Star Wars illustrations to the new era of films. Young fans today can enjoy the same larger than life spectacle off the screen as did the original fans. Early experience as a technical illustrator and a kick from Star Wars at a young age steered his imaginative mind to a galaxy far, far away.

Malcolm is an illustrator living and working in the UK. He co-founded Digital Progression in 1997, an entirely digital illustration studio working for advertising agencies, design companies and game publishers. Whilst a lot of his work over the years has been for video-game covers and advertising campaigns, he’s also worked on concept art, animation and even VR. A diverse range of clients includes Atari, Atlantic Records, BMW, Disney, EA, Microsoft, Sega and Sony amongst many others.

He first started working for Lucasfilm in 2004, creating promotional artwork for various projects including Revenge of the Sith and Indiana Jones. Most recently he has illustrated three sets of award winning Royal Mail Star Wars special edition UK postage stamps, featuring characters, creatures and droids from across the films, probably the only Star Wars merchandise to be officially approved by the Queen! The final set was released in 2019 to coincide with the launch of The Rise of Skywalker.

Malcolm has also created exclusive prints for eight Star Wars Celebrations throughout America, Europe and Japan.

We asked Malcolm: what is it about Star Wars that inspires you as an artist?

“Technically I’ve been drawing Star Wars since 1977 when I was six years old, It’s just that I didn’t get to do it for Lucasfilm until a little later down the line! I think for a lot of people who grew up with the original trilogy especially, it’s just built into our cultural DNA, everything comes back to Star Wars. When I started doing work for Lucasfilm I was actually amazed how much freedom we were allowed, I love the fact we get the opportunity to tell our own little stories within these amazing worlds.”

We are honored to share Malcolm’s story today in Star Wars Artist Month and we hope is work like that of other artists will inspire the next generation of kids to embrace the power of the Force within their own minds!

FYI here’s a fantastic article on StarWars.com discussing Malcolm’s experience producing the super secret Star Wars stamps series:

www.starwars.com/news/mini-masterpieces-artist-malcolm-tween-on-his-royal-mail-star-wars-stamps

You can follow Malcolm and see more of his work in the links below:

https://twitter.com/MalcolmTween

https://www.behance.net/malcolmtween

http://www.digitalprogression.com

https://www.instagram.com/malcolmtween

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Tod Allen Smith

When people talk about artists, they usually think of someone slaving away in a loft at a canvas, detached from the world perched in their creative space. But creativity lives in all of us. The magic to breathe life into characters you know and love is only limited by your imagination. And today’s artist fearlessly does just that. Tod Allen Smith is known across the fan community as someone who can weave the magic we only wish for.

Tod Allen Smith has been a Star Wars artist with Topps trading cards, having worked on various sketch card sets since 2007. His dream as a kid in the late 70’s was to be part of Star Wars, and that dream came true. Then in 2019, Tod was asked by the Mandalorian Mercs to draw a special print to use for charity at Star Wars Celebration Chicago. The print was noticed by more than just the casual Star Wars fan.

Along with working for Topps and other trading card companies, Tod has also done illustrations for role playing and table top skirmish games. His work captures the kind of sci-fi and fantasy that resonates with fans. And just like any Jedi master, Tod uses his gifts to teach art to kids and adults alike.

When Tod isn’t hard at work on his art, he works part time for AMED EMS in Altoona Pennsylvania.

Some of Tods work can be found at https://m.facebook.com/ZeroGGraphics/

His earlier work can be viewed at https://www.deviantart.com/norvandell

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Pete Hague

The wild nature of art means that it’s open to a wide range of creative sensibilities. Like the Force, art canvasses everything from order to chaos, from light to darkness. Some styles savor the darkness, speak to the chaos, and channel the inner fugue we all entertain. And it is sheer beauty to behold.

Today in SWAM we delve into the depths and our tour guide is a brilliant artist who is also a member of the 501st Legion. We know him as a Stormtrooper, and you can know him as Professor of the Dark Arts. He has a knack for capturing the macabre, dishing it out in slick designs and caricatures any band would kill to have on their album cover. The Dark Side never looked so good!

Tell us a little about yourself:

“Hi, I’m Pete. I’m an animator, illustrator, and designer who attempts to make video games, music, shirt designs, patches, pointless doodles, nonsensical scribbles, and anything else I can waste time doing creatively. I’m a drummer in a metal band (Distances), so I’ve been fortunate enough to design a few shirts and album covers here and there. I went by the pseudonym “Robo Tarot” for a spell because I created a tarot deck comprised of robots. These days, the folks in the 501st and Rebel Legion tend to keep me busy with patch, pin, and coin design.”

“Same as every other kid in the 80s, I obsessed over Star Wars, Transformers, Nintendo, Marvel Comics, Ninja Turtles, etc. Once I found my artistic sea legs, no Post-It note or text book margin was safe from my mind barf. Darth Vader vs Wolverine. Samus vs Optimus Prime. you name it.”

I have a TeePublic shop at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/peterthehague

Also, feel free to kick your feet up and poke around my work at: https://ramenandrobots.wordpress.com

or on Instagram @peterthehague

Lastly, if you dig music of the heavier variety, Distances just released our new album at: https://distances.bandcamp.com/

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Asia Ellington

George Lucas has been quoted as saying that Star Wars was designed with kids in mind. It’s no knock on the saga that it is a galaxy envisioned through the eyes of a child: we’ve all beheld it with child-like wonder. Some artists can capture that wonder and give us a peek into what _really_ happening in those scenes crowded by grown-ups and hi-tech. Today’s artist is a maestro of child-like wonder and her works will leave you feeling as giddy as a kid when you see them. Weaving magic ain’t kids’ stuff – it’s hard than it looks. But Asia Ellington specializes in weaving magic and fans of her work are so grateful for the chance to see the magic through fresh eyes!

Featured last year in Voyage LA, Asia Ellington is a freelance illustrator who lets her “culture, passion for character design, fashion, film, musical theater, and pop culture” inspire her work. You can feel the golden age of Hollywood in her work while still sensing her playful spirit. Please join us in saluting Asia Ellington!

Asia Ellington is a Character Designer and Visual Development artist born and raised in the Bay Area, California, and is currently a Character Designer for various unannounced projects at Disney Television Animation. She got her first start drawing officially licensed Star Wars art through the Topps Trading Card sketch program in anticipation for The Force Awakens release. She uses her love for film, history, vintage fashion, and pop culture to influence her personal work and style. Coming from a family just as equally in love with all things Disney and Star Wars, she has always drawn and surrounded herself with her favorite characters from a galaxy far far away. Asia is also a member of the 501st legion (Golden Gate Garrison) and enjoys trooping with her family at conventions and charity events, and lifting the spirits and hopes of those in need.

What drew you to illustrating Star Wars as a subject?

“The endless amount of creativity and wonder. It’s always blown my mind to see the amount of innovation and creativity that’s gone into every film in their sets, costumes, visual/practical effects, props, etc. For as long as I can remember Star Wars has been a great outlet of fun and escapism that not only teaches us to live to our full potential, but also that we can go after any goal we set our minds to no matter the odds, and examine how it reflects our own history and how to stand up for what’s right in the real world.”

Please feel free to check out more of Asia’s work on Instagram and Twitter @asiadraws, or asiaellington.com

While Asia is not currently selling any work she does occasional charity sketch commissions to help donate to many human rights causes. Links and resources for how to help others including (but not limited to) the NAACP, ACLU, Black Lives Matter, the Yemen Humanitarian and Hunger Crisis, Native American COVID-19 Relief, and Homeless Black Trans Women Fund, can also be found on her Instagram.

Asia’s motto : “Continue to stay strong, listen, and have hope.”

Website: https://ellingtonasia3.wixsite.com/website
Email: ellingtonasia@yahoo.com
Instagram: @asiadraws
Facebook: @asiadraws
Twitter: @asiadraws

http://www.banthabricks.com/

Star Wars Artist Month – Jonathan Myers

Jonathan Myers is an imaginative illustrator who works in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, myth, fable and folklore. He has completed work for comic books, graphic novels, childrens’ books, puzzles, apparel, novels, trading cards, games and film. He works predominantly in pen and ink and paints in colored pencil. He has two decades of experience illustrating for a variety of clients and high profile properties. He first saw the original Star Wars film as a small child at the drive-in movie theater in 1977 and he was mesmerized by the story of Luke Skywalker. The spectacle of light, sounds and cinematic magic absolutely captivated his imagination and he fell in love with George Lucas’ visual masterpiece. Jonathan has completed many paintings featuring the characters, creatures and worlds of Star Wars and was honored to complete several pieces for R2-KT at the invitation of 501st founder, Albin Johnson. The artist’s work features enigmatic wizards, frightening monsters, beautiful damsels, heroic warriors and fantastic realms. You can follow his work at the following websites:
https://www.facebook.com/jonathanmyersart1974/
https://www.deviantart.com/jonathan-lola-myers
https://www.behance.net/odysseyill020a

http://www.banthabricks.com/