ADVICE FOR ASPIRING ARTISTS FROM AMY BETH CHRISTENSON

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Via Starwars.com:

THE STAR WARS RESISTANCE ART DIRECTOR HAS SOME ENCOURAGING WORDS ABOUT TELLING YOUR OWN UNIQUE STORY.

Amy Beth Christenson knows how to weave a story, through the small details of a fully-rendered character design or a rough sketch scrawled to help convey the broad strokes to a team of animators.

But before she became the art director for the upcoming animated series Star Wars Resistance, Christenson was a Star Wars fan just like you. She started her career with Lucasfilm fresh out of college, where she combined her two childhood obsessions — Star Wars and video games — into one dream job. With LucasArts, Christenson had a hand in the design for titles like Star Wars: Starfighter, The Force Unleashed and its sequel. From there, she moved into TV animation, working on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, before being promoted to senior concept designer for Star Wars Rebels. There she helped to define the aesthetics of the show and designed some its most distinct breakout characters including Grand Admiral Thrawn. (During the production, Christenson even got to meet Thrawn’s creator Timothy Zahn and get his autograph in her original copy of Heir to the Empire.)

This week, we asked Christenson for her advice for up-and-coming artists entering this year’s Star Wars Fan Awards.

Here are Christenson’s top 4 tips for creating something all your own:

1. Make it yours.

There are so many categories to choose from, but finding the right project means knowing your own strengths as an artist and using them to your advantage. “Do you love color? Then compose an image that centers around that,” Christenson says. “Great sculptor and fabricator? Make a costume that revolves around those skills.” Playing to your strengths also means you’ll probably enjoy the creative process more. “The more you center your piece around what you love and what you are good at, the happier you will be while making it — and that will shine through in the final product….Try to find a fun and original way to make your entry really sing. Embracing your own unique style of drawing and rendering is a great way to separate yourself from the pack, but there are other solutions out there — find one that works for you!”

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