Few artists can boast that their work has passed the approval process of an actual queen. But today’s artist has been involved in projects so broad in their appeal that even he seems surprised at the scope of it. Malcolm Tween got on the radar early, catching the eyes of Lucasfilm with his stellar professional works featuring Star Wars characters. Drawing off the influences of early Star Wars greats like Drew Struzan, famous for his Star Wars cinema posters, Malcolm has managed to bring the original big screen splendor of Star Wars illustrations to the new era of films. Young fans today can enjoy the same larger than life spectacle off the screen as did the original fans. Early experience as a technical illustrator and a kick from Star Wars at a young age steered his imaginative mind to a galaxy far, far away.
Malcolm is an illustrator living and working in the UK. He co-founded Digital Progression in 1997, an entirely digital illustration studio working for advertising agencies, design companies and game publishers. Whilst a lot of his work over the years has been for video-game covers and advertising campaigns, he’s also worked on concept art, animation and even VR. A diverse range of clients includes Atari, Atlantic Records, BMW, Disney, EA, Microsoft, Sega and Sony amongst many others.
He first started working for Lucasfilm in 2004, creating promotional artwork for various projects including Revenge of the Sith and Indiana Jones. Most recently he has illustrated three sets of award winning Royal Mail Star Wars special edition UK postage stamps, featuring characters, creatures and droids from across the films, probably the only Star Wars merchandise to be officially approved by the Queen! The final set was released in 2019 to coincide with the launch of The Rise of Skywalker.
Malcolm has also created exclusive prints for eight Star Wars Celebrations throughout America, Europe and Japan.
We asked Malcolm: what is it about Star Wars that inspires you as an artist?
“Technically I’ve been drawing Star Wars since 1977 when I was six years old, It’s just that I didn’t get to do it for Lucasfilm until a little later down the line! I think for a lot of people who grew up with the original trilogy especially, it’s just built into our cultural DNA, everything comes back to Star Wars. When I started doing work for Lucasfilm I was actually amazed how much freedom we were allowed, I love the fact we get the opportunity to tell our own little stories within these amazing worlds.”
We are honored to share Malcolm’s story today in Star Wars Artist Month and we hope is work like that of other artists will inspire the next generation of kids to embrace the power of the Force within their own minds!
FYI here’s a fantastic article on StarWars.com discussing Malcolm’s experience producing the super secret Star Wars stamps series:
www.starwars.com/news/mini-masterpieces-artist-malcolm-tween-on-his-royal-mail-star-wars-stamps
You can follow Malcolm and see more of his work in the links below:
https://twitter.com/MalcolmTween
https://www.behance.net/malcolmtween
http://www.digitalprogression.com
https://www.instagram.com/malcolmtween
Many thanks to our partners at Jedi News, Fantha Tracks, Rebel Scum, Force.Net, and Bantha Bricks for supporting SWAM 2020 and sharing our posts. What a great way to share the magic of the art community! Check them out and see just how big the galaxy really is!
