$5,938
One of eight pieces of original pre-production art created by Colin Cantwell for George Lucas in imagining the spaceships that might populate the Star Wars (20th Century, 1977) universe, circa 1974/1975. This full-color mixed media (predominantly colored pencil) illustration features an early design of the Imperial Star Destroyer, as seen in the previous two lots; this piece depicts a space battle close up. In the foreground is an X-Wing Fighter in attack mode (wings in “X” formation), firing on the Star Destroyer. The limited color palette of this piece (reds/oranges, white, and black) convey some sense of style and scene in this illustration, compared with the others in the collection. In this close-up perspective, it can be seen that the open side design of the final version of the Imperial Star Destroyer was realized in these earliest of illustrations. The smaller X-Wing Fighter craft provides an idea of scale. The backdrop on this piece is space (no planets). From the collection of Cantwell, who was among the first approached by Lucas to work on the original Star Wars film back in 1974. Cantwell was asked to head up ILM, but he did not want to be tied down to a long-term obligation at that time. Cantwell's most notable contribution was working closely with Lucas on the spaceship designs for Star Wars : A New Hope (now known as Episode IV). Cantwell was provided with “Copy #4” of the screenplay, then titled “Adventures of The Starkiller (episode one); The Star Wars.
Auctioneer:
Juliens Auctions
Date:
2014-12-05
