A newsletter for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends
October 9, 2015
UMES sequential artist signs on as Star Warrior
INSIDE
Bradley Hudson talks proudly of working on a farm near Laurel, Del. when he was a youngster, so it would be folly to label him a space cadet. Stormtrooper? Perhaps. “I am a Star Wars fan,” the affable Hudson said. “I think (director) George Lucas had a real good sense of what a modern myth is. It has always appealed to me.” The assistant professor in UMES’ Department of Fine Arts goes by the social media handle Darth Brad Hudson, with an accompanying self-styled avatar. His Twitter page features images of his unique interpretation of characters from the first six films in the series. Across the third rock from the sun, 99 palm-size Hudson drawings of characters and scenes from those movies are in the hands of collectors of Star Wars’ ephemera – or on retailers’ shelves waiting to be purchased. There were 100, but Hudson already has purchased one of his original sketches of Han Solo from a seller who posted it for sale on eBay in August. (He paid $20 for it.) Hudson’s drawings make him a bona fide contributor to the pop-culture phenomenon about to get another blaster jolt with the much-anticipated release this December of “The Force Awakens,” the seventh installment in the science fiction saga. Hudson joined the UMES faculty 15 years ago to teach art. He discovered early on some students in his classes liked drawing intricate, fictional illustrations worthy of comic book – or “graphic novel” – treatment. So he lobbied to teach an experimental course in “sequential arts,” and now there are six such classes the university offers in its course catalog. “Our applied design degree is geared to prepare students to find employment,” said Chris Harrington, the fine arts department chairman. “As Mr. Hudson demonstrates, the sequential arts concentration he oversees allows students not only to enter the world of comics and cartoons, but also the billion dollar industry of Hollywood merchandising.” This past May, Hudson and some of his students attended a convention
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of artists who specialize in drawing fantasy characters and crafting stories featured in comic books when a Topps trading card company executive approached his table. “He was attracted to my work,” Hudson said. “Most companies do not take open submissions (of sequential art), so networking is really important.” The executive asked if Hudson might be interested in producing original drawings Topps wanted to insert in packs of mass-produced trading cards as part of a movie marketing strategy. “I want you on this project for us,” Hudson recalled the executive forcefully saying. Skeptical at first, Hudson exchanged contact information at Harrington’s urging. “I was completely ignorant about sketch-card artistry,” Hudson said. Harrington credits Hudson with leading “by example. He demonstrated that if you hone your craft and build a professional portfolio, you will be ready when a big break presents itself.” Within a few weeks, Hudson signed a (modest) contract and was crafting original drawings of such iconic characters as Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, wookiees, Jabba the Hutt, R2D2 and, of course, Darth Vader. “I … like doing characters that are not human,” Hudson said. “It gives me the freedom to show more of my own style.” Topps recruited dozens of artists like Hudson. He was obligated to produce 115 unique sketches inspired by characters or scenes from the six films as well as two cartoon shows. Hudson’s mother would not allow him to see the first film when it hit theaters in 1977. She thought it was a too adult for a four-year-old. Once Hudson the adult came up with inspiration for images he eventually sketched, he estimated it took roughly 20 minutes to convert a pencil drawing into an ink-and-color image on a 2-inch by 3-inch stock STAR WARS / continued on page 3
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