I have exciting news that I can finally share with everyone!
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the "Star Wars Galaxy" Card series. For those who are not, "Star Wars Galaxy" is a trading card set produced by Topps Trading cards. It is a very unique set of trading cards because the entire set is Star Wars artwork. No photographs, unless of course that is part of the art medium. Each set is broken up into several categories; just to name a few...
- Character Portraits
- Movie concept art from the Lucasfilm Archives
- Posters and Promotions
- New Visions, Star Wars scenes inspired by events not seen on screen.
- FOIL chase cards. Rare cards pressed with shinny foil
- Sketch Cards (first offered in Galaxy sets with Series 4)
There have been 4 set's of Star Wars Galaxy thus far. The first Galaxy set was released in 1993, and I loved it! I was a freshman in College, so I could not afford to collect them, but I bought the books that featured the art from the cards.
Star Wars Galaxy 4 was released in 2009, 14 years after the release of Star Wars Galaxy 3. For me, Star Wars Galaxy 4 was the realization of a long time dream as I had always wanted my art to be part of this unique and very cool series of cards. I was given the honor of creating a "New Vision" trading card to be included in the base set of Star Wars Galaxy Series 4. I mean the artists I would be associated with in this series alone was a dream come true; John Alvin, Drew Struzan, Ken Steacy, Basil Gogos, Marshall Arisman, Hugh Flemming, Jack Kirby, Boris Vallejo, Russell Walks, J. Scott Campell, Mark McHaley,Jason Palmer, Matt Busch, Sergio Aragonez, Jack Davis,...just to name a few.
The hardest part about this project was deciding what to create. What Character, what new vision scene can I do? So much to choose from. I finally decided on one of my favorite characters since I first saw Star Wars, the Tusken Raiders, or sand people. I always loved the design of these guys, and I always found myself drawing them. So I went with that inspiration and created this Trading card.
I titled it "Tusken Hero". It shows a Tusken Raider triumphantly holding his prize, a Krayt Dragon Pearl, which can only be taken from the gizzard of a Krayt Dragon. What's a Krayt dragon? Good Question. Krayt Dragons are sort of scene and heard in the Original Star Wars movie "Episode IV: A New Hope".
Remember, near the beginning of the film when C-3P0 is alone walking through the Desert? At one point you can see the bones of some long deceased creature, a very large creature. Well, that is, or WAS a Krayt Dragon. Those Bones are indeed the Bones of the Krayt Dragon in my Trading. So the Events in my card Happen some time between Episode 3 and 4.
A Krayt Dragon is referenced one more time in " A New Hope". When Obi Wan shows up in the Jundland Wastes to save Luke from the Tusken Raiders, the Tusken Raiders are scared off by a high pitch wailing. This sound is Obi Wan using the force to create the sound of a krayt Dragon. Interesting little nerd facts eh?
So that was Really cool. But that is fairly old news.
So what is the Exciting new news?
I am happy and very proud to announce that there will in fact be a Star Wars Galaxy Series 5!
I will once again have art work included into this wonderful series but on a much grander level.
My Art work will be FEATURED this time as the sets FOIL Chase card subset!
15 new pieces of art work printed up in glorious foil!
I'm so excited!!!!!!!
Each card will feature one of the main characters from the Star Wars Saga (Films Only for now).
Can you imagine lightsabers in foil? Sweet!
The style of work is the vector art that I have been producing for Acme archives, which has become very popular over the last couple of years.
"A New Hope: Escape" by Randy Martinez for Acme Archives
I'm very proud of the work I have produced for this project, and cannot wait to reveal some of it to you. And I will when Topps allows me to.
But that is not all!!!
In addition to the foil chase cards, I have been informed that a few selection of my art from past Star Wars posters will be reproduced on trading cards. And there is one more little thing that i am not permitted to talk about yet, but I will:)
This is far greater than anything I could have dreamed... okay, maybe not dreamed, but you know, I am a humble person and I know there are many great artists who are just as deserving as I am to be given this great honor.
On a personal level...I almost feel like I want to cry because I've worked so hard to just get a taste of something like this, and here I am right in the middle of it. It really makes me look back and reflect on everything I've gone through. I'm by no means done with the road I'm traveling, but to realize a dream like this is sometimes hard to appreciate while you are in it.
It feels really great to have my hard work, and the love I put in my work recognized like this, and seen as professional enough to follow in the footsteps of artists like Russell Walks (Star Wars Galaxy 4 Foils) & Drew Struzan (Indiana Jones Foils)
Stay Tuned for updates!
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