Collectors and fans alike have a chance to own one-of-a-kind Star Wars art pieces while giving to a good cause with The Empire Muggs Back. Lucasfilm asked artists, comic book creators, toy designers, and celebrity fans to get out their markers, paint brushes and glue guns and transform blank Mighty Muggs (donated by Hasbro) into custom Star Wars art which will be auctioned by The Make-A-Wish Foundation.
StarWars.com chats with artist Nicole Falk about her process for turning a blank Hasbro Mighty Muggs figure into a special tribute to Labria from the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope.
What did you choose to do for your Mighty Muggs art piece?
I love the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in A New Hope. All those crazy monsters are the best! The 2-3 seconds of Labria, the Devaronian creature, always freaked me out! He looked so creepy and sinister with his shifty little eyes. So I had to recreate him.
Why did you want to participate in The Empire Muggs Back art project?
I am a fan of the vinyl toy movement. I love the Star Wars Mighty Muggs. Even though there are so many characters from the Star Wars galaxy that are made already. There are still some I have not seen yet. So being able to design it, and draw it (particularly in my own style of art) was so fun. I jumped at the chance!
What was your step-by-step process? What materials did you use?
I drew a quick sketch of a Mighty Mugg in my sketchbook and drew a basic idea of the design I wanted, just to place out where I should draw things on the actual piece. Then I grabbed the Mugg and drew directly on him with pencil.
Once he looked pretty cool to me, I took my black ink pen and went over the lines. It was a little nerve-wracking cause I'm used to a flat surface and your pen can easily slip! But all came out well for me.
I knew I wanted to sculpt the horns on, so I got some Apoxie putty together and sculpted two horns. While it was still pliable I placed them on the Mugg head so it would sit flat on the surface. After it had cured overnight, I added some more Apoxie around the horns so it seemed more organic to his head -- rather than just sprouting out of nowhere. I let that dry. Then I drilled holes into the head and drilled holes into each horn, placed the dowels, glued them in and let that set.
When I decided what colors I had wanted to use, I picked up some acrylics. For instance, I know the real color of Labria is more a flesh tone, but in the dank seedy light in the Cantina he looks reddish, so I wanted to portray that version of him. Plus it looks creepier to me.
Then I started painting away. Luckily the paints I used where translucent enough that I could basically wash over the pen, and still be able to see it well. For the cape I used a plastic spray paint.
After the main painting was done, I went over the lines again with pen. Then I drew in some highlights with a white pen and last I painted the entire thing with a matte varnish, and some areas, like the eyes, with a gloss. I signed the piece, and made a bit of a custom blister tray in the box because of my horns and then sent him on his way.
What were some of the challenges you faced while making your art piece?
I have painted on a vinyl toy before but never to the extent of designing the look of the character and then fully creating it, as I did with this project. Being a 2-D illustrator, it completely warps my brain seeing this drawing come to life right before me! It's always fun and silly re-imagining the Star Wars universe in my cartoon-y style, but being able to hold one of my drawings and turn it around and pose it is quite hilarious to me.
One of the issues I encountered originally was deciding how to do the horns -- paint them or sculpt. Once I had decided to sculpt, then it was glue or pin them in? Then once I decided to pin them, I knew I wanted it to look like a smooth transition, so then it was a matter of my sculpting ability (or lack there of), thankfully it turned out pretty good.
Drawing on the piece was a little bizarre, but once I started it was definitely a lot of fun. Painting, again was also a lot of fun for me, also because I never use acrylics, so it was great to work with a new medium. I really enjoyed working on this, and I definitely want to pick up some more blank Mighty Muggs for myself!
Why do you think Star Wars fans will love The Empire Muggs Back project?
Mighty Muggs have this wonderful humor to them, which is what I think makes them appealing to so many different fans -- kids to adults. This just takes it to the next level with all the artists' different styles. I am so excited myself just to see how interesting or intricate they will be and all in one place together! It's going to be a pretty amazing Star Wars experience.
The Mighty Muggs art pieces are now up for auction and can be seen at The Empire Muggs Back on Starwars.com. The auction ends August 14, 2009.
Stay tuned to StarWars.com for in-depth coverage on The Empire Muggs Back.
