Rest in Peace, Irvin Kershner

[Livio]

The world lost a great director last week with the passing of Irvin Kershner, the man who gave us "The Empire Strikes Back." If you ever get a chance to read an interview with him, you'll rarely find a more intelligent, thoughtful and caring person. Not to mention, a guy who really knew how to create atmospheric locations and stage amazing shots.

I missed out on a chance to meet Mr. Kershner at a recent comic-con when his illness tragically forced his cancellation of attending the show. I had a feeling at the time that it would be my last chance to meet him, and this turned out to be true.

Though I did get to see Lando Calrissian himself, Mr. Billy Dee Williams, at the same convention. And this was a pretty great experience in its own right. I did this Lando piece in an attempt to portray one of the human characters of Star Wars. The likeness is based on some photo reference of the main man himself.

"Empire" is a constant source of inspiration for me, and I thank Irvin Kershner for making such a great film.

-Livio

More 'Lil Peeps'

[Oliver]

Hey y'all's, here are some more recent 'baby' drawings that I've done for fun (and for sale). ;)

They're fun and easy to do and keeps me busy when I'm burnt out on regular comic work.

I've gotten a great reaction and it's been a good way to sell lower-priced art to fans who can't afford the regular-priced stuff.

Anyhoo, hope you likes! ;)

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

Clone War

[Livio]

I was a big fan of Gendy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars series that first aired a few years back. More so than the actual Star Wars prequels, I felt like that animated series painted a really cool portrait of just what an entire galaxy at war would look like. And I always enjoyed seeing these elite Clonetrooper soldiers carrying out an impossible assignment on some god-awful planet.

So with this painting, I wanted it to seem sort of like a World War 2 photo taken during one of the rare "quiet" moments of combat. This was also the first digital painting I've done entirely in Photoshop, with no Painter IX. Which I didn't even notice until I finished it.

Until next time!

-Livio

My First Leia

[Lopez]

Hello all, hoping SDCC treated everyone well. This was one of the first commissions I did there and definitely my first Princess Leia ever.

It was kinda strange, because I was going to do just a random female in a Leia outfit, but it just was not working for me, so I tried to give her the Carrie Fisher look. I did a couple head sketches and then it was like, "oh-kay there she is."

This was actually a real fun commission for me. Now I can't wait to draw her again. The Star Wars stuff was never anything I thought about drawing too much, but now I'm actually looking forward to doing more!

I'm currently jamming on a piece with Livio Ramondelli, featuring everyone's favorite bounty hunter and some of his favorite ladies.

Estar Guars

exposicion Ricardo

Y Tu Mama Tambien.

:P