My first celebrity interview!!

by Darth Danno
on 2012-10-31, 07:37:41

Here we are on another glorious Halloween, after today, all other holidays pale in comparison, but what can we do. So to thank all of our loyal followers and readers for coming back week after week, I bring you a treat in the form of an interview with none other than...Chris Trevas!!! That's right, the Jedi Master of SW artwork himself. His Celebration V and VI prints sold out in record time, and why not? He (and his artwork) are just that AWESOME!!!!! So grab some Halloween candy, sit, back, relax, and enjoy!

How does it feel having both your CV and CVI prints sell out?

It's a great feeling. I didn't think I could top the quick sell out from CV, but CVI was even faster largely thanks to online preorders. I'm very thankful for such a positive response from fans. It was overwhelming.

How did it come to pass that your artwork (along with Brian Rood's) adorned the CVI badges?
Lucasfilm asked me to do some rough badge concepts in late 2011. I sent in a few ideas, but didn't hear back from them until a few months later. When Lucasfilm asked me to do the key artwork for CVI, I was already swamped with work for the Star Wars Essential Reader's Companion. I told them if I took the job I would need help to get it done within the needed timeframe. Brian has been a friend of mine for many years and I knew he could work in a painterly yet digital style similar to my own. I suggested to Lucasfilm that Brian and I team up to do the art. It's funny, right after Brian joined the CVI project he was approached by Del Rey to work on the Reader's Companion as well. We both ended up REALLY busy on the same two projects for most of the summer. It all worked out though and we're very proud of all the work we accomplished.

How long does it generally take you to finish a piece like "His Vision Returns"?
I was working on the final art for about a month. I started thinking about the idea as soon as CV ended though. In October 2011, I finally had the idea worked out enough to start shooting reference photos. At the Fan Days convention in Dallas, I had the infamous Star Wars cosplayer Victoria aka "Scruffy Rebel" pose as Leia for the illustration.

What would you say was your most difficult SW piece to do?
His Vision Returns is probably the single most complex rendered scene illustration I've done. There's a lot of detail in a piece that big. The cover cutaway artwork for the Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual was also difficult in a more technical aspect.

What do you list as your greatest SW accomplishment? /(It could be a print, book, card, poster, whatever...?)
After 17 years, it's really hard to pick a favorite. Looking at recent projects, I'm really proud of the work I've done with Chris Reiff to define the Millennium Falcon. Through Star Wars Blueprints, the 3-D Owner's Guide and now the Haynes Owner's Workshop Manual I feel like I've really been able to leave my mark on the ship's history and design. My prints for all the Star Wars Celebrations, especially the last two, have also been huge personal triumphs.

So there you have it folks! I told Chris that if he has any future news he wants to make known (new art, upcoming appearances at conventions, books, trading cards, academy award nominations, etc...), to let me know and I'd get it up on our site. Chris is also on Twitter and has his own web site: www.christrevas.com Now if they only offered the Nobel prize for artwork...