Stan Winston
Stan Winston
(Special Effects & Makeup Artist)

Well, these days, I no longer draw from CD booklets. I carry around a Flash drive with a library of source photos, and at home I have a stack of printouts from said library. And one day I had the urge to draw; however, I didn't have my stack of printouts nor my flash drive handy (nor a sketchbook, for that matter.) But, I did have access to the internet where I'd previously drawn from, and I've been meaning to revisit images from the Dark Side's past. So, I hunted up the IMDb photo of Stan Winston I drew before, flipped it upside down, broke out a mechanical pencil and printer paper, and we were off.

Over the last few months, I've slowly, gradually, and unofficially been moving to doing line-only drawings when doodling on printer paper with the mechanical pencil because an array of soft and hard leads makes shading so much easier (and looks better.) I still shade with the mechanical pencil, and I probably always will, but I try to leave things line only whenever I can get away with it. And right there you have a sign of how far I've come in the eight(ish) years since I did the original Stan Winston render (the original drawing isn't dated).

Despite a lack of shading, this drawing captures so much more detail than the old one (the seams in the shirt and jacket; the lines in the beard, hair, and eyebrows; the highlight and life in the eyes; the wrinkles in the neck and brow.) The lines and shapes in the new render look more distinct and unique compared to the old render's painful genericness—as if I'd draw anyone and everyone with the same eyes, nose, cheeks (etc). Beyond that, when I look at the two side-by-side, I see a lot more control over the medium, and as a result, the update looks a lot more thoughtful. The 2011 drawing looks like I consciously placed each and every line down. The '03 render looks like I threw everything at the paper, just praying something would look right. It summons to mind the image of a tiny cartoon character turning on a fire hose and being tossed all around by the water pressure as he hangs on for dear life—no control whatsoever.

I want to say it was drawn in the span of ninety minutes (give or take a few.) No warm ups or drawing exercises, I dove into this project cold. And, again, drawn upside down. Other than that, I don't really have anything to say; the drawing alone says so much than the old ones.

Also available: Stan Winston, Take One