Cute Art and Illustration by Amy Pronovost

In between my studying (I’m in school to be a Med Lab Technologist), work and a few commissions, I managed to squeak in a ‘How to Draw’ tutorial Bonnie’s been trying to get me to do for a while. Well! It’s Easter weekend, so what better time than to have a rockin’ rocket rabbit drawing session?

How to Draw Jaxxon - Starwars.com

Here is the full final piece:

And, hey kids! Download a larger version of the inks, print it out and colour it in.

My helmet is complete and I am able to post it. I’m sending the process to the 501st Project website so they can spill all those details, but here are the pics and some info:

[View with PicLens]

Materials used:

• Ceramcoat paint (lots and lots)
• Pigeon feathers (picked up off the ground)
• leather cord
• dollar store faux tribal necklace for the beads
• Air dry clay
• faux suede (I wanted another colour, but it was on for next to nothing a yard, and this was all they had left)

Check out the 501st project site for more details!

I’ve had some people express interest in the Amaran storyline and such. The following is a fairly hastily written description of the Amarans, their traits and their homeworld. This is NOT official (Except for some of the points referring to the relationship with the Naboo) and is not to be taken as canon. Seeing as there is canon lacking, please feel free to use these ideas in your roleplaying game sessions as jump starters and if you like this, please link back to this page. As a bonus, I have included an Amaran Gallery at the bottom of this post, with art – including the original concept art that was used to design the Amarans and Bursa as they are seen in the Wildlife of Star Wars book. (The gallery may not be visible in RSS feeds to LJ and Facebook)

The Amarans

Physical Appearance

Amarans are small, vulpine aliens, 3.5-4 feet tall. They are digitigrades with long, slender arms and legs and a lithe, sinewy body. Their tails are long and fluffy and serve as a counter balance as they move, making them very agile. An Amaran’s tail is a source of pride, and they are always well groomed. They have four digits on their hands and feet.

Their fur colour ranges from white, to orange to black, with the most common colours being a yellow-orange, grey and white. The usual eye colour for Amarans is black, but green, blue and red eyes are also seen. Their faces are long and slender, lending to their sleek appearances.

Gender dimorphism

Female Amarans are slightly smaller than males, and males have slightly broader shoulders. For the mostpart, they are very similar in size. Females do not have visible mammaries unless they are nursing young. Amarans generally give birth to one pup and they reach adulthood at about 18 standard years.

Characteristics of Amarans

Amarans are, in general, a fairly playful race and are sly and shrewd, making them excellent traders, pilots and con artists. Of course, as with all races, there are variations, but Amarans love nothing more than to trick or play their way through various situations and they enjoy fine food, fine wine and clothes made of the finest materials. Amarans have an uncanny knack for taming beasts, even ferocious ones that are much larger than they are. Some Amarans are force sensitive and have served as Jedi Knights, but an Amaran with the discipline to go through Jedi Training is a very rare beast indeed and Amaran Jedi Knights are seen as curious oddities by their fellow, more playful, bretheren.

Amarans in the galaxy

Amarans are usually found in the galaxy as traders. Their primary trade is on Naboo, where they tame and sell the local wildlife to Gungans, offworlders and the Naboo people. As Naboo is teeming with life, this is very lucrative of them and Naboo is a second home to the Amarans, where they have a settlement on the edges of the swamp. The Amarans are the reason the fierce Bursa of Naboo is not extinct. The Gungans nearly wiped out the species, which is now extinct in the wild, but the Amarans spearheaded a breeding program and have established a Bursa sanctuary well out of the way of any Gungan settlement.

Other than beast tamers, Amarans can be found as pilots, fast-talking con artists, gamblers or just as travelers. Amarans worship the stars and love nothing more than to be among them.

Amaran Homeworld and technology

The Amaran homeworld, Amar, is located in Mid rim, near the outer rim – between Naboo and Zhar. It is a world lush with forests, plains and vast bodies of water. It has a climate similar to Naboo, which explains the Amaran love for their sister planet. Like Naboo, Amar is teeming with life which the Amarans manage with great reverence, ensuring that their wildlife trade does not interfere with the balance of the planet. Laws are in place to prevent poaching and poachers, both Amaran or offworlders, are severely punished with fines and imprisonment.  Even the Amaran cities, mines and resource collection are constructed and operated as non-invasively as possible. Amarans have tamed many of their local species, such as the Vrrryyyk, a flying reptilian bird like species which Amarans enjoy riding more than they like flying actual spacecraft.

Other than Wildlife and Amaran art, Amaran exports include food, ore, textiles and energy crystals.

Amarans are fairly technologically advanced and had developed limited, and primitive, hyperspace capabilities which lead to them discovering Naboo. After the language barrier was broken, the Naboo and Amarans established trade relations and the exchange of technology, which opened the galaxy up to the Amarans, who have been exploring since.

Amaran Religion

Amarans worship the stars and their moon. An Amaran creation myth is that the moon, Rurrri, was lonely and one day came to the land as a white fox-like creature. He was very lonely and wept through the night. When the sun came up, she took pity on Rurri and she, Surru, came down as a golden Amaran. It is said on Amar that the stars are the children of Rurri and Surru.

[View with PicLens]

Hi Everybody! Have some art

Here are my Star wars Galaxy 5 sketch cards, allllll of them. These first six outside the cut are my returns. I am not preselling, but if you’re interested in putting one on hold, drop me a line.

I hope you like ‘em

More behind the break…

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I was given the opportunity to do some cards for this set and I have to say it’s really fun to work in the wide screen format.

First, my returns. I have reservations on Yoda and the Jedi Trio, but Cad bane is able to be reserved if you like him.

And here are a few pack inserted cards!

If you’d like to see the rest of the cards, check out the gallery!

I was recently commissioned to draw Yoda and Luke from Empire Strikes Back. I’ve been having fun with markers, but I decided to break out the watercolours. I miss the softer look.

Enjoy!

Awesome stuff! I’ve been picked as the featured Muggs artist today on Starwars.com.

Not only that, but this is a sweet professional photograph of Jaxxon, post glazing, so he’s nice and shiny

I was honoured to be asked to participate in the ‘Empire Muggs Back’ charity fundraiser for Lucasfilm.

This Jaxxon Mighty Mugg will be for sale at San Diego Comiccon at the Lucasfilm booth, and all proceeds will go towards the Make A Wish foundation.

For those of you who don’t know, Jaxxon is a 6 foot tall jack rabbit scoundrel from the Marvel Star Wars comic books, so I felt it would just be awesome to turn him into a Mugg.

The lines are a little wobbly, acrylic isn’t my forte, but I had a lot of fun with him I learned a lot of things that will help me with my TK project helmet, for sure.

Behind the break is how I did it!

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I recently got a bunch of large commissions for personal sketch cards, and I have added them to the custom sketch card gallery.

Here are a few of them to whet your appetite!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table to say Hi, get your Art Book signed or to buy stuff. My ‘How to Draw Star Wars’ panel was a success, even with an unexpected, yet awesome interruption.

I was made an honourary member of the 501st legion today, it was awesome! This photo is from after the fact, but I have some others coming, I’ve been told.

Thanks to everyone