ST Concept Art Discussion Thread

While I respect your opinion, I totally disagree with it. It felt just as much like Star Wars to me as the OT which came before it. This comes from someone who grew up on the OT in the 80's. IMO, the best option would be for there to be a mixture of aesthetics between the OT, the PT, as well as something unique to the ST, and I think that combination is what we shall get.

 

Its worth mentioning that the transition from concept art to what we see in the final film is not a pure process; it is affected by everyone from the cinematographer to the model-makers to the director.

Chiang's early work on TPM, for example, was extremely expressive and dramatic in its use of light, angles, and shapes. The final film, despite utilizing mostly the same designs for ships and locations, feels much more reserved and stately in its presentation of those designs. Just google "Doug Chiang Phantom Menace" and you'll see what I mean.

But I think Chiang's work on TPM, if nothing else, is very creatively stimulating to behold; you want to explore more of that universe he drew. That's why I'm glad he's back on, and relating to this thread, that's why I can't wait till we get our hands on more (and less fuzzy) concept art.

 

I agree 100% with this. Chiang and McCaig seemlessly extended the look and feel of Star Wars because they were tasked with creating new looks for a different era in a familiar universe. Their creative talent achived this. I imagine the ST, set in another era, will have a slightly different feel but also have familiar touchstones aswell. That is one of the exciting things about the ST.

 

I like Doug.

 

Doug Chiang was my favorite of the concept artists on the prequels. His stuff is great and reminds me quite a bit of Ralph McQuarrie's work on the OT. As far as the aesthetic goes, I seem to recall Chiang talking about how he originally thought everything would be angular and beat up like in the OT and he was surprised when Lucas directed him in the sleeker, more organic direction.

I actually have a book full of Chiang's work from the mid-90's - it was the first edition of the Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, with his illustrations of all the OT ships like the Falcon and the X-Wing, in addition to his renditions of EU ships that hadn't really been seen before in detail. I recommend checking it out.

 

Dig Dug.

I like Chiang's concept work for TPM and AOTC(He wasn't on ROTS). Same with McCaig's work. All top notch.

 

Newbie question: who was the main concept artist for ROTS? Are they known to ge back for VII?

 

It was actually a trio: Ryan Church and Erik Tiemens were the main concept designers while Ian McCaig was the overall supervisor. Church and Tiemens went freelance after ROTS(though Tiemens was on the Star Wars "Underworld" tv show as a concept artist for a while).

 

Concept design supervisor for (including AOTC) ROTS was Ryan Church.
I can't resist, one of his works :



I can't find any articles about his involvement in Ep 7 so I'd guess he won't return.
He also worked on two J. J.'s Star Trek movies.

 

He could return though as a freelancer. I guess it just depends on his schedule and what the demands are for the project. We still don't know the whole art team yet.

 

This has probably already been discussed but approximately how long before filming did we start seeing production art for each of the prequels? (I realise things may be different now with Disney in charge and Abrams' penchant for secrecy but it may give us some idea of roughly when we can expect some more images, if they do decide to follow the methods used in the past.)

 

While looking again at this thread it seems that the island in the concept art is Skellig Michael.

 

Is that Luke on the monitor in Empire on Dagobah.

 

Good catch swcolts1277 !

 

I gotta say, I'm really not a fan of Ryan Church in Star Wars - although I could see an argument for him doing well with Star Trek.
Everything looks smooth and chrome, there are big red glowy things looking all dramatic, the shapes are simplified and more angular, and even a lens flare on the Star Destroyer's engine.
I wish him nothing but luck in his career, and I'm eager to see his work in other settings, but his style was a big part of the problem for me (in oh so many nitpicky ways), even when he's trying to hearken to the OT. It'd be a great confidence-booster if I knew he wasn't on the team for Ep7.

 

Yes. Seeing that Samurai solo Obi-Wan is frustrating too. What could have been.

 

Totally agree!

 

Any new concept art to discuss?? Post it here! So nice to catch up on all the speculation involving one fast ship we will see again.

 

A recent report from Making Star Wars described some Ep. 7 concept art from Ryan Church.

 

There have been so many concept art leaks, yet none of them made it to our original discussion thread. We should all be ashamed.