Working photo-realistically, Bradstreet often starts with a photo reference of the character if possible, interpreting it in pencil and inks. Color is added in Photoshop. For characters that have no reference image, like those from the Expanded Universe, Bradstreet uses models. His own brother Bob even posed for the famous Baron Fel covers used for Dark Horse's X-wing Rogue Squadron issues #21 and #25, a character created by author Mike Stackpole. "Fel was a total ball," remembers Bradstreet. "I don't believe there was much of an established look for him before I did that stuff. I do remember that they wanted him to have close cropped black hair and a widow's peak hairline. Essentially we [Bradstreet and editor Peet Janes] wanted Fel to have this persona like The Red Baron, that he was master of the skies, or space as it were. The Empire's most feared killer in a dogfight. I'd absolutely love to do a new Baron Fel piece."
Beyond his successful run of
Star Wars covers for Dark Horse, Bradstreet has built an impressive portfolio of published covers for other titles, such as
Unknown Soldier,
Hellblazer, and
The Punisher, to name a few. Additionally, Bradstreet has been thankful to work for or with artists he's long admired. He's inked over artist Tim Truman for
Dragon Chiang (his first published comics story), drawn covers for Joe Kubert's
Unknown Soldier, conceptualized the look of the film
Blade 2 with director Guillermo Del Toro, and created movie posters for
The Punisher (which led to further projects with
Punisher actor Thomas Jane). He even got to illustrate the album cover for one of his favorite bands, Iron Maiden. "As a massive fan of Maiden that whole experience just blew me away," beams Bradstreet. "I wonder what's next?"
Immediately on Bradstreet's radar is the continuing
Punisher series, covers for
Criminal Macabre and a new book series called
Rogue Angel. "That's looking to be a lot of fun since I actually get to do covers for a project whose main protagonist is a female character," says Bradstreet. "I love to draw women but most people that hire me want me to do badass guys with guns. It's nice to be given the opportunity to show what else I can do. Lots of goodness ahead."
Let's hope for Star Wars fans, and especially for followers of the Baron Fel stories, that some of that goodness lies in the Star Wars galaxy.
To learn more about the artistry of Tim Bradstreet, visit his official website here.
