Finally it’s Saturday! I have been sitting on this interview for over a week now and I could barely contain myself from hinting at what was coming. The ‘No Moon’ series is in many ways my little oasis of soul uplifting, eye-widening treats and preparing one each week gives me the opportunity to surround myself in beauty and colours. But this week’s instalment dips with both hands into those oasis waters, bringing you jaw-dropping Star Wars art by Brian Rood.

Last week I decided I needed to change the default No Moon image. This is my first take on that, what do you think?

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am Brian Rood, from Northwest Ohio, currently residing in Southeast Michigan, 36 years old.

How long have you been drawing? What got you started?

I’ve been doing artwork my entire life.  As far back as I can remember I was always  that kid in class that could draw good.  I spent most of my childhood getting lost in my artwork.  Not that I didn’t have any friends, I did!  Lots of them.  Actually my best friend, still to this day, was my drawing partner for most of our child hood.  We would make up characters, story arcs, etc….  We would spend our days outside playing, building forts etc… and then when the sun went down the pencils and paper came out.  We would challenge each other to see who could get the most artwork done throughout the summer.   Probably a good early training ground for all the deadlines I now work with.

'Obi-Wan' by Brian Rood. Absolutely my favourite and not just because of the subject! Brian's watercolours include liquid sunshine!

In high school I took a Commercial Art Vocational Course.  I spent 3 periods a day my Junior and Senior years learning some of the basics of the Commercial art field.  This was right before Computers were used for nearly everything in the Commercial Art field as they are today.  It was actually a good time to take a course like that.  I got to learn many of the old techniques for typesetting, font creation and manipulation, plus a good old fashioned thing call illustration.  Long before everything could be done with a filter and a Wacom tablet.

'Plo Koon' by Brian Rood. That's a photo, right? Wrong!

After high school a couple of quick years taking graphic design courses at a local business college then I pretty much realized that I had no idea where I was going to get a job as a Commercial Artist.  I actually was even more confused about what the job of a Commercial Artist was.  Luckily I enrolled in a traditional airbrushing class for one of my illustration credits and met a group of artists through the instructor that went to Wizard World Comicon in Chicago.  I went to the Convention with one fan art Star Wars painting to display and realized that this was exactly where I needed to be.  I didn’t know anyone at the show except the people I went with, I didn’t have any idea who was who in the industry. I walked around the inside of that convention center and looked at such an awesome collection of creators from all walks of the industry, I was totally awestruck.

I immediately devoted every minute that I could to learning everything I could about the amazing new world that I had no idea about.  I started traveling and setting up at all the shows I could drive to or tap out credit cards to fly to and crash in every dump across this country in overstuffed hotel rooms.  Full of under slept and over served Convention goers.

'Slave Leia' by Brian Rood. Oh but imagine this one as a mural...

10 years hustling, networking, and working around the clock finally started to pay off in the forms of independent publishing jobs that turned into major publishing jobs.  Years of painting and drawing countless pieces of fan art trying to get the right Art Directors to take notice, then finally one day a few months before my first child was born Steve Sansweet called me and said he had an official Lucasfilm job for me… Topps Revenge of the Sith Card set sketch cards got the Star Wars ball rolling for me.  Its been a bit of a rollercoaster since that first Star Wars gig.  Started out with sketch cards and recently had some of my artwork used as the key art for The Empire Strikes Back in the Blu Ray.

This is the fantastic Yoda piece of Brian's that was used for the Blu-Ray.

Do you always use the same mediums?

Not even Close!  For years I primarily worked in acrylics, but these days Im really using just about everything under the sun.  It really just depends on the project I am currently working on.  I have been in a watercolor phase the last few years. I love the watercolor medium.  I also do a ton of digital artwork as well. A good example of varying style can be found throughout Star Wars Insider magazine.  I am currently illustrating a lot of the short stories in the magazine and its really fun to change the styles up for the different projects with them.

'Wookiee Rage' by Brian Rood. And we're not even close to covering the breadth of Brian's art styles yet!

What attracted you to Star Wars?

I have always been a big fan of the movies but it wasn’t until I started looking into the films a little deeper in my early twenties that I absolutely fell for them.  When I realized what went into the movies from a pure creative standpoint it amazed me. I have spent the better part of the last 8 years doing primarily Star Wars based projects.  The initial attraction to the property is even stronger today. The deeper you go into the Star Wars universe you realize that from a creative perspective it is nearly limitless.  There are so many fantastic ships, creatures, bounty hunters, etc….   I could spend years just illustrating Star Wars and still only touch the surface of the Star Wars universe.

'Storm Trooper' by Brian Rood

Do you have any plans for Star Wars: The Old Republic?

Nothing in the immediate future but TOR is so visually compelling I would love to do something based in that timeline.

Do you do commission work? If yes where/how do you want people to get a hold of you?

I do private commissions occasionally.  Folks can contact me directly through my website:  www.brianrood.com.

'Tarkin' by Brian Rood.

Do you have a favourite among your images?

I honestly cant answer that. I really have a handful of pieces that mean very much to me. Some because of special things I was going through in that part of my life and others for pure artistic reasons, and still others from a commercial accomplishment standpoint. I also dont necessarily think that I have created my best looking illustration yet. I have a ton of very exciting projects lined up 2012. Maybe this piece will be created this year, we will just have to wait and see!

'Darth Maul' by Brian Rood. By far one of the best Maul portrayals I've yet seen!

What is your advice to a young artist starting out who wants to draw Star Wars art professionally?

Practice, Practice, and Practice. At the end of the day there are hundreds, actually thousands and thousands of people that would love to illustrate Star Wars characters and scenes for a living.  My best advice would be to think outside the box.   Study with the right instructors, take the fundamental classes to get your basic knowledge of illustration, then start working on that portfolio.  Just try to make sure that you are offering something unique.

'Greedo' by Brian Rood. It warms my heart to see Brian portray a wealth of other characters and species from Star Wars that normally don't get much attention!

Anything you would like to add?

Check out the rest of my work at www.brianrood.com. You can preview upcoming projects, purchase art prints, and find out where I will be displaying my artwork in 2012. You can also become a friend of mine on Facebook!

'Millenium Falcon' by Brian Rood

Thank you so much for sharing your art and thoughts with us here at TORWars, Brian! I hope one day we can entice you back but most of all I wish you many, many years of inspiration and joy in your art! It was a rare treat for me to be able to show your work off here.

If you wish to see more (and there is so much more to see) of Brian Rood’s works head over to his website at brianrood.com or swing by his Facebook page! See you all again next week for more Star Wars art here at TORWars.