A&A The Official Jan Duursema Discussion Thread

Jan Duursema is a well know Star Wars comic book artist.

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Discuss Jan's art in this thread!

 

Oh COOOOOL! She's my favoritest! Any chance she'll actually show up here?! Hope hope hope!

 

Congratulations on coming up with a cool character like Villie. He is very funny.

I cannot wait for the Deveronian version.

All the best Villiemace

 

Yeah, she's definitely the best artist Star Wars comics have had in a while; I can't wait for Episode II adaptation!

 

Jan's a really nice lady and she's so cool to actually come visit us here at FF. She's also a really talented artist that is as much of a SW fan as the rest of us. you Rock Jan!

 

The art in the Darth Maul comic was phenominal. Darkness was my favorite Star Wars comic, both because of the art and the story. Can't say enough good things about Jan.

 

hey jan!
hope to hear from you soon!
i have one question.

with all the additions and deletions of the jedi for epII - most of which seem to be in favor of most humanoid characters who will be easier to script, etc., how come he didn't take a layup and use quinlan vos?

after all, you and i could both argue that it was him at the market in epI on tattoine.

 

In my opinion, of all the new SW comics to be released lately, Darth Maul and Darkness had the best artwork. It wasn't too cartoony and it had alot of detail, I hope to see more comics with that same kind of artwork, as it is my favorite.

 

Hi! Thanks for the nice comments on my work! Getting the chance to draw for the Star Wars books has been incredible. I am loving every minute of it!

Darth Maul was an intense project--and Maul is one of my favorite characters so I was extremely happy to be asked to draw the mini. Darkness was also really fun--Quinlan Vos is another favorite of mine--and we got to introduce several new Jedi--Quin's Master,Tholme, Volfe Karkko, T'ra Saa and Zao.

Just completed pencils on AotC recently--(and even having worked on it and knowing far too much about EP II--I STILL can't wait to see the movie! It is so going to rock! The latest Trailer gave me the same feeling I got seeing Star Wars for the first time--it captured that kind of excitement!)

Currently, I'm working on an arc for the SW Ongoing (with John Ostrander and Ray Kryssing) that will start with issue 42 called Rite of Passage. Dave McCaig and I will be doing the covers for this one as well. I'm really excited about this arc--we will finally get to see Quin and Aayla working together.

Who knows, maybe we'll see Quin in Ep III? Maybe he was off on another mission during II? It would be totally cool to see Quin fighting alongside other Jedi--but I will always think that he was in that cantina in EP I. Right now, I'm just really thrilled that Aayla could appear in II!

The other project I'm excited about right now is an 8 page story I wrote and drew for SW Tales 11. Dave McCaig colored it from my pencils. Can't wait to see it printed!

Just wanted to say--thanks again for the positive feedback! Any questions or comments--I'll be checking in from time to time and I'll answer everything as best I can.

Take care! --Jan

 

Hi, Jan, do you read CrossGen comics?

 

jan!
that's so cool that you dropped by!

so, no info as to why quinlan couldn't pop up epII?
that's too bad.

the story with him in the last sw tales was cool.
it proved that he survives at least epII, b/c he sees a teenage han solo!
but that, of course, is considered EU.

it would be cool to see rogue agent jedi being called to duty in epIII once the ranks are depleted!

i guess there is still hope!

if you ever can leak us a tidbit about your little pet jedi quinlan -- please send us a whisper.

 

Jan, "Ghost" was definately the shining star of SW tales #11. The art was wonderful! I'd never seen or heard of this Quinlan Vos Jedi before, but he looked stunning
I also thought you captured young Han's expressions beautifully. He really looked like a young Harrison Ford to me

 

Darth Ludicrous wrote:
"Hi, Jan, do you read CrossGen comics?"

Hi, Darth L--on occasion. I've seen some of the books that Rick Magyar has done. He's a fave of mine.

Leela wrote:
"Jan, "Ghost" was definately the shining star of SW tales #11. The art was wonderful! I'd never seen or heard of this Quinlan Vos Jedi before, but he looked stunning
I also thought you captured young Han's expressions beautifully. He really looked like a young Harrison Ford to me"

Again, Leela, thanks! I'm glad you liked "Ghost" and Han and especially Quin (next to Obi-Wan and Mace he is my favorite Jedi.) If you are interested in seeing more of his story, read TWILIGHT, DARKNESS and RITE of PASSAGE (which will be out in May 02.)
It was really fun to try something different with the art--having Dave McCaig paint over my pencils--and I think the result was pretty darn cool. I'm very fortunate to be able to work with super talents like Dave M and Ray Kryssing (the inker on AotC and Darkness.) They ROCK!

Episodenone wrote:
"so, no info as to why quinlan couldn't pop up epII?
that's too bad.
the story with him in the last sw tales was cool.
it proved that he survives at least epII, b/c he sees a teenage han solo!
but that, of course, is considered EU."

Far as EpII and Quin--it would be too cool to see Quin in EPII, but I don't think so. That's ok--he's the kind of character who works behind the scenes anyway...so he's probably up to something during this time.
Yes, it's EU--but EU is fun because all things become possible.

 

G'day Jan

Tom AKA Villiemace here

I have now got Tales 11 and out of all of the stories in there my favourite was Ghost. It was great seeing Quinlan with han. You get a large sense of Quin's sadness of the jedi being wiped out. He still managed to retain that aura of mystery that he had in his first appearence in Emissaries to Malastare. I aggree with Skawookie about Quinlan appearing more in the empire/rebellion era. It would make for some great stories. Is this your first story that you actually wrote as well as drew. If so excellent first effort and i hope to see more in the future.

One or two questions though:

Where did quin disapear to at the end of the story?

Also is villie still alive after the purge and will he be meeting up with quin again in the future after rites of passage?

As I am writing this i have not been to Tunisia yet, ( I go on sunday) but rest assured I will be taking ghost with me when I do go just so I can read it again in Tunisia, it is THAT good.

Just in case you read the tales 11 thread and see my post and then come here and see exactly the same message in the authors and artist post, the reason i have put the same message here is because I am unsure if the tales 11 thread will be around after two weeks when I come back from holiday. I am looking forward to hearing a reply from you so I have put the message here where I know i will be able to find it more easily than the tales 11 thread.

All the best and have a happy easter

Tom AKA villiemace

 

You know I was one of the lucky ones who had a store screw up and I must say

Your work on AOTC is amazing.

I won't go into it to much (don't want to get banned) but if you don't mind me saying you've come along way from Darth Maul (and that was amazing too. )

 

Jan I've been thinking of a few questions I hope you could answer next time you pop in.

1. Do you know of any plans by Dark Horse to do an Episode II adventure series like they did for Episode I?

2. How is the Star Wars ongoing going to change after AOTC? Any news on this would be hot but I understand that you probably can't say much so specificaly I was wondering about sabers.

Will Secura's be blue now. What about Ploo's or Mundi's? Will we see fewer diffrent colors?

 

Weezer, I think DHC has announced that they are not doing an "Adventures" series for AotC, but I could be wrong.

 

Well that sucks

You would know too.

 

Hi Jan! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and comments with us!

I, too, was happy to see Quinlan featured in Star Wars Tales # 11!!! Personally, I can never get enough of Quinlan Vos stories and artwork!!!

I was also pleased to see the desert planet, Socorro, featured as a setting in that Tales story as well. (I've been a big fan of Patricia Jackson's Star Wars workproduct thru West End Games and it's always nice to Patty's creation, Socorro, mentioned by the other licensees, (i.e., Decipher, Bantam, Dark Horse, etc.)). Unless you already have done so, I highly recommend checking out the roleplaying supplement, Black Sands of Socorro! It's an awesome world building (among other things) piece!!!!

On a different note, I wish I had my references handy, but I was looking through an older "Amazing Heroes" magazine/newszine, and much to my delight, there was a featured article on you!!! This article also displayed some of your work for DC Comics as well!!! I don't have the DC book title at hand, but the characters seemed to have a fantasy oriented look about them which for whatever reason, made me think of "Quinlan Vos" (I don't remember why . . . for some reason I keep thinking of a female character's hair as well as some of the various characters' attire!!!) I would love to compare your work then with DC - to now with Dark Horse. Part of me also wonders what influences helped you develop the look of characters like "Quinlan Vos" or the Dathomiri Witch/Nightsister from the Darth Maul series - by their respective appearances alone, it seems like we can infer tons of thoughts as to their distinctive cultures!!!

Always, continued success and I look forward to the AotC's adaptation!!! I also hope you make another appearance at San Diego Comic Con this summer!!!

 

Hi Jan,

I bought 'Rite of Passage' #1 today and it was fantastic! The art and small details in the backgrounds were amazing, as usual.

With the AOTC comic release and your previous ongoing SW series work (haven't missed an issue in the series yet), you have sky-rocketed to the top of my favorite SW artist list.

Please keep up the great work!

Thanks,
CGD

 

Hi everyone! Time at last to catch up on this thread!

VillieMace! So cool that you liked Ghost!

>>You get a large sense of Quin's sadness of the jedi being wiped out.>>

This was a very important aspect of the story to me. I wanted the sense that Quin knew he was one of the last Jedi and that he had seen many of his friends and fellow Jedi die. I think someone like Quin would always retain a mysterious quality--that's what makes him one of my favorite Jedi! I would really like to do more stories like this, but we'll have to see what the future brings.

To answer your other questions--<<Where did Quin disapear to at the end of the story?>>

I always thought that being a Jedi would mean you have the ability to hide your presence from others. Quin and his Master Tholme are certainly both masters of that. But I wanted the reason for Quin's disappearence to be left up to the reader--did the mind trick that Quin used on Han cloud his mind enough so it seemed like Quin just vanished? Or--Was Quin really there at all. Was he actually a ghost? (that's where the title came from)

<<Also is Villie still alive after the purge and will he be meeting up with Quin again in the future after Rite of Passage?>>

I don't really know what the future holds for Villie. My feeling is that Villie is a survivor. I think he would be around for the Empire--and probably making a darn good living smuggling spice, blasters--whatever he can get his hands on! I'd love to see Villie in future stories. He's so much fun to draw because he knows he's bad!

Again, glad you enjoyed Ghost(enough to take it with you to Tunisia--wow! I could get used to this being appreciated stuff!

Hope you are enjoying Rite of Passage! I'm working on the final issue now.

 

Weezer--Aayla's saber will be blue now! Dave McCaig just finished painting a cover for issue 44 and her saber was blue. Should be blue in Rite of Passage also.

Ana Vitorrian--Thanks for the positive comments on Quinlan. That story was so much fun to work on--and Dave M did such a nice job painting it over my pencils!

<<I was also pleased to see the desert planet, Socorro, featured as a setting in that Tales story as well. (I've been a big fan of Patricia Jackson's Star Wars workproduct thru West End Games and it's always nice to Patty's creation, Socorro, mentioned by the other licensees, (i.e., Decipher, Bantam, Dark Horse, etc.)). Unless you already have done so, I highly recommend checking out the roleplaying supplement, Black Sands of Socorro! It's an awesome world building (among other things) piece!!!!>>

I will check that supplement out for certain. Socorro has been one of those Star Wars locales that I've always wanted to visit.

Wow. You found that old Amazing Heroes! That was back when I was drawing Warlord and Arion!

Quinlan was developed off a background character in Ep I in the outdoor cantina scene. He just looked like he would be a Jedi to me! The Dathomiri Witch/Nightsister in Maul was heavily influenced by some wonderful sketches and drawings that had been done for EP I. I think they were the pre-production sketches for Maul himself. When I'm drawing Star Wars, I try to research everything I can on a species or type of character and pull my influences off of that. Beyond that I always try to consider culture and climate to design a species or character or world. I really enjoy Ryloth--they have 'windows' that are made from a microscopic living creature that naturally forms membranes in the caves and as a bonus gives off a soft light. Their floors are basalt formations and they carve their walls with symbols that I always supposed could be read as stories or music with their lekku. (do you get the impression that I love doing this this?)

Thanks for the good wishes. I hope to be at San Diego and Chicago this summer!

Chaingunsofdoom--Glad you are liking Rite of Passage so far. It's been a great story to draw! Hope you liked the AOTC comic as well--now that everyone can finally read it after seeing the movie!

If you like the Star Wars Ongoing book let Dark Horse know--they love to hear from you! I will keep drawing Star Wars as long as they let me!

 

Oh man, I missed Jan! Just my luck.

Anway, Jan, if you come back, I met you at CII. It was very nice to meet you, and thanks for signing my Twilight #1. (I was at the very back of the line on Saturday, and you let me cut directly to your booth.)


Also, for those you haven't gotten yet, go get Rite of Passage. It's awesome to see more of Aalya Secura. Jan did you meet Amy Allen?

Jan is by far the best Star Wars artist right now. The detail is amazing, and the realness to the characters is very good.

Maul was awesome.

Question - In the comic adaption for AotC, there are no scenes with Padme's parents. Did that get written after you started, or did you know it was being cut from the final release, so didn't put it in?

 

Elegant Weapon--I remember you at C2--There was a holdup in front of the line for some reason and no one was coming around--so you got your book signed quickly!

I did get to meet with Amy (twice!) She was so wonderful--and generous with her time, letting me take some pictures of her to use as reference for her character for Rite of Passage.

I'm glad you are enjoying this arc so far. I promise the story builds in intensity right up through the final issue!

For AOTC--I did know about the scenes with Padme's family--but we knew they were going to be cut so they were not drawn for the Adaptation. Some other scenes were drawn and later cut, like the scene with Obi-Wan and the analysis droids in the Temple. With other scenes there was little or no reference, because they had not been filmed yet!

Thanks for the compliment on Maul--I could draw him every day!

 

Pikced up a copy of ATOC, and it was really great, as is all of your SW work...When first picking up Twilight, I didn't expect that much, I just loved the covers...but then it turned out to be one of the best comics I've ever read. Quinlan Vos is a fantastic character, and I was glad to find he survives for quite some time (reading Ghosts)...have you thought of how he'd die, or is that to remain a secret. Some ways, I'd prefer it did...

So, any hints as to what you'll be doing after Rite of Passage? (Still waiting for it to reach Sweden...)