By Pete Vilmur
Artist William Stout, whose "Searching for Anomalies" graces the pages of Star Wars-inspired artworks in Star Wars Art: Visions, is one of the few artists who can claim a history with Star Wars dating all the way back to its early years.
"I was originally hired to do storyboards for Conan the Barbarian, which was written and directed by John Milius, a very close friend of George," says Stout, referring to the 1982 fantasy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I remember going to a Christmas party at The Egg Factory [Lucasfilm's early Los Angeles headquarters] and talking to George there." Stout had previously been hired for a Star Wars Coke cup promotion in 1977, a job which led to several more pieces for Lucasfilm, including a movie poster, album cover, and Topps Star Wars Galaxy trading card.
In fact, in the years before and since, Stout has created a body of work that includes film design, comics, murals, and fine art, including an accomplished series of prehistoric life reconstructions. A lifelong fan of Stout's work, Lucas specifically asked Lucasfilm Executive Editor J.W. Rinzler to commission an original Stout artwork for Visions.
We asked the artist a few questions about "Searching for Anomalies," and the long history he's shared on Lucasfilm projects:
In Visions, you write: "I was inspired by the 'first' Star Wars art: [conceptual creature designer] Ron Cobb's painting of a rider on a lizardlike creature in an alien desert, a work in director John Milius's collection." Do you recall when you first saw that painting?
It might have been Ron's book Colorvision, which was the first color collection of Cobb stuff. I either saw it there or John [Milius] might have brought it into the office. He's a gigantic Cobb fan. He showed it to George and that obviously inspired the [dewback].
"Searching for Anomalies" appears a bit influenced by the artwork of Jean "Moebius" Giraud...
Jean is definitely an influence on me. We've been friends for quite awhile. In fact when I was production designer on Masters of the Universe I hired Giraud to do some designs for me on that film. (Legendary illustrator Jean "Moebius" Giraud was also tapped for the Visions project -- see his entry here).
Was there any aspect of "Searching" you found particularly challenging?
Once I figured out the design and started to work on it, I got to these gigantic planets or suns, and boy, they were just dull. I didn't know what I was going to do because I needed them there as design elements. How could I take the curse off of them? I then got the idea of putting that interesting texture on them.
Your artwork history with Star Wars actually goes all the way back to 1977. Do you recall your first experience seeing the film?
The very first time I saw Star Wars, I remember I was dying to see it because there was this incredible buzz on the street. I got a little break in my schedule and went over to the [Mann's] Chinese, looking in the line to see if there was anybody I knew. I saw a friend of mine, George, the guy who distributed all the underground comics in LA, and he was with his little son Leo, who I think was about three or four years old, dressed like Luke Skywalker. So George says, "Hey Bill, come cut in line with us!" And we're talking, and he goes, "Wait, you haven't seen this movie? This is our fifth time!" And sitting next to my friend George DiCaprio was his little son Leo. So the first time I saw Star Wars was with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Your first Star Wars illustrating job was for a set of 20 plastic Coke cups in 1977...
It's kind of an interesting story in that it was early on in my relationship with George Lucas. George is a really loyal guy, and he's consistently thrown work my way throughout my entire career. After doing the cups, George hired me to do the poster for More American Graffiti. He originally wanted it to be drawn by Robert Crumb. For American Graffiti, he felt that Mort Drucker epitomized that period -- and he thought that Robert Crumb epitomized the '60s. But Robert didn't want to do it -- and I had a reputation in town at the time of being able to duplicate any art style. They called me up and asked me if I would do it in Crumb style.
A few years later, you did an album cover for music from The Empire Strikes Back...
I was the art director for Varese Sarabande Records, and I was sort of art directing the cover from a distance because I had a full time job illustrating. I think I was already working on Conan the Barbarian, and I remember they needed it in a huge hurry. I painted that cover in one night with the help of my studio mate, Richard Hescox, who painted in the background.
The dewback is one of the more dinosaur-like creatures to inhabit the Star Wars universe -- a fitting subject for "Searching for Anomalies" given your interest in painting reconstructions of prehistoric life.
That's one of my main gigs. I actually just finished 12 murals that depict the prehistoric life of San Diego for the San Diego Natural History Museum, and before that I did three prehistoric life murals for Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom plus two more for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I've also been a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology since the late 70s -- so I take the prehistoric reconstructions pretty seriously!
Check out Stout's official website at williamstout.com.
StarWarsShop currently has the standard edition and special edition of Star Wars Art: Visions with five signed prints and 50 extra pages in stock now!
