Death of the Death Star

While Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Saviour, the painting I decided to paint and give away as a Christmas present to a friend has a theme revolving around the other end of life: Death. More specifically with a motive inspired by Star Wars: The fight to destroy the Death Star.

The fight in space to destroy the Death Star from Star Wars
“Use the Force, Luke”

It should be no surprise that my friend enjoys Star Wars and collects various Star Wars memorabilia, so I felt pretty good about the motive. And his reactions after unpacking and seeing it confirm that.

So, OK. I painted it. And? Where are the details?

Here are the details

I had some problems getting started on this painting, I must admit. Even if I had all the other presents ready, my mind just wasn’t cooperative. However, I did reach the conclusion it had to be a Star Wars motive.

Once that was decided, the idea and decision of the Death Star came quickly. Quick idea sketches were made, first from memory, but I had to find sources for the spaceships to get them correct. In the end, I had the perfect inspiration for the painting.

Black. Completely black. That was the start of the painting, a completely black background. And figuring out the size of the Death Star itself, outlining. Then start with the back, getting the galaxy and stars in place, and add the Death Star itself before adding the spaceships fighting. I wondered a bit if I should use something to make sure the straight lines were straight but opted for the more organic feel instead. Partly because it had to be finished the day after, I must admit …

So, for the actual painting, I used an evening. I’m happy with what I managed.

Space – the Final Sketchbook

It has been a while since the last update here now. To be honest, it’s been too long since I have managed to write something about my painting projects, and it has annoyed me quite a bit. The reason why is unfortunately an easy one.

I haven’t painted anything. Or rather, I haven’t finished painting anything. There are three paintings that I have started.

This was the situation until a few days before Christmas. The evening of the 21st December, I finally managed to do something again. I painted the cover of a sketchbook!

Picture of the sketchbook cover
The top is photographed in the light.
The bottom with the lights off, showing the glow-in-the-dark effect.

I wanted to give it away, so it was an extra encouragement to get it done. The inspiration came from a mural, and I figured: Hey, I can manage to make a space motive, and use some glow-in-the-dark medium.

That medium wasn’t quite as flowing as I had hoped. Getting thicker by the age? But I managed to make something nice out of it anyway.

All in all, while I could do more out of it by spending more time on it, I’m quite happy with the result and got some positive feedback on it, too. Mission satisfyingly completed.