Upon seeing the sketch, Lucasfilm had a few comments. Obi-Wan Kenobi's pose needed to suggest greater action and showcase his fighting ability. The "at the ready" position was redrawn to something more dynamic. Secondly, Jar Jar's playful extended tongue was redrawn. Instead, the Gungan was shown with a shocked expression on his face.
The Droid Control Ship was dropped from the design, and replaced by the droid duo of R2-D2 and C-3PO establishing greater continuity with the original films.
The rapidly encroaching deadline was always looming like a shadow. Struzan, no stranger to deadlines, worked quickly and efficiently. "All this being such a rush, I only redrew the portion of the picture which involved the changes," he explains. "Rather than sending it overnight courier I sent a scan by email so they could see it immediately."
The next change involved Jar Jar again, and he was drawn showing off his pearly whites in an endearing smile. Struzan pencilled a new drawing of the Gungan, pasted it over the old and emailed a new scan to Lucasfilm.
Jar Jar was a particular challenge since, outside of the computer, he doesn't exist. He isn't able to stop by an illustrator's studio to pose. "Jar Jar exists only on the frames that were created for the film," says Struzan. "There are no other variations from his off camera life. He can't come by and let me take a few snapshots to draw from. I work from stills and imagination."
"All this took about three days with drawing, sending, review and response. The week began with me seeing the film so that I knew what to draw," says Struzan. "This made it about a week from ignorance to approved drawing."
With an approved pencil version of the poster, Struzan began the process of actually painting the one-sheet. "I consistently use the same materials for my illustrations," he says. By using a common set of tools, Struzan can capture the "look" associated with his art. "A client expects to get what they have seen before, so I do not want any unwelcome surprises."
Struzan explains the process:
"On illustration board, acid free, I put a couple coats of acrylic gesso to begin. Then, I simply do an under-drawing in pencil as the picture shows. From there I paint in acrylics -- same acrylic medium as the gesso -- and to finish the detail I use colored pencils. The pencils are wax based, which is inert, and simply sits on top of the paint without affecting it.
Part VII: Completion... almost
"I had one week to do the finished painting," explains Struzan. "That's not five working days. For me, a week starts on Saturday and finishes nine days later when I deliver art on Monday."
Struzan finished on time and delivered the painting as scheduled. There were changes required, though. Darth Maul's red facial tattoo was deemed too purple, and Struzan had to adjust it. "This required that I repaint the entire top portion of the picture."
Although, as an illustrator, such changes can be frustrating at times, Struzan recognized that this project was special.
"The truth is that Star Wars Episode I deserved all the time and effort and overtime that I and everyone at Lucasfilm could possibly put into it."
While working on the changes to Darth Maul's hue, Struzan began looking closely at the Royal Starship in the corner. "I began to think that the Queen's space ship looked a little lonely and singular out here all by itself," he says.
Struzan decided to give a little more interest and peril to the picture by adding a few Trade Federation Droid Starfighters chasing her. Once the fighters were in place, Struzan changed his mind.
"I employed my artistic license; after having seen the result I decided I didn't like it after all and painted them out again."
Part IX: The Finished One Sheet
After the final changes were made, the art was delivered again. "No fanfare, no applause," says Struzan. "The express service came, picked up the art and delivered it and that was that. If all this seems a little simple, it was. That's what comes from knowledge, experience, trust and respect to say nothing about the adrenaline one gets to work hard on such a great project."
