Sketch of Max Von Sydow as Lor San Tekka

So some years it's easy to think of what you want to pursue more as a resolution. For me, this New Year's resolution was a resounding: DRAW MORE! 2015 was the dryest year yet for time spent away from the drawing pad, with attention spent more on photo manipulation and touching up family pictures (you parents of young kids out there know where I'm coming from). However, the neglect ends now. The first piece I drew this year ended up being taken from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, whose art books were a joy to flip through over the break. There will most definitely be more subjects taken from that universe as I work on getting my draftsmanship skills back up to snuff.

Actor Max Von Sydow as Lor San Tekka. Graphite on paper. 2016

Also, I read an art book over the weekend called Sketchbook for the Artist, that I highly recommend. It was the perfect refresher of illustration principles to keep aware of, no matter how many years you've been drawing.

Star Wars: Episode VII/Star Trek mashup movie posters

I’ve made two new Star Wars Episode 7 mashup movie posters, done in the same spirit as my last Star Wars/Little Miss Sunshine mashup poster. This time they’re a riff off this Star Trek: Into Darkness poster, since that director J.J. Abrams has been announced to also direct Episode 7:

One of the fun things about making Episode 7 fan art is sitting back and coming up with scenarios that might theoretically occur in the new sequels. There are many unanswered questions for them to address, such as which principle characters will drive the plot, which locations will be used, and which “wow” moments will be created. I tried illustrating two very different directions for these mashups, both involving the silhouette of the Rebel Alliance logo replacing the Star Fleet insignia from Star Trek.

For this first poster, I went to the Star Wars canon from the novels, where Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master, returns to planet Yavin IV with R2D2 to set up the new Jedi order at the Massassi temple. I’m fairly certain the Jedi order will begin to be remade in Episode 7, and will continue to grow throughout the new trilogy.

The second mashup features an unknown Jedi padawan, surveying a battle-ravaged Coruscant, where massive fleets of Mon Calamari and Imperial Star Destroyers wage war above the planet’s smoking skyline. I have faith that Coruscant will play a big role in the new films, since it was the home base for the Empire before expanding to the Outer Rim in the original trilogy, and the Rebel Alliance cannot rule with confidence unless they control the city planet. Time will tell if any of these ideas are proven correct.

See also: Boba Fett Episode VII Facebook cover image

Episode VII banner

With the news this week of George Lucas selling his Lucasfilm company and properties to Disney, I thought it would be fun to mash-up a little banner for the new Star Wars trilogy arriving in 2015.