Mitchell, who by the mid-'90s had taken on the roles of artist, husband and father, found himself in Dallas working for a little studio called Stat Kat. As it happened, Stat Kat, run by Bill Jenkins, was contracted to fulfill the graphic needs for Pepsi and Frito Lay, who were just ramping up promotions for their newly-acquired Star Wars license.
"Bill Jenkins was the first one to give me the opportunity to get into the digital realm for illustration," explains Mitchell. "Bill had enough insight to purchase a great piece of equipment called the Quatel Paint Box, a half-million dollar machine that could paint in real time. As cumbersome as it became years later, it was cutting edge for the time. That is where I had my first Star Wars assignment -- Eric Larson and Mike Opedoca of Tracey Locke had me and five other illustrators do sample illustrations to see who would do the big Pepsi Star Wars promo. Well, we won the contract and that's when it all began."
Among scores of images created for the Pepsi/Frito Lay campaign, Mitchell devised a memorable portrait of Yoda used on posters, along with a striking Boba Fett illustration which got picked up by the Star Wars Fan Club for sale as an exclusive poster. It was during this time that Mitchell and his team got their first Hasbro Star Wars assignment: 2002's "The Queen's Gambit" board game.
"Wow, what a challenge," remembers Mitchell. "Besides the package cover, there were so many printed components to that game. Jeff Simpson, Cliff Tew and I worked on the cover, board, dice, cards, everything! I think it was the style of the cover painting that was most significant -- a new style arose from that project. A graphic outline to the paintings' subjects gave this style a clarity, essential for packaging art. I feel this created a deeper interest in me and the 4g2 team from Hasbro's art directors."
Following The Queen's Gambit, Mitchell, Simpson, and Tew of 4g2 took on scores of new Hasbro Star Wars assignments, including the Unleashed cardback art and a number of other toys and games. Currently, Clark is a partner in the new Dallas-based 5 Creative, an illustration studio dedicated to illustration and retouching. His partner Cliff Tew is a seasoned veteran retoucher and production manager. It was Tew who ensured Clark's original Star Wars paintings remained intact through the digital color and pre-press printing process.
"We work with several clients such as Hasbro, Time Magazine, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Budweiser, Black Velvet, Corona, ESPN the magazine, Jolly time Popcorn, Disney, Hooked on Phonics and many others," says Clark. "I am now also in the process of doing a series of exclusive Clark Mitchell paintings for Lucas Licensing that will be coming out shortly." 5 Creative's website is called www.ranch5.com, themed after the company's Texas roots.
Recently, Mitchell created an original artwork print for Celebration III in which he used traditional illustration. In an age where photo-collage packaging and posters reign supreme, it's good to know that a handful of talented Star Wars artists can still tap into techniques borne from "a more civilized age".
