Behind the Scenes of Crimson Dawn, and Rey, Leia? (Patreon)

I’m used to writing artist statements so, this will give some insight to how it came about, directions it nearly took, Easter Eggs, and ideas for future Star Wars. The first image is the final final page, I replaced the blow bang piece as it felt out of tone with the somber one I was going for.

I had the idea shortly after Solo was released. I liked the film when it was out, after hearing bad things, and I still like it now. The plot came about as plots often do, inspiration from all over, but in particular a few moments in the film when Han and Beckett meet with Vos, he’s very....suggestive in his choice of words and inflection, Qi’ra looks visibly embarrassed and uncomfortable, but then has this act she puts on for him. It’s ripe for smut opportunities, and suggests that there is more going on with the actor’s performances, I utterly refute any claims that Emilia was a bad actress in this film based on these subtle moments.

It was meant to be a ten page comic done after the twenty five page Rey comic. Those first two pages, that roughly match the first two pages as they stand now, are posted above, image 2 and 3. The title was originally Crimson P*rn, a pun title the Cinema Snob would very much approve of. Screw this lazy “A XXX Po*n Parody” subtitle. The original cover was to follow the same theme as The Trade and The Reunion, as you can see in image 4.

I went kind of nuts gathering resources and references, from the Solo concept art book, behind the scenes book that’s even bigger, the comic adaptation, the colouring book, action figures of Qi’ra in 3 3/4 inch, 6 inch and 12 inch scales, photographed my friend’s figures like a high detailed stormtrooper and Daenerys 1/6 scale figures in different lighting conditions, and gathered a heap of Emilia photos. But comics are hard to draw, and I kept procrastinating, other projects came and went, and after writing it as a narrative, it became a story book, but I’ve already told you all that. What I have not shared is that about a year ago, there was an idea to do it as a motion comic, that eventually came to play in The Reunion. The first animation I did, Qi’ra riding, was to be a scene in the comic. But the animation and all that involved in the previous project put me off going it for now.

So from June through to July I started work on it. The cover had some inspirations like image 5, but it was good to show off the Dawn brand, which she carries in the film. Page one is fairly straight forward, I had hoped for a more dramatic angle but that can be hard. The bars of the cell are inspired by Rey’s staff, down the base, a reuse of parts that adds extra SW flavour. Page 2, not much here. I did light the Qi’ra dolls I have in blue to match the scene and use as a colour reference.

Page three was monumental, and involved lots of studying frames from the film for the space port design, then building it to rough scale on SketchUp, a free 3D modelling program, which I used as a base to trace over. Loved doing the lighting and rain effects, I felt cold drawing it. Notice the alien by the red speeder, dismayed he left the convertible top down, so now his speeder is filled with water. The Aurebesh on the wall I think says Spaceport or something. The red and blue sticker on the speeder behind Qi’ra says “Carcetti for Mayor,” a reference to a The Wire, where similar stickers and posters were seen. I had also just finished watching The Wire as I started this project, so it was lingering in my mind. Page four’s background was a set photo I painted onto, removing all the extras playing the White Works in the scene. Again, wanted a more dramatic angle, closer to Qi’ra, angled up so Proxima truly towered over her, but there would have taken a long time to plan and draw, and there was no room in frame to fit it how I wanted.

Page five is admittedly my least favourite of all the pages, I have already drawn pages one through to four and six at this point so I was pretty tired and just wanted it done. The glowing neon sign reads “GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS FUTA.” Page six was so fun to do. The sky, which was going to be an ever present element to the original comic, was taken from a photo I took. Space port in the back, the same from page three, the cranes at AT cranes, featured in the concept art book, pictured above. Writing on the ground says “entry” and the sign reads “pier 60-69” noice.

Qi’ra’s outfit here is taken from an unused concept art from the film, inspired by the fashion of bands like The Clash. Vos’ is original, one half coat, the other half cape, the Decraniated lady was a new design just to get....ass.

The massacre of the White Worms was a powerful turning point in the story, I can almost image it unfolding in a film, the music swelling and the screens reflecting in Qi’ra’s eyes. Incidentally there is a reflection of the screen, absolutely tiny though, in her and Vos’ eyes. This was the moment that made me decide to make this a storybook, so I could accurately convey Qi’ra’s emotions in this moment as intended, so it didn’t completely look like Vos had forced her into this situation.

Shower scene for some embarrassed nude female action in page nine. The Lasat alien was a creature inspired by Ralph Macquarie’s Chewbacca concept art, the race most prominently featured in Star Wars Rebels as Zeb. This is based off abandoned designs for Dryden Vos. Back when Lord and Miller were directing a Solo, Michael K Williams had been cast as Vos portrayed through motion capture, I can only assumed based off the “mountain lion” like description of the character, Vos was to be a Lasat. When the reshoots with Ron Howard were done, Michael K Williams wasn’t available, so Paul Bettany, a frequent collaborator with Howard, took the role.

So I decided to incorporate that Lasat design in here too, as a Dawn lieutenant. I tried to copy the design directly from the concept but I couldn’t get it to work. One design was based on a lynx cat, seen above, before I instead took the route I ended up with. Michael K Williams made a name for himself as Omar in The Wire, so I took his face and tweaked it to look like a Lasat. It even features his distinct facial scar, as an extra homage. The padding worn on the shoulders and chest by the guy kicking Qi’ra was based on that worn by Dash Rendar, a Legends character, a legend himself.

Not much to say on page 10, the colour palette is very close to the film’s here. Why did they choose the colours in the film they did? Was it to evoke noir films? It didn’t work. Page 11 was a very late addition, a whole new chapter to the story I only made the week before to make up for the lack of sex, and to use another abandoned concept art design from the film. 

The moment where we meet Maul, I was so looking forward to drawing him. But of course, this unfortunate business with Maul’s actor, leaks, abuse, who knows? It felt too awkward for me to draw him. So, I planned to draw Sam Witwer, the voice of Maul, in the role, but that didn’t feel right. So, took a weird approach, taking Maul as he looked in CGI in The Clone Wars, and softening him out to be more real. He looks and feels like Maul, without necessarily being Park.

I basically ran out of pages, and piled the branding into this back image from the cover, shooting Qi’ra is a new costume nothing too extraordinary taking inspiration from concept, and the balcony was going to be a full scene but again, pressed for time. The shooting scene was intended to show the Lasat being shot, I guess explaining his absence from the film, but there was no space. The next page where they reunite, I didn’t just want to redraw a shot from the film, but it’s a moment taken from the film from a more side on angle. The figure in shadow to the left of the image is Werner Herzog’s The Client from The Mandalorian, based on how he looked circa 2005, since this is a good few years before Mando. The Imperial Officer was intended to be featured with a few other cameos, Pryde from TROS (a young Richard E Grant) Peavey (Ade Edmondson) and another Officer based off Rik Mayall. Maybe there would have been a Paul McGann rebel hiding somewhere.  

The final page was a painting in the centre I’m sort of shocked I did. The montage had a few new scenes with the ones we have seen before. The back cover, topless Qi’ra on white, was simply more smut.

So, there we go, it’s finally done. I’ll be doing a few final Qi’ra pieces to wrap it up, a pinup of her on the hood of the speeder from the film, more alien banging, and more. For the future, I have some Leia planned, her Hoth getup and potentially a small simple comic post ROTJ, and some miscellaneous pieces.

The future of the Rey story, The Reunion 2, will be a fun piece of wish fulfilment, heavy on the sex. Old friends return once the dust has settled after TROS, as someone comes looking for Rey, someone comes for Finn, and someone finally cums for Poe. I might do a preview soon, but I’ve set it as a goal to work towards when I get 75 patrons. 26 to go! But also, expect a few more Rey pictures in the meantime.