Featured Artists-Craig Burt Collection

Painting by Numbers

"Federation Folly"

This painting is relatively simple in concept and execution, which is why, I guess, I can't find much in the way of images to illustrate it's progression - there weren't any. There could have been a bunch of photos of the the Jedi and the droids included, but, since no figure was drawn directly from a photo there was no point in including them. There would have been a few such photos used to define the details for the characters - take your pick which ones to use. Though, I do remember the Episode II Visual Dictionary was a great help in adding the elements of the Battle Droids.

1. Is the inspiration for the setting of the painting. It is a small and not too detailed photo of the set. The rumors at the time where about the Jedi battling their way through a ship to get to Palpatine. If I remember the scenes with the other Jedi - apart from Anakin and Obi-Wan - were cut from the film, so that's what I went with. That's why the third unrecognizable Jedi is there.

2. Are the sketches for the picture - three only. The top one - under the number two - is the initial compositional drawing. All the elements are there in that one, with little change to the final painting. The two sketches below that show the development of the poses. I changed the pose of Anakin from a reactive one - middle drawing - to a more imperious and confident one in the final drawing. Obi-Wan's was also changed to a more active stance. The two stances are meant to reflect the different approaches of them, Obi-Wan, more compact and considered, Anakin, more broad and aggressive. The characture face of Obi-Wan was done to try and define the 'character' of him for the painting since, at the time, I didn't have much of an idea what his new look was like.

3. Is the final painting. At the time I didn't like the painting much, mainly because the figures weren't defined well enough. That lack of definition probably occurred due to the lack of definition in the preparatory sketches - a good reason to do more detailed drawings when not working directly from photos - and there doesn't appear to be much light in the corridor which would make clear definition difficult to see anyway. Looking at it again now I quite like it though. The composition is quite dramatic and all the elements work fine. Everybody looks to be caught in mid-stance at the moment of moving - adding to the drama. The smoke/gas spurting out from the wall behind Anakin as battle damage helps push the momentum of the Battle Droids across the picture giving a sense of force. It all seems to be clear what is happening, provided you live in a universe where people can push objects across a room without touching them. Otherwise pass the pills and give me some vodka to wash them down.

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