Gardena, California. Population; 57,746. One of those folks just happens to be our current cover artist,
Chris Thorne!
"Star Wars" has been a large influence on Chris since he was a child. "It just seems like a perfect movie," and Ralph McQuarrie's conceptual art for the film certinatly left an impression back then. The endless visual splendor of the
"Star Wars" universe, including the Dark Horse comic series,
"Star Wars: Legacy", continues to inspire Chris to this day!
Chris discovered his talent for drawing early on, when he made original pieces of art for Christmas. "I was…God, six or seven maybe? I didn’t have a gift for my Mom and so I drew people and things on cardboard, colored them and cut them out, glued them onto paper, rolled them up and put them in a canister to be put under the tree."
These days, Chris is using blue non-photo pencils, India ink, and charcoal along with his markers, and pens. "I also use Bristol, Watercolor and Comic Illustration papers." His favorite style of artwork is the pointillist technique, stippling. The painstaking process of creating an image by making thousands of dots. "I did my wedding invitations in a stippled technique and my wife loved it."
There's no better escape than art for Chris. "There is no better feeling than how I feel at the end of a very satisfying session," he explains. "People need an outlet for the real world and they need art to escape." What better world of art to escape to than the
"Star Wars" universe?
Speaking of which, we asked a few questions about that galaxy far, far away...
SW:F'D: What is your FAVORITE STAR WARS EPISODE?
CT: My Favorite is Ep.4 ANH. It just seems like a perfect movie. As I have gotten older, I appreciate Ep. 5 ESB, but ANH will always be my favorite, the one I watch when I just want to escape. I love making fun of the whinny Luke, and his need for power converters, but that is because I love it so much.
SW:F'D: Who is your FAVORITE STAR WARS CHARACTER?
CT: It is pretty close between Han and Darth Vader, but I think I am gonna have to say Darth Vader. He is just the coolest freaking bad guy ever. He just steals every scene he is in.
SW:F'D: What do you think would win in a fight? A Dewback, or an Orray?
CT: I would have to say an Orray, I think they are more battle hardened and breed for that. Dewbacks seem more docile. But since Dewbacks are much bigger than Orrays maybe that would be enough to win a battle, maybe they would just sit on them. Can I change my answer? I want to see the Dewback kick the Orray’s butt.
SW:F'D: What do you think Blue Milk tastes like?
CT: I had some when I was a kid, it tastes like Pepto-Bismol actually, now that I think about it, it did seem pinker than I expected and…Damnit, I gotta find my friend Craig. He freakin’ tricked me.
SW:F'D: Any final words?
CT: Han shot first and I want the original versions of the original trilogy on blu-ray.
you can find the Star Wars Facebook'd group
here
You can find Chris Simons facebook page
here
