Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Happy 30th, Empire!

[Livio]

As any fellow Star Wars fanatic knows, this year is the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. My favorite movie of all time.

I always thought "Empire" showed Darth Vader at his most hardcore (Brutally mauling his own son, torturing Han Solo because he enjoys it, ordering his own fleet into an asteroid field and patiently waiting as it gets beat to hell, making a habit of choking his own officers, constantly changing the terms of a deal seemingly only because he likes screwing with Lando's mind, conspiring against his own Master, and generally not giving a %&#^).

And, the moment when Vader goes in with the ground troops raiding the rebel base during the battle of Hoth. I always liked that he doesn't care that there's a warzone all around him and he's going in on foot. With this painting, I wanted to pay homage to that scene with one of those "could have happened off-screen!" moments.

The idea here is that the Walker in the center has been brought down by rebel fire, but in true Vader fashion-he just doesn't care, and is strolling straight through the warzone toward the rebel base. I really worked on the atmospheric perspective here so that it looked similar to the film's colors.

See you next time!

-Livio

20 comments:

BboyRealm said...

any chance this will make it in print form for SDCC 2010? =)

andrea mangiri said...

wow..great!

Rich said...

That's fantastic!

raph said...

awesome job! any chance of posting a higher res version? i'd love to use this as a wallpaper =)

Unknown said...

fantastic! so cinematic. great color as well.

Livio Ramondelli said...

Bboy-Anything is possible:)

Raph- Shoot me an E-Mail at LivioRamondelliArt@yahoo.com and I'll send you a high-res!

And thanks for the kind words, everyone!

Jaymie said...

This is great. Any chance I can get a hi-res version as well?

Id be really interested in a print of some kind!!!!

Livio Ramondelli said...

Jaymie-Sure, shoot me an E-Mail and I'd be happy to give you a high-res!

Space Station Orbiter: Cloud 99 said...

Excellent job. Everything you discribed and the vibe you were going for in the last paragraph comes thru in the illustration.

A.... said...

Fantastic! It is almost cooler than the movie!

A.... said...

This would actually be the perfect gift for my girlfriends birthday. If I could get a high-res it would really make her day!

Livio Ramondelli said...

Space Station- Thanks, my friend!

A- Thanks for the compliment! Shoot me an E-Mail at LivioRamondelliArt@yahoo.com and we can discuss it.

steven illustrated said...

Impressive.
The force is strong with this one.

KiD RC said...

Love Vader, Love the Snowtroopers, Love the concept.
"Almost peed my pants" good.

Livio Ramondelli said...

Steven and KiD- Thanks, guys! Much appreciated:)

Unknown said...

lovely! would love a hi-res as well (panoramic wallpaper), if possible

Livio Ramondelli said...

Patman- Nice to hear from ya! Shoot me an E-Mail!

FIG said...

Awesome illustration, I remember seeing this over at your deviantart account.

Livio Ramondelli said...

Cool, Fig, thanks for checking it out!

Chris Battle said...

Absolutely BAD ASS.