Meet the Supa-Stars of 2025 Supanova Perth!

Q+A

Mark, your art has become synonymous with iconic franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. What was your first official piece for Lucasfilm, and how did that opportunity come about?

I saw the original Star Wars in 1977 when I was on leave from a tour of duty in the army and loved the movie.

It's not that I particularly loved the story or the characters (although I did enjoy everything immensely),

Instead, I was instead blown away by how the movie was made and George / Industrial Light + Magic' (ILM)’s visual effects the likes of which we had never seen before.

As a 2-D animator in the 1970’s, Star Wars inspired me to want to work for George and so I became very involved in the new world of computer generated animation - in the very early 1980’s - and through working in that field I met with people from ILM and PIXAR (which was still owned by George at that time).

My first official Lucasfilm job was over 33 years ago and that was in CG and animation in support of the marketing campaign for re-release of the original Star Wars movies.

From there, I moved to doing some work internally for ILM.

All of that changed after George saw a cartoon that I had done of him as Yoda and I moved from being an artist amongst a thousand other Lucasfilm artists to being one who’s work George knew individually and an artist that he knew by name.

How did it feel the first time you saw your Star Wars artwork officially released or displayed by Lucasfilm?

The first time that happened I walked on clouds for weeks because being selected is truly a privilege of the highest order.

I've been incredibly blessed with the work I have done over the years for Lucasfilm and more recently Disney.

And I will always be very grateful to George for giving me the opportunity.

What kind of reactions do you get from Star Wars fans when they learn you’re the artist behind some of the franchise’s most beloved poster and concept art?

Most fans don’t realise that the work they are seeing is work that I have done, especially here in Australia, because for some reason they don’t believe its possible to work so far away from Hollywood.

The realisation on their faces when they find out is wonderful because as I have said before in a recent interview... To me, the most satisfying thing about the job is meeting the fans.

They are the reason I do the work I do and without them I would not have had a job!

Do people ever recognise you at conventions just from your art style? How do those interactions compare to online fan responses?

I can’t say people recognise me because of my style - although if they are artists themselves that might be the case.

The job demands that any art I create conforms with the existing Star Wars brand and so its generally that quality that resonates with fans who might not be artistically inclined.

If an artwork that I have done pushes all the Star Wars buttons the fans expect then I have done my job.

On-line there is generally another level of fandom that often forms around art styles and techniques and through forums such as those I have found that there are many folk who know my art because of the way I work.

You’ve captured so many beloved characters on paper—how do you go about translating a cinematic icon like Luke Skywalker or Boba Fett into a still image that feels alive?

When working on a movie poster I am employed specifically because the client wants good likenesses.

Although I have painted and drawn Mark Hamill a thousand times, it’s vital that I refer to reference when I am painting or drawing his character.

Although I can draw him from memory, there is far more to me doing the job than simply portraiture because not only does it need to look like Mark...

It also needs to be him at the correct age and embodying the specific version of the Luke Skywalker character he is playing.

The second part of the job is to, as mentioned previously, capture the character in a way that is both respectful and true to the Star Wars franchise.

If I get that right, then the Studios and most of the fans will be happy.

As an artist, what’s the biggest challenge in working with such a visually rich and deeply loved universe like Star Wars?

The biggest challenge for me is to create something that the will resonate with the fans and an artwork that promotes the movie's story without giving away any important plot details.

The responsibility of creating these posters is massive because as a Disney executive told me after the release of my Rise of Skywalker poster, the art was seen by tens of millions of people around the world in just the first 40 minutes of it going live.

I know that I will never keep all of the fans happy and certainly can’t worry about the millions of them so I rather concentrate on keeping the Studios and (when he was still involved) George happy.

Do you have a favourite Star Wars character to draw—and is there one you find particularly challenging?

My dear friend and poster artist - the late great John Alvin - once said to me that every artist has a character that for them is Kryptonite and for John it was Mark Hamill. Although I have drawn and painted Harrison Ford many, many times of the years, I find him particularly difficult to draw and paint.

Do I have a favorite? Not really, because each actor and character has something unique that they always bring to the party.

What kind of reference material or inspiration do you use when creating new pieces for a franchise with such a massive visual legacy?

Reference is vitally important to doing the job as I mentioned previously because its not only about doing a doing good portrait.

I constantly refer to other poster artists work (Drew, John Alvin, Tom Jung, Richard Amsel) who have also worked on the franchises because that way I can always see what might have worked to promote the movies in the past.

Your artwork is full of emotional depth and narrative—how do you balance fan expectations with your personal artistic vision?

Thank you very much for your kind words, they are sincerely appreciated.

While my own artistic vision is imperative in helping create something unique, any new artist wanting to work in the field today needs to remember that we are all hired guns and this means that what a client wants, a client gets.

That is not to say that you don't push back if you disagree with something the Studio is demanding because selective pushback is imperative too.

I have sometimes found that a suggestion by the client suddenly opens all sorts of creative opportunities that I might never have considered before and so the ideal formula for me is an equal partnership between the artist and the Studio because in most cases, this creates the perfect creative solution.

You’ve also worked on Indiana Jones. How does the creative process differ between the pulp-adventure feel of Indy and the epic, mythic tone of Star Wars?

The creative process is certainly different from an artists point of view.

The ultimate goal though is the same between SW and Indy and that is to create something that adds value to the franchise and the character/s in general that will appeal to the legions of fans, but the approach is different.

With SW you have a plethora of characters and actors and with each movie the emphasis on the specific characters that might be important to that specific movie has to be captured. With Indy, besides the fact that the overall colour palette is always gold, red, tan and beige, the movies themselves are always about Harrison Ford so in these cases the one character that needs to always be the biggest and most detailed is Indy himself.

Have you ever had a fan bring in a tattoo or item featuring your artwork? What's the most surprising use of your work you’ve seen?

Hahaha, yes its happed a lot. The most unexpected one I saw at one of the US conventions was the cartoon I did of George as Yoda.

What do you think makes Star Wars such an enduring subject for artists like yourself—even after nearly 50 years?

For me Star Wars is enduring in its own right because it speaks to so many fans all around the globe on so many levels.

When I did the official poster for Rise of Skywalker I proposed to Disney and Lucasfilm that I create a poster that was not so much about the movie itself but rather an artwork that also paid homage to the legacy of all of the Star Wars movies that had gone before.

In the final art, I specifically included the shot of the Star Destroyer my amazing friends and colleagues at ILM created from A New Hope right at the top of the poster because, had that shot not worked back in 1977 we would not be speaking about Star Wars nearly 50 years later.

For aspiring illustrators and pop culture artists, what’s your best piece of advice about breaking into official franchise work?

This is a question I am asked almost daily and in truth the road a new artist takes to getting into the field today is totally different from the one I took decades ago.

Today there are so many more opportunities to get your work out into the world and to be seen so I generally advise new artists to polish their on-line portfolios and profiles with only the very best content they have.

I know a number of artists who have been discovered because a Studio Art Director saw their work in their Instagram account but it should also be remembered that any artist today is competing with thousands of other exceptional artists from all around the globe.

Because of this put only your very best work on-line.

Also keep an eye on Studio web pages for potential job openings, internships and announcements that their Art Directors will be doing portfolio reviews at a specific convention somewhere around the globe.

Take every opportunity to put your work in front of the right people and ALWAYS raise the bar with your work each time.

"Good enough” is never Good Enough, it needs to be exceptional.

Another question I am often asked is “What made you think you could work for George Lucas and Lucasfilm?”

The answer to that is simple, it never occurred to me that I couldn't work for George but that must never be confused with “am I GOOD enough to work for George?”

I had still work my butt off to prove that my work was good enough.

Do you have any upcoming Star Wars-inspired projects you’re excited to share at Supanova Perth 2025?

I retired from doing studio work at the beginning of last year so I don't have any new projects that I can share with the wonderful Supanova fans.

I had an amazing career that spanned decades and George, Steven Spielberg and Stan Lee and so many other legends were wonderful to me both personally and professionally.

Its time now for me to step aside and let new exciting artists take over and to make their own magic.

What are you most looking forward to about connecting with fans at Supanova, especially here in your home country of Australia?

I always look forward to seeing the fans of the work I have done and of the franchises I have been blessed to be part of because they are what always made the job so special..