update: star wars sketch cards
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to befriend Don Pedicini Jr., a talented artist and one of the frequent contributors to Topps' Star Wars sketch cards. Topps, one of the major players in the trading card business, is a tough nut to crack as an artist. They either find you or someone brings your work to an Artist Director's attention. Don liked what he saw and contacted the AD at Topps with a few samples I had illustrated. They liked what they saw and I had my first chance to work on one of the most prized licenses out there and one of the most reveered films, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
I had a blast on these cards and I hope the hard work and attention to detail show in the finished pieces. The cards pictured in this article are the cards I will be keeping and they will be up for sale 4/8/2015 (the release date of the card set, Star Wars Illustrated: The Empire Strikes Back).
I know everyone loves Fett and Vader but I really enjoyed capturing the likeness of Luke, Leia and Han. Luke in particular was a blast. As a kid, he was my favorite character in the Star Wars universe. It was tough in deciding which cards to keep from this set as I felt I did strong work on most of the panoramic cards.
Copics, ink, color pencils, pastels, water color pencils and paint were the media used in the creation of these cards. I still don't have a "set" approach to these cards but it's a process I practiced with on my Ghostbusters and DC Supervillains sets for Cryptozoic and one I'm starting to really enjoy.
I'm really hoping Star Wars fans embrace my work and I hope to get invited to do more sets for Topps and Lucasfilms. Jedi Knight Luke is my favorite and it would be a fantastic opportunity to get to draw him as well.
The card set will be released April 8th, 2015 and available online and your local comics and hobby shops. Follow me on facebook (www.facebook.com/cabaleiro.art) or twitter (www.twitter.com/cabaleiroart) for updates and links for these cards when they become available.
May the Force be with you.
