TOYSREVIL Does Star Wars Galaxy 4 Die-Cut Sketch Cards!
[Higher-res version on my flickr / CLICK THRU to find out what I did to the cards]
IN-A-GALAXY-FAR-FAR-AWAY: Having the opportunity to be a part of this project is already a personal boon for me, and I would be lying to say that I was not elated. But a big part of it was the vice-like grip of crippling fear - of being alongside an illustrious list of artists and creators, innit? I ain't gonna lie - as much confidence I have of myself to see things thru, I too have wavering moments ... Nevertheless, I grit my mangled teeth and got down to bizness!
As usual (and I say this without any way, form or shape of elevated self-pride) my gestation period took too long a time to come to fruition and it was down to a couple of days to get the job done and ship it out to TOPPS (and I was already past the deadline). Having the cards delayed at transit for a few days did not help too.
THE-GIG-WAS-THIS: One Hundred and Six Die-Cut Cards split down the middle = 53 Darth Vader helmet-shaped cards and 53 Storm Trooper helmet-shaped. Inclusive are 6 cards that will be returned to "us" after completion of project. Initially that number seemed pretty daunting and I had me nights of cold feets, lemme tells ya! But upon execution, it actually was not as massive an undertaking as I'd imagine.
But then again, I had decided earlier on to go the "mass-production" route, as opposed to creating individual characters and/or sketches for each and every card - as a whole lot of artists have done. And I know my limits and "abilities" too ... heh.
TRE-STYLE/THEME: I knew I wanted to do "evil" and to represent that I went with the non-patented TRE-Angry-Brow. heh.
SIZE-MATTERS: The cards were actually smaller than I'd imagined. And that doesn't necessarily mean there's less space to cover and hence less work to be done (well "technically", yeh but) - as it also meant working around the small-area was actually an effort unto itself, IMHO. Hey, I ain't a "pro" here and so I found it quite a handful to work around the size myself! I look at the complexities of some artwork done and I am impressed with the patience and effort put in, IMHO.
FACTORY-LINE-BUST: Ironically, my concept of factory-line mass-production still ended up having me to draw on each and every individual card. Any notions of stenciling and spraying was moot as "space" (or lack thereof) was the main issue. The reality was, I had no tangible workspace. I had to create a mobile "system" whereby I could transport the work to-and-fro the available workspace big enough to accommodate this task - which happens to be the dining table, where of coz, the entire family need to dine from. So the first thing I did was, to create and recycle boxes to hold the cards (shown above), for them to dry out while not fearing them being blown all over the room! LOL
IT-WAS-A-GOOD-IDEA-AT-THE-TIME: I shan't twaddle on about how long it took to do the boxes. It could have been spent working on the cards instead. But then again, it served it's purpose there and then :p
THE-FARCE-IS-STRONG-IN-THIS-ONE: For the DARTH VADER cards, I'd wanted to do a white outline drawing on black, which had me painting the 53 cards' back (I'd wanted to use broad-tip markers, but let's just say I have "limited funds" and had to make do with what I already had) and then free-hand sketched over in both white wax and color-pencils. The line of red (representing the light sabre) was done in red poster pen. The entire set was sprayed over with fixer right outside the front door in the common corridor of my flat, untop our mobile foldable laundry-rack. heh.
NOTHING-TO-SEE-HERE-MOVE-ALONG: The STORM TROOPERS were "easier", or rather have less stages to execute and complete, but nevertheless stressful - becoz near the end, my calligraphy felt-pen runneth dry-ish. But I managed to just complete the set, giving a bit of shadow with cool grey marker strokes (I only swear by Copic Markers - a holdover from my school days actually! Broad / flat tips rawk! LOL). A little highlight with white wax pencil again. I personally lurve calligraphy brush pens and this is actually more "true" to my current "style" of doodling. As for the result / effect? I leave it up to you folks to discern and decide for yourselves - it would be arrogant of me to tell you otherwise ;p
TAGGED-BY-WHO-AGAIN?: Ironically what should have been the easiest, turned out to be more stressful than the rest: Autographing The Cards - "What should I write? How should I tag it?" ~ For one thing, who the heck is "TOYSREVIL"? And just writing a name may not be enough? Should I be an utter cyber-pimp and write "toysrevil.net"? (Hey, the fact is, not alotta peeps are gonna be pimping me outright, innit? ;p) ... In the end, I had both my own signature and TOYSREVIL tagged on each card. (Yes, I do complicate things).
THE-LUCKY-HUNDRED: For those who managed to snag a TOYSREVIL-card and decide to keep it - my sincere thanks! (Do let me know you did - it would be a sure kicker & booster for me, it would :p).
And for the folks who scored one and am attempting to auction it off, I only hope they will fetch you a decent price for all the time and effort you've put in to list them online. And to help along this endeavor, I'm keeping a "Bid-Watch" on this post, of the known cards that are out there. Do feel free to leave a comment with the direct URL link to your TOYSREVIL-Die Cut Card on auction (and please, ONLY Toysrevil-cards, thanks!).
- TRE Storm Trooper (Ended @ US$19.95 / 6 Bids = thanks for bidding, folks!)
- TRE Storm Trooper
- TRE Darth Vader
- TRE Darth Vader (together in a Lot with 4 other cards)
Finally, a sincere thanks for the mighty SUCKLORD for this opportunity and for taking a chance on an unknown for this project. Do check out the rest of the Sketch Cards HERE on the dedicated-flickr album. And stay tuned to TRE for further information regarding the future of the Star Wars Galaxy 4 Die-Cut Shaped Sketch Cards, yeh? It doesn't necessarily stop at the cards' release ... Does It? Heh.
