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 armed with markers, paint brushes and glue guns to transform blank Mighty Muggs (donated by Hasbro) into custom Star Wars art which were auctioned by The Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Starwars.com chats with artist Noah Albrecht about his process for turning a blank Hasbro Mighty Muggs figure into a special tribute to Princess Leia.
Why did you want to participate in The Empire Muggs Back art project?
First off, it's for a really great cause. Secondly, in seeing the Mighty Muggs in retail stores in the past, I always thought to myself how cool it would be to create my own take on it. Thanks to awesome folks at Lucasfilm, I got that chance!
What did you choose to do for your Mighty Muggs art piece?
I chose the royal spitfire herself, Princess Leia circa A New Hope. I wanted to do Boba Fett, but in the interest of time, since I had multiple freelance projects going on at the time, I chose a simpler character to create.
I let you in on a little secret, underneath the cutesy face and adorable hair buns, Leia was originally a stormtrooper which I drew on with a Sharpie. I was trying to make a bold statement with simplicity. Boy, that didn't go over very well. In the end, I felt that all the hard work paid-off. I'm very happy with how she turned out. She also kind of has a little bit of Geisha in her; which is definitely my Manga influence shining through!
What was your step-by-step process? What materials did you use?
Step 1: I applied a primer to the Mugg using a spray can of latex primer which you can find at your local home improvement store, like Home Depot or Lowe's. I waited about 20 to 30 minutes for it to dry completely. I recommend doing this in your garage or outside because of the fumes.
Step 2: Using acrylic paints, I painted the skin tone areas of Leia, which ended up being just her head, arms, and hands since the rest of her body would be covered with her royal gown.
Step 3: Once that dried, I painted in the whites of her eyes, and gave it like five minutes or so for it to dry. Then I painted in her brown eyes over the whites. I also took a very small brush and used a lush red for the lips, and a lighter red for the blush on her cheeks.
Step 4: After all of that dried, I outlined the eyes, drew in the eyelashes and eyebrows using a Copic brush pen. As a final touch on the face, I painted in circular areas of shine on her eyes, to give it more pop.
Step 5: I applied a spray or two of clear sealant on all of the painted areas to prevent any smudges or smears later on when I packed her up and shipped her out. You can buy this at your local art supply store. This dries pretty quickly, within about a minute.
Step 6: What would the princess be without her pristine white gown? For this, I used some white cloth from some old linen that I found lying around the house. I cut two small squares, and rolled them around the arms for the sleeves, starting at her shoulders. I made sure that there was a little draping going on, so that it looked more elegant and not too tight. I glued those on at the shoulders, and at the seam, so that they were more or less like a cloth cylinder. Once the sleeves were securely on, I cut out a square of the same cloth for the rest of the body.
In the middle of the square I cut a circle about 1 1/2 in. in diameter. This is obviously where the head is going. Since the circle would be too small for Leia's big Muggs head, I cut a slit off of the circle where the back of the gown would be. I draped the cloth over her head, and carefully pushed her head through the hole of the gown. From there, I draped the cloth down her body and underneath her feet, and brought the back corners up and tied them in a knot around her waist, simulating her "belt."
Step 7: For Leia's hair, I took an old, brown square wash cloth, and cut it in equal halves, and then cut a strip of cloth off of each of those. For each side of her head, there was a big piece which covered half of her head, starting at the top of her forehead and down the back of her head. I applied these using a glue gun.
For her infamous hair buns, I took the strips, laid them out, and using the glue gun, I applied a long thin line of glue along the entire length of the strip. I quickly rolled up the strip (as if you were tightly rolling a miniature sleeping bag) and let the glue dry. Once dried, I applied glue to the inside of the buns and firmly held them on the sides of head for about a few minutes or so until they were securely attached.
Why do you think Star Wars fans will love The Empire Muggs Back project?
Simply because of the shear creativity and hard work everyone put into their piece. It totally shows, and really represents Star Wars in a completely fun, new way! I had a complete blast creating this, and hope to purchase some more blank Mighty Muggs to use for fun art projects for my kids.
Read more in-depth coverage on The Empire Muggs Back.
