Expanding gallery of what i think they all look like.

dukedogwalker.com

I'm planning to do some scenes from the books in the future also - ideas/suggestions more than welcome.

 

great pictures....looking forward to seeing the rest some time.

 

you have an amazing artistic style, very edgy, I think. Though you tend to loose a bit of the actual character appearence in the translation and adaption into your drawings, they still hold this incredible mystery... bravo!

Can't wait to see more,

[hl=white]-~Aanix~-[/hl]

 

thanks folks!

Aanix - I didn't quite understand the bit about appearance, do you mean they don't look quite how you think they should as characters?

If so then I'd very much welcome anything specific about individual looks that you, or anyone else for that matter, would change.

Half the reason I did this is coz I'm interested in different people's visual interpretations of what they read. I put 'the big three' in coz, well? they're the big three! But I'm far more interested in how the EU created characters look. I think I might do Corran next, and I?ve got quite a definite idea of how I want him to look?

My Tahiri looks quite different from the only pic I?ve seen of her (book cover), but I thought she looked a bit too old in that. I always imagined her as looking young, and little, so I drew her that way. Similarly, my Anakin Solo is quite different, but I built them all up from scratch ? using the ideas put into my head by the writers, as apposed to studying existing pictures.

I?m not really sure enough people visit the art forum for a debate, but if you?re passing through and have a bit of time, please put your ideas down here about how your favourite character should look. No two people are going to imagine the same thing!


I?ll post when I?ve done more?..

 

Duke-- Yes, I was refering to the way the characters look as apposed to cannon interpretations (though, lets face it, those aren't exactly consistent). Far be it for me to say anything as to EU drawings being inacurate, since even official artwork takes so much creative liscence that the characters have multiple appearences (some of which look only remotely similar) and it's really up to the reader's imagination to determine the appearance anyway; but I do think that your interpretations of the appearence of the big three, so to speak, weren't overtly acurate. But I think that it was just a matter of the way in which they were drawn, in the same way that Ian McCaig's drawings of Luke and Leia look different from another official artist's drawing.

As far as the drawings of EU characters, I really enjoyed them, especially your Jaina and Alema Rar. Your drawings in general are very dramatic, like music in minor, which is something that I tend to go for anyway, and I liked the almost gritty feeling to your drawing of Jacen (despite the fact that his physical structure and facial features weren't what I had pictured myself).

NEways, I shall bore all no longer, though I may stop by later to post on those character descriptions...

[hl=white]-~Aanix~-[/hl]

 

Very nice...and a very good idea. I've always wanted to do something like this...but I never get started on it...

 

Cheers Han! (wow, I never addressed anyone as ?Han? before? I think that must be a SW moment!)

Hey Aanix, this is just the sort of response I was hoping for ? great stuff!

So you weren?t happy with the accuracy of my ?big three? eh? Well Luke I did just from memory for the initial sketch, but his expression turned out just how I wanted so I couldn?t bring myself to change him. It?s a comic bookey sort of style anyway, mood being more important to me than perfect portraits. I used ref. for Leia, she actually turned out far more ?painted? than I wanted so I wasn?t so pleased with her, but all my non-sw mates said it was their favourite, so I left her be. Han? Well I?ll never change him ? I have to admit, I think that one might be my personal favourite! Each to their own?

But anyway, forget about them. EU?s more open to interpretation, and therefore more interesting ? so what about Jacen? How did you imagine his look? Don?t be wary of boring me ? it?s not gonna happen!

DD.

 

Ah, yes...Jacen...he looks pretty good except he looks a little too old for his age...especially around the face. Maybe it's the shadow around his eyes or the stubble on his face...I don't know.

BTW...I've been wanting to ask you...what medium(s) did you use to make them?

I think that must be a SW moment!

Heh...don't feel bad...I have those type of moments all the time

 

Well I imagined that picture as being shortly after his return from the events in traitor.

Did you notice the little scars on his body? I just remember Luke's reaction to his return in DW, not really the words, but my feeling as i read it. He felt MUCH older, and definitely world-weary. Left as a boy but returned as a man. He was described as having long hair and a close cropped beard - but i didn't want to go too christ like in his appearance, so I gave him a pony tail.

he's the only one I?ve drawn sitting down, almost as if he?s rising from a fall. I imagine he?s taking his time getting up, but there?s no question that he will. I imagine there being something implacable about him now. A quiet resolve, a result of his now being at peace with uncertainty.

Anyway I could talk about his personality all day ? I really try to get inside the head of whoever I?m drawing!


I use a wacom tablet. A couple years back I learned how to draw with one at the place I was working. I used to scan drawings on paper in at first, and then finish them in photoshop, but now I do everything with the tablet, from sketch to final colour. It only really takes a small adaptation to get used to it, and it?s so flexible once you do. It really opened up colour for me. I didn?t go to a very good school, and never really learned to paint, only doing my own stuff at home with pencils, ink, and charcoal. But they were all mono-chrome. I love using colour now! I haven?t used painter yet, but I?ve been meaning to have a go at it? Photoshop does the job fine though ? I use a small size airbrush set on a low pressure to sketch, and then a larger airbrush to work in the shading on top of base colours. With these pics I?ve added a bit of noise afterwards to get away from the smoothness of the airbrush, but the pic of jaina set into the navigation is noise free ? I wanted to do one with slightly more realistic lighting and it looked better that way.


DD.

 

They're all very cool! You've done a nice job with these! I've always wanted to do something like this, just haven't gotten around to doing it.

No offense, but I think my least favorite is Mara Jade Skywalker. Don't take it personally, very few people can nail my favorite character correctly (the way I see her) - though for me, it would have helped if you had used Mara Jade model Shannon (Baksa) McRandle's likeness.

Also, I guess it could be part of the lighting, but Mara's hair is supposed to be red-gold. She also looks a little too...harsh. But since she's clearly not pregnant, she does look like she's terribly sick (I hope that is what you were going for, or that will sound horribly mean).

I don't really have any other qualms with any of the others. I think my favorite is Viqi Shesh. She had always been one of my favorite characters, and in this illustration, she is just oozing with personality, nobility, and power. Very, very nicely done!

Also, I really enjoyed your illustration of Kyp. He is exactly how I imagined him to be.

Keep up the good work! Hope to see more!

-Mazzic

How about an illustration of Luke, Mara, and baby Ben?

 

I also thought that Mara was a little harsh, and her facial features seemed more square than I would have pictured, but I like that she was in fatigues and battle-ready.

As far as my own interpretations, I think I'd like to mention the drawing of Jag. I loved your depiction of Shawnkyr, I think I was more open to you interpretation because I hadn't given much thought to her appearence, but from now on, that drawing is going to affect her in my head. That was very well done.

However, I didn't like Jag so much. Not as much in the depiction, but in the technical aspects, like purpotions. His features appeared feminine in nature because his forhead slants back at an angle (which is a female trait, while males' foreheads are flat), and because his chin is at a very acute angle (another female trait, while male's chin's tend to have jaws that are closer to 90 degress). I usually wouldn't have been able to put my finger on this as an issue, but every since I took anthropology I've noticed it in everything (like with Disney, they use these traits to differentiate between males and females when working with animal characters [look at the young depictions of Simba and Nala in The Lion King, it's very obvious]). So that was my only problem with that piece.

I agree about Han, by the way, he's probably only second to Jaina out of the lot, I loved that piece, it captures his sort of mystique and is dramatic in nature but has a cocky undertone almost... which is so Han.

Well, I'll be back later,

[hl=white]-~Aanix~-[/hl]

 

Great, okay, where to begin?

Mara Jade first. This is why it?s so good to have these boards, coz it enables us to discuss all our own individual takes on all things SW! I figured maybe a lot of the Mara fans out there might not like my version, but then that?s just my viewpoint?sorry! Mara had been an established character in my mind for a long time before I ever saw Shannon Baska. When I did. I thought, oh no! That?s not at all how I imagined her! So my drawing probably veered off in the opposite direction?I didn?t so much want her to look sick so much as perhaps somewhat haggard. I wanted her to look angry and stressed, protective of her new baby ? a bit more of the old Mara too, ready to fight! I also wanted her to look tough, wiry, hence the angular jawline. She?s been through a lot, and I?m not too keen on the idea that these guys can walk through anything and come away unscathed. Still no grey hairs though!!! (Still has time to get busy with the hair dye!)

Oh and as for the red colour ? I did do a version with a more red-gold look, but I preferred the red! Anyway Mazzic, I looked at your bio and it also said you like Corran? Well I?m most likely doing him next, so let me know how you see him looking. I imagine something pretty close to the cover of I, Jedi myself. Something in the eyes ? I love that cover. (lost mine ?sniff, sniff!)


Quick word on Kyp and Shawnkyr, I jumped into both of them without really a clear idea of how I wanted them to look ? okay with Kyp I suppose I knew exactly what mood I wanted, but not exact appearance. I was pleased with both in the end, especially Shawnkyr for some reason?

Jag?s an interesting one? Again, when I started I wasn?t really sure what I was looking for, but pretty early on I found out. I always thought of his father as some sort of alpha male type. Big, strong, handsome? I didn?t want jag to be just another version of that. I thought of his mother ? movie star and intergalactic beauty? Obviously he?s a man, but somehow I wanted something a bit effeminate about him. Something of a contrast. Heavy set, muscular shoulders, on a compact pilot?s body. Also, the chiss always struck me as slightly androgynous, and maybe there?s a bit of that too.

As with his face ? I can sort of see your point Aanix, but I still like it! Funnily enough, putting the colour in had a way of narrowing the look. I think the deep purple background didn?t help, making it hard to see the outline of the hair, narrowing the head, thus accentuating the angle of the forehead ? but I wanted exactly that background colour for these two. The original sketch is probably a little closer to how exactly I wanted him to look. If that?s still too effeminate, well I?m not changing it coz I like it! I might do a new background one though ? it?s a matter of a few seconds to change.

[image=http://dukdog.freeservers.com/jag.jpg]


Thanks for all your superb feedback, I really appreciate it.


DD.

 

Those are your drawings? [face_shocked] They look really good.

I like your Jaina, though I thought she would look a lot more like Leia. As for your Mara, hmm... first, I really don't like Shannon Baksa, I thought she didn't look like the Mara in my imagination at all, so your drawing is good that it doesn't look like her The way I imagined her to look like, is how they drew her in the graphic novel (well, comic really) of The Last Command. I think they really nailed it there. You might want to check it out.

Just out of interest, have you thought about how tall those characters are? In The New Essential Guide to Characters, they've listed the heights for almost everyone included in the book. Mara Jade was like some 1.56 metres tall-- way too short IMO. Jaina was 1.49 if I remember correctly. Also too short. Sorry if that was too off-topic!

 

Yaaaawwwn.... I'm tired! It's something after 2 am here and i just got in. I know, I'm an old man - i can't hack it any more ! (Like I ever could...)

I'm cold too. My mate wanted to head down to SoHo and then go zooming about the place - it's too late in the year for motrbikes! Tried to get a race off a ferrari but there wasn't really any room... Anyway enough talk of my silly atempts to be luke skywalker, I think I'm rambling. I'm gping to bed.

Thanks Lil.

Mara's that short?!? I always imagined her as being quite tall... I suppose they don't want Luke to look too short!

But I always tought of jaina as being shortish, despite her descriptions in the books. I guess that's just me applying the fighter-pilot steriotype.

I drew Shawnkyr to look tall...


Goodnight!

 

How do I picture Corran?

Well, since I'm absolutly smitten by all of Mike Vilardi's work (he's like my mentor), his Corran Horn is my favorite. Here are some sketches of his Corran: [link=http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova/Corran/corran.jpg]1[/link] & [link=http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova/Corran/corranchat.jpg]2[/link].

Drew Struzan's[link=http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova/Corran/ijedi.gif] Corran[/link] is another of my favorite versions, as is [link=http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova/Corran/corranjinn.jpg]Dan Veesenmeyer's[/link].

Hope these help! I can't wait to see your version Corran! Also, what about seeing some Shada and Talon Karrde?

-Mazz

 

Many thanks for the Corran pics Mazz, I had some of them but only as smaller, more compressed jpegs. And that?s the best cover scan too ? helpful since I lost mine! It?s funny how those three different artists all still manage to capture the same personality about Corran, good mood or bad ? I?ll try my best for that too, coz that?s just how I see him. (I might do his hair different though ? never can say til I get there!)

Karrde?s pretty high on the list too ? probably a double with him and Shada? Although again, my image of Karrde was formed when I read the Thrawn books ? before I ever saw any art of him. His was one of the strongest images to stick in my mind from those books ? so I hope it?s not too diff. from the established look! Not sure about how to do Shada though ? time will tell?

I just realised ? you?re the guy who?s done all those portraits of different species? They?re fantastic ? but I guess I should head over to your thread and say that!

 

i love your interpretation of jaina & jagged fel. i'm a jag/jaina 'shipper

 

Thanks Aeryn! I've actually just done a slightly modified version of Jag, responding to Aanix's critique... he still looks basically the same though.

I just did my first scene too - Jaina's duel with Kyp in DJ (you probably don't like Kyp!) But I'll most likely do a Jag scene soon.

Corran's on his way and I'll upload then - for some reason I can't do it from my mac and it's a bit of a pain to transfer the files to a pc first!

 

I really like those..usually I check out the fan art and it's less than spectacular but your stuff is quite good and very cool.

 

Thanks Skylark - that's just coz I'm such a cool guy.





But do keep looking around, personally I think some of it's really good - and remember some of the artists here are young, and at an early stage of their artistic development... give 'em a chance!

Sorry, sounded like a lecture that did. I'll shut up now.

 

Hey, good stuff, Duke. I enjoy your artistic style.

 

Thanks Cheveyo!

 

i've done a new Jagged Fel version too - but i forgot to upload it! i'll do it soon.

 

That's a great looking Corran! I'd like his hair to be a bit lighter and have less facial hair, but I love the way he stands and the overall feeling of it. Very nice work.

 

Hi Duke-Dogwalker!

Just wanted to let you know, your drawings are great! Nice job, and impressive that you start from scratch with the wacom tablet. I do all my initial sketching with the wacom, but then i usually print that out and do a cleaned up drawing from it.

A couple images that really stood out to me - the lighting, pose, color on the Jaina pic is just amazing. My first reaction, before really looking at it, was that it was a 3D render. And secondly, your Leia picture is just beautiful. It doesn't scream "Leia" to me, but as a drawing, it has wonderful emotional impact. Really nice.

And I don't know if it's the way you are compressing the images for the web, but they all have this really cool grainy film-quality to them. Are you doing this on purpose? How are you doing it, if so. I really like it! Takes away the "digital" edge. (It is my whole quest as a digital artist to trick you into not knowing it's digital...)

Anyway, I haven't been around much lately, but wanted to say Hi, and tell you - Great Site!
~Baroness