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 Matt Busch about his process for turning a blank Hasbro Mighty Muggs figure into a special tribute to the Boba Fett.
Why did you want to participate in The Empire Muggs Back charity art project?
I love supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation and have been actively donating for ten years now. So I knew up front that I was in. As for the prospect of painting chunky acrylics on a small three dimensional figure, I was a bit hesitant about at first. Of course, I'm always up for a challenge, so I dove in head first.
What did you choose to do for your Mighty Muggs art piece?
I was only vaguely familiar with the Star Wars Mighty Muggs line, so I chose to do a fan-favorite in my own style -- Boba Fett. I actually had not seen the original Boba Fett Mighty Muggs before painting mine, and I purposely avoided Googling it until I was done. I wanted to do the best Fett I could in my own unbiased style.
When I finished painting, it was really interesting to compare what I had done with the existing Fett Mugg. A few similarities were inevitable, but I was floored with how many visual differences you could have painting the same character on the same 3-D figure.
What was your step-by-step process? What materials did you use?
I actually learned the hard way about priming the figure, so in essence, I drew and painted the figure twice! As soon as I got the figure, I tore open the packaging and started drawing on the Blank Mighty Mugg with pencil. This was difficult, as the pencil would smear off, so I had to hold it carefully. My first step painting was with black acrylic gesso, which had to be applied thick to get it to stick. Then when I started applying acrylic washes, they were beading up so bad I knew I must have been doing something wrong.
So I called my buddy, fellow Star Wars artist Randy Martinez. He gave me the scoop on how I needed to prime the figure first. Randy suggested a can of latex primer spray, available at any home improvement store. I was a little baffled that a blank figure created with the intention of drawing and painting on it wouldn't be ready-to-go out of the box, but what do I know?
Of course, Randy was right. Spraying on a coat of latex primer gave my figure the perfect texture to redraw and paint the way I normally would. I redrew my Fett in pencil, and painted the entire figure with opaque acrylics, straight out of the tube.
What were some of the challenges you faced while making your art piece?
The biggest challenge for me was the one I knew I'd have up front. I'm used to painting on large flat surfaces, so trying to get detail on a small 3-D figure while holding it was tough for me. But I was really happy with the results, and didn't want to let go of my Boba Fett once I finished!
I also documented my entire process on video for a future webisode of "How To Draw Star Wars" -- the video series is part of the promotion I do for a book called You Can Draw Star Wars, which is written by Bonnie Burton, and illustrated by Tom Hodges and myself.
Why do you think Star Wars fans will love The Empire Muggs Back project?
I think the Mighty Muggs are so cute, and a really fresh way to see the Star Wars universe in. We're so used to seeing these action figures with all the crazy likeness and detail, and that's cool too, but it's also nice to go in the other direction and see some stylized cartoon versions with the Mighty Muggs!
Read more in-depth coverage on The Empire Muggs Back.
