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 which were auctioned by The Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Starwars.com chats with Star Wars artist Jeff Carlisle about his process for turning a blank Hasbro Mighty Muggs figure into a special tribute to the Thall Joben from the Droids cartoon.
Why did you want to participate in The Empire Muggs Back charity art project?
I have been in awe of the work that Make-A-Wish has been doing for years and thought it would be an honor to do anything that I could to help out. I was also a huge fan of The Vader Project and always told myself that the next time something like that came along, I had to be a part of it.
Finally, Bonnie Burton told me to do it -- and experience has taught me that it is wise to do as Bonnie asks.
What did you choose to do for your Mighty Muggs art piece?
Star Wars means a lot of things to a lot of people. I am an old-school Star Wars fan, since I was four years old in 1977. I was trying to think of a character that would be very fringe and yet mean something to me. I remembered the Droids cartoon from 1985 and how excited I was to watch that show when I was twelve. The action figures for Droids were really advanced for the time, with good poses and sculpts and my favorite character was Thall Joben -- the young punk speeder racer with the half-shaved head. So, that was who I finally decided to do.
I almost did Ackmena, from the Star Wars Holiday Special as a tribute to the late Bea Arthur; but Thall Joben was a little more interesting visually.
What was your step-by-step process? What materials did you use?
The first thing I did was take the C-3PO Mighty Muggs my wife bought me for my birthday and study how his design was simplified -- the placement of the eyes and then I sketched the basic shapes in mechanical pencil and then in grey-tone marker. After that I painted it in acrylics.
What were some of the challenges you faced while making your art piece?
The problem with sketching on vinyl is that it keeps rubbing off -- so you have to draw. And then re-draw. And then re-draw some more. After I had the basic lines drawn in marker, I started the painting phase and discovered that the head and the body of the Mighty Muggs are made out of different materials and react differently to the paint. So I did a second coat of the paint then did touch ups to catch any white spots that might be left. I hope it turned out well!
Why do you think Star Wars fans will love The Empire Muggs Back project?
It's like peanut butter cups -- it's two tastes that go really well together! You have the Muggs, which are just awesome, adorable and cool and the world of Star Wars, which has many characters to explore. Even if everyone just did Slave Leia dolls, then you get the added bonus of these being individually hand-crafted expressions from different artists. No single character will look alike, no matter how many Mighty Muggs there would be of that character. Although, to be honest I am really looking forward to see how many obscure characters people do!
Read more in-depth coverage on The Empire Muggs Back.
