I was a big fan of the first two Star Wars movie. I remember seeing the first one with my dad. I guess I was about 11 or 12. And I remember loving The Empire Strikes Back, with its darker tone and cinematography. And Yoda was great too, even though he sounded a bit like Fozzie Bear. He was a puppet, but he worked so well, and was so believable.

Return of the Jedi, though, was life-changing. When you’re a kid, going to the movies is exciting, even if the movie isn’t great. You don’t judge it, you just love the experience. I didn’t go to the movies all that often, either. But when I saw Jedi, I sat down tingling with excitement, and felt a thrill as the 20th Century Fox trumpets blared. And then… I was bored. The first part, in Jabba the Hut’s lair, was a snooze. When the heroes escape, there is some brief excitement, and some good stuff. Then we get to the Ewoks. The silly, childish, horrible Ewoks. They derailed the movie with their “cute”.

What was life changing? I think it was the first film I felt truly disappointed with. I went to opening night of the next one, The Phantom Menace, and again had the thrill of those trumpets. And again felt really disappointed (I understand I was not alone). I never bothered with the remaining two.

But today, I decided to revisit Star Wars, with a Yoda-style dog. I had fun working in a limited palette, and with roughing in the paints and then adding details, without the hard outlines I so often use. Not only that, I worked fast. It may show, but for this project, doing a piece a day, you can’t spend a long time on the pieces. Some I plan to revisit in the future. Still, I feel pretty good about this one. I start teaching Corel Painter again today, and I’m glad I warmed up to prepare for the kids.

Categorized as: Drawing