As a kid, Noble had early aspirations to illustrate. "I wanted to be Norman Rockwell," he admits, "and didn't realize until later that his job was already taken ... by Norman Rockwell." Striving instead for a unique individual style, Noble honed his skills illustrating poster graphics for '70s films like Time After Time, Greased Lighting, and the early advance one-sheet and logo for 1980's Flash Gordon. It was during this time that Noble met fellow artist John Alvin through a shared agent, discovering a kindred spirit in their common passion for Star Wars. The two have been close friends ever since.
"It's been a friendship that is just a treasure," says Noble, who named his own son John, after his friend. "We were both smitten with Star Wars and would have so many conversations about the possibilities of how that story would finally manifest. We both wanted to be involved [with Star Wars] because it was such a quality product."
Alvin was the first to successfully get an official contract with 20th Century Fox to illustrate a poster for The Star Wars Concert in 1978. Although the concert never materialized, the poster became famous after it was included in The Art of Star Wars book the following year.
Noble was happy for Alvin, and resolved to also illustrate for the Star Wars universe someday. "It got slightly competitive because we were both trying to get published on our dream jobs. We both eventually succeeded, but we also kept the friendship which is more important. He's the dearest friend I've got."
Noble's first crack at illustrating for Star Wars came when Sid Ganis, Lucasfilm's head of marketing for Empire, asked him to come up with some poster concepts for the sequel. Ganis wanted something mythic.
"This was singular in vision in terms of one approach," says Noble. "We only did one approach, and we carried it through from pencil concept to finished painting. I was trying to create the bigger than life Vader -- I had been a big fan of Robert Heinlein and of militaristic science fiction art, and I saw doing this in that vein but through my own filters."
Unfortunately, even with the concept developed through finished painting, the image wasn't used. "I know it was considered for a long time, but then it was dropped in favor of the Roger Kastel piece," remembers Noble. Some of the design elements, such as Vader's outstretched hand, did get used for the campaign's Style "B" poster. It was a small consolation, but the disappointment still stung.
