Today on the blog I have for you the process that went into the making of one bad space kitty, the Nexu, for the Star Wars RPG book,
Beyond the Rim. I shared this with you originally in September... how time flies. To get us back up to speed, here is how the final Nexu turned out...
Nexu
© 2013 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games
Since the Nexu is an established creature there is a lot of reference out there to make sure to looks accurate to what was on screen in Star Wars: Episode II. That said, it is amazing how much inaccurate reference out there. From my experience with film production and manufacturing constraints it looks like the Nexu went through a final set of revisions for the movie after "approved" designs were sent out to the toy and product companies. If you look hard enough you can final some very different looking Nexu. After negotiating the Nexu reference I was able to gather film accurate resources to work from and I got to work on some thumbnails...
Nexu - Thumbnails
© 2013 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games
As a rule I usually submit a minimum of three thumbnails for any project, but sometime for these isolated figures two thumbnails are enough (this is after years of working in general in addition to having lots of experience working on a specific license and with specific art directors). After thumbnail "A" I thought I nailed it and then I did thumbnail "B"... and then knew I was totally wrong about my initial thoughts on "A". Maybe if "A" had more of a curve to the body like a pouncing cat it would have worked batter... but it is very stiff. Oh well. Needless to say "B" was picked and I was given the blessing to move forward with the drawing...
Nexu - Drawing
© 2013 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games
The drawing came together quickly and was approved without incident. While rare, there are times when an issue comes up after the final drawing is completed. At this stage of the process I am really starting to gear up to start working, so any big revisions to the drawing can sometimes throw me off my game for the painting. Thankfully it is VERY rare.
With the final drawing approved it is now time to get started on some paint work! In just eight easy steps you too can have your very own Nexu! Or not...
Nexu - Process Steps
© 2013 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games
Again, really straight forward piece that come together quickly. With no environment, being a single figure, and having rather generic lighting these isolated pieces can come together very quickly. There was one note at the end after it was submitted to tweak the lighting on the tail... but I can barely figure out now what I did or was asked to do.
Have you ever wondered what one of my paintings looked like at 100% at its original size? Well, here you go! The original is 9x11 and is 300 dpi. Here is a crop of the face, at 72 dpi this section now measures over 14x14. You can see just how loose and how tight I work these days. As tight as it might look to some of you it is VERY loose to where I once was and have to keep myself from returning to...
Nexu - Painting at 1000%
© 2013 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games
I think the intended size of this piece was to be 4.5x 5.5. FFG asks for the pieces at 600 dpi or to make them double size at 300 dpi. I prefer to work on them at 300 dpi and will gladly make them at double dimension size. Why? Because you never know how the piece will be used and when the piece is nice and big this can happen...
Living large on the page... RAWR!
Notice anything about the tail in the final printed book? Hmmmm.... I wonder why that choice was made after I turned in the work? It is theirs now, they can do whatever they would like with it! Again, here is how the final Nexu turned out on my end of the process....
Nexu
© 2013 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...
