Star Wars Sketchbook - Tusken Raiders

Tusken Raiders

Hey, it's been a while since I did a "Star Wars" Sketchbook, so here's another page (well, two pages, I guess) in that sketchbook filled.  I always liked the Tusken Raiders.  When I first saw the movie as a 7-year-old in the theaters (yes, I'm that old), they were mildly-terrifying as my brain tried to process what I was seeing.  Basically, it looked like mummies with gun-barrel eyes.  There is something visually arresting about them.

The palette was pretty simple: Titanium White, Carbon Black, Payne's Grey, Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue.

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STEP ONE:  Here's a sketchbook page(s), using toned gesso as a ground, and the pencil sketch done with colored pencil.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the underpainting.  I thought the second Tusken Raider in the background was a little far over, so just roughly painted it over to the right to (hopefully) improve the composition.  I also gave him a more mellow pose, rather than the more agressive stance--Just to give it more of a feeling of a couple of Tusken Raiders hanging out.

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STEP THREE:  Further along in the painting process...

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STEP FOUR:  And here's the finished painting.  As always, now that it's done, I see a bunch of things I should have done to make the painting better, small things to fix and correct... But, sometimes, that way lies madness.  It can easily spiral into an infinity of "Lemme fix that"... until the painting is never finished.  To paraphrase George Lucus, art is never finished, only abandoned.  He's probably right in that.  So, in honor of Mr. Lucas, here is the abandoned painting of the Tusken Raiders.

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Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" Stillman & Brin Mixed Media (140#) paper.

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