Really? A Princess?

In a lot of ways this feels like the first work day of the new year. Holiday travel (and colds) are behind me, I've cleaned and culled my office and studio, and am trying out a new schedule. I'm sure more discipline will do me good.

These thumbnails are from a while ago. I started out looking for a sketch for a new playmat, but was surprised when a much longer story started pouring out. Eight pages of sketches and story notes later I hope I can find the right way to tell it.

--Drew

San Diego Comic Con 2012

SDCC looms just a few days away. I don't have a display space to tie me down, but I will be part of Del Rey's signing for Star Wars: the Essential Guide to Warfare. Friday, July 13th, from 11:00am-Noon, Del Rey Star Wars booth #2913D (outside corner of the Star Wars pavilion against the wall) you can meet me, the author, and some of the other artists.

Mean while, here are some sketches for something I've been picking away at for a while:

Still some decisions to be made, but I think it's coming along.

Essential Guide to Warfare: Mygeeto

I contributed ten pieces to Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare, which came out this month. Here's how I developed one of them.

It was a half page spread -- half a page high, two pages wide -- of the battle on Mygeeto. In short the process was: thumbnails, drawing, color studies, painting. Of course it's never as simple as it sounds, but that's my story.

45"x15" Oil on panel. Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

It makes me think I should paint more often.

--Drew

A new piece and two step by steps on WIPnation.com

Over on my WIPnation page I've posted a few step by steps. The first two are of my Stalking the Unicorn and Stalking the Dragon covers. I've also posted how this dragon piece has come along from the pencil stage.

Creature sketch from Illuxcon

Here's a sketch I did at Illuxcon, using a bit of Iain McCaig's process and advice from Allen Williams.

Speaking of San Diego: Heather Theurer

At San Diego Comic Con I got my first good look at Heather Theurer's art. You would think with her recent Spectrum silver award her work wouldn't have had a chance to surprise me, but it did. And, I confess, I now have something of a school-boy crush on her paintings.

I just found out she's running a Kickstarter for an art book, and thought other folks out there may be interested, yet not already heard of it. So here are links to Heather's site, a couple of her dragon paintings, and her Kickstarter project. Have a look. Enjoy!

Heather Theurer's website
Air Dragon
Game of Chase
Heather's art book Kickstarter

Back From San Diego

Thanks to generous sponsorship by Steve Argyle I was able to attend San Diego Comic Con this year. It was my first time, and thoroughly exhausting.

I now present a selection of doodles from napkins and a boarding pass:

I like to think I generally feel pretty free to play in my sketch book, but knowing these weren't part of that semi-permanent record seemed to be a bit liberating. Interesting. Well, to me, anyway.

Steve Argyle