If there’s a mythology that defined my whole childhood, that’s without a doubt Star Wars.
I’ve seen all the movies at the theater –the first time they were released!– and every single time I still get a rush whenever my ears are blasted with that initial “BLAAAAAM!” as the title appears on the black screen.
Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, I certainly love and appreciate them as well –I always cry whenever Samwise carries Frodo to the top of mount Doom– but Star Wars is just part of my DNA.
Which is why when my good friend Paul Kimball asked me to create a commission of him and the entire cast of his TV series Haunted portrayed as Jedi knights, I jumped at it harder than a womp rat being shot from a T-16 on Tatooine.
Paul had a VERY specific vision of how he and his team should be presented, although he allowed for a few creative decisions of mine. For example, Holly (to his right) is wearing robes resemblant to the ones used by Mace Windu, but I chose to alter them slightly to make them slightly more feminine –and I also gave her buccaneer boots, because why the hell not??
All of the characters’ faces are just slightly caricaturized, concordant with the realistic proportions of their bodies. I also chose this time not to colorize the ink lines because I wanted them to look like traditional comic book characters –and also because colorizing lines is a VERY time-intensive process, and Paul was eager to show the piece to the team during the wrap-up party celebrating the end of their last season.
BTW this is not the first time I’ve made illustrations of Paul and Holly. He also asked me to do a previous one for promotional purposes. That one is probably the only one I have made in totally realistic style –no caricature– and I’m quite happy with how it turned out, too –there’s always room for improvement, of course; but that’s part of keep experimenting…
If you’re in Canada, you should definitely check out Paul’s TV series Haunted. Trust me: it’s not your typical ghost hunting show!
Absurd by Design 
[…] of a ‘fantasy’ image, although of a different kind: Way back in April a friend of Paul Kimball, Paul Russell, contacted me because he was interested in me creating a very special commission. […]
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