The Droid's Task - Star Wars: It Binds All Things - Process

Back in January I shared with you The Droid's Task that I created for the It Binds All Things expansion of the Star Wars Card Game. Now that this expansion has been released the time has finally come to share the process that went into this piece. So we are all on the same page, here is how the final piece turned out...

The Droid's Task

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

This piece needed to portray the deadly bounty hunter droid, IG-88, having a meet and greet in Jabba's Palace as it received a mission or task. There was only one logical next step... REFERENCE! I started things off with creating several tableaus based on some composition ideas that I had and used my vast collection of action figures to work out my thoughts. When it was all said and done, three of my reference images rose to the top...

Reference! Let the toys do the heavy lifting during concepts

Now that I had a starting point for my compositions I got to work on my thumbnails. There was still a bit to do to turn the reference into something usable, but they were a big help in getting this complex scene headed in the right direction. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

The Droid's Task - Thumbnails

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

While I liked them all, "C" was my favorite and the winner as far as Zoe and FFG were concerned. It conveyed that this scene was at Jabba's Palace and it focused heavily on IG-88 getting some sort or instructions, duty... or TASK, as it were. With an approved thumbnail it was time for a drawing...

The Droid's Task - Drawing

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

BOOM! Drawing done and approved... time for some painting. This piece was a very odd size and I ended up making it really big so that I could get a enough height to get the detail level I prefer. In the end, the file is twenty or more inches wide. Here is a breakdown of the piece in sixteen steps...

The Droid's Task - Process steps

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

You might notice there is a lot of editing of IG-88 towards the end and that we loose Bib Fortuna. Once the painting was finished and turned in there were several requests for revisions from FFG. First was to remove Bib (I will paint you another day my friend) he was pulling focus in the middle of the image. There was some concern IG-88 was a little beefy in all the wrong areas and that the table he was sitting at was causing his limbs to appear shorter then they are. When it was all said and done there was a bit of editing late in the game... but, it made the client happy and so it gets addressed. Here is a more thorough animated break down of the panting coming together...

The Droids' Task animated process thingy...

Always nice to work with named 'monster' characters and I am a huge Jabba fan, so getting to paint him again was fun. While all the edits were a little stressful, end the end it did make for a stronger image that was easier to read at a glance. Again, here is how the final image turned out as well as the final production card...

The Droid's Task

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

The Droid's Task in handy dandy card form

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...
 

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com