Mondo/Alamo Drafthouse Star Wars Project

Title: King's Lead Hat

Colors/inks: 3 color with metallic copper and silver

Poster Size: 24x36 inches

Paper: 100 lb. French Sand Speckletone

Edition size: 255

"King's Lead Hat" is an art print made for the Mondo/Alamo Drafthouse's officially licensed "Star Wars" project.  Each piece required approval from Lucasfilm, so who knows, maybe George actually looked at it.  Below is a small write-up included with the press release for the print discussing the theme of the poster in context to the character, Darth Vader:

"There's a scene in Star Wars where Grand Moff Tarkin strides into his council room on the Death Star announcing the dissolution of the Imperial Senate.  His officers express concern over the Emperor's ability to maintain control of star systems without this governing body. To this Tarkin retorts, "Fear will keep the local systems in line.  Fear of this battle station."

This exchange made me consider the motivation behind the Emperor's construction of Darth Vader.  I'm not referring to just the cybernetic bits maintaining Vader's body but also the active manipulation of his mind to bring him to the dark side.  The Emperor created in Vader a weapon no different from the Death Star in its ultimate purpose, a means of generating fear amongst the vast populace he ruled.  An administrative tool that became the executor of the Emperor's cruel commands.  With that in mind, I decided to depict Vader as a facility harnessing and directing his immense natural power towards malicious ends."

As you might expect, it's quite a thrill to get to make artwork for a film that had such an impact on my life and the world around me.

SOLD OUT (I'll have a couple I saved for Flatstock in March, so if you're in Austin on St. Paddy's Day come check out the booth).