Old-New Star Wars Essential Guidebook

I was looking thru some dusty old files I had burned to CD in 2K2 today. It's slightly troubling that we now have digital-memories to come across in a drawer. I wonder if someday these CDs will be unable to be read by a contemporary computer? Anyway...I was thinking about how I felt after finishing 120+ color Illustrations for the Star Wars New Essential Guide to Characters. I felt like I had been thru an Illustration Marathon. I really did put my heart into that thing. To think at one point I was planning on inking them all! (only two pieces were inked, Darth Vader and 4-Lom). Working from home as a freelancer, nobody sees how hard you are working, they don't feel the long 16 hour days, the late night pots of coffee. This can be a rough job but I'm so glad I have stuck it out. After the long SW project ended, the money I made allowed me to move to San Diego, California where I only knew one person. I can still see that sunset as we left Illinois around 5 PM, my cat Randall (R.I.P.) and I in a truck pointing west.

Just looking at these two pictures is stressful. They were taken a few moments after finishing the last illustration for the Star Wars book (I was asked to do a last minute illustration of Admiral Akbar).


I had planned to do a special zine showcasing some of the sketches I did. The Author Daniel Wallace even agreed to do it! Unfortunately, I had problems with a printer and it got shelfed.