Page 86 - Star Wars Insider #194

Descendant Of Light

The first artist to be brought on
board for the Artist Series was
Kamome Shirahama, a popular
manga artist in Japan who has also
made a name for herself by drawing
cover art for Marvel Comics that
has included several issues of Star
Wars: Doctor Aphra and issue #2
of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi
comic-book adaptation.
“I met Kamome Shirahama at
Tokyo Comic Con, and we bonded
over our shared interest in Star
Wars,” Miyazaki-san reveals. “I
felt she perfectly represented the
type of artist that I was looking
for in this new series. Her manga,
Atelier of Witch Hat, is a comic that
has been translated and released
worldwide, so she has the ability to
create characters and designs that
are unique to her style, yet can be
seen as a work of art by fans.”
The eventual outcome of this
initial meeting was the release of the

first two statues in the Artist Series
line-up: Rey, Descendant of Light,
and Kylo Ren Cloaked in Shadows.
But what was the process that took
place between these two points?
“We started things off with
a concept meeting where we
discussed which characters the
artist would be most interested
in drawing, and the themes that
the design might include. After
that had been decided, we began
to expand the initial concept into 02
a full work of art,” Miyazaki-san
explains. “That’s the part that takes
a long time. Each character has its
03
own particular concept and theme,
and we work with the artist and
Lucasfilm to develop a title that

best represents those themes.”
Armed with a fully realized
character drawing, the team at
Kotobukiya communicate with

Lucasfilm’s product development
team to refine each concept still

further, before a detailed sketch for
the eventual sculpt is undertaken.
It’s at this point that modern
technology and Kotobukiya’s
modelling expertise comes into play.
“It can take some time turning a
2D piece of art into a 3D version,”
says Miyazaki-san. “We mainly

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