Today, StarWarsShop is proud to offer a limited edition fine art print of Princess Leia composed by Lucas Online's own senior designer, Craig Drake.
"I make sure lasers look good on the internet," jokes Drake, whose "The Princess" artwork print has been a personal pet project of his over the past year. When Drake first revealed the rough sketches to both the Online group and to StarWarsShop, the response was unanimous -- he must create a commercial print of the artwork, since, as children of the '80s, we all wanted one for our own collections.
For the uninitiated (or too young to remember), Drake's "The Princess" artwork is reminiscent of the pervasive style of illustrator Patrick Nagel, whose posters and prints became fixtures of interior design during the 1980s (older fans might remember the artist's famous cover illustration for Duran Duran's Rio album from 1982). There's also a hint of the guitar-strumming vamps of Robert Palmer's classic '80s "Addicted to Love" music video.
We asked Drake what inspired him to render Leia, another '80s icon, in the era's signature style. "Like a lot of Star Wars fans having grown up in the '80s, I was exposed to some amazing signature pop culture visuals," says Drake, who suggests Nagel's style probably came closest to representing the fashion and opulence of the '80s. "Truthfully, his style really annoyed me as a kid, but as time went on I began rediscovering his work -- his brilliantly minimalist yet bold vision of beautiful, strong women is what inspired me to illustrate Princess Leia."
Even Leia's pose appears to be classic '80s. "Right down to that icy pout and the aerobics dance posture she's working," says Drake, who chose a classic pose of the princess from The Empire Strikes Back. "Out of all the Leia photos, there was no question this was the one to open a potential series with. Plus her neat snow jumpsuit was my personal favorite. I know the popular choice is the slave number, but she just kicks galactic booty in this one!"
For "The Princess", Drake utilized a Wacom tablet pen in Adobe Illustrator, using the eyes to set the tone for the entire illustration. The color scheme was inspired by the classic muted palette of the era as well as the Japanese schemes found in centuries-old wood block prints and portraits of Kabuki and Geisha.
Since the possibility exists for further entries in a series of '80s-inspired Star Wars prints, we asked Drake what characters he hoped to follow "The Princess" with. "My aim is to expose some of the less seen characters from the Star Wars universe right alongside the iconic ones," he says. "I have my eye on some twins right now -- and they're not of the Skywalker variety, mind you."
StarWarsShop is exclusively offering Drake's "The Princess" fine art print in a very limited run of just 200 pieces, each signed and numbered by the artist. Don't miss your chance to pick up what we hope will be the first in a series of signature Star Wars portraits in the classic '80s style. And if you're still not sold, did we mention Leia's ruby-red lips feature a spot varnish finish (think ultra-shiny lip gloss)?
Yeah, we figured -- you can pick up your print right here.
