Journey to Star Wars Artwork: Interview with Ronnie Jensen

Ronnie Jensen is an incredibly talented illustrator whose artwork has been part of Tatooine Times since the initial stages of its design. His use of delicate color schemes paired with minimalistic yet recognizable elements create visually soothing and emotional artwork. Every piece has its own unique story but also leaves room for the viewer’s imagination. Ronnie answered a few questions for TatooineTimes.com via email about his artwork focusing on his creative process and the inspiration behind it.

TatooineTimes.com: What is your general creative process for your artwork?

Ronnie Jensen: My process is changing all the time. I love it. I hate it. But it is usually a 4 part thing in no particular order. The emotional impact is the most important part to me. It is about hitting that sweet spot before people start questioning what they see - before the logic kicks in and words are uttered. Just feel it! Then we have the intuitive part, things we recognize, like material, texture, and shapes of different kinds. The third part is if this makes any sense, what’s the story here? Last comes the logical part; does this vehicle look like it is working etc. It is hard to describe how I work really. It’s not in steps, it’s all in one go, or back and forth. A mess really!

TatooineTimes.com: How do you get the spark that lights the fire of your imagination?

Ronnie Jensen: Because I’m always motivated to paint I seek inspiration. Motivation is not enough in itself. For me inspiration is essential. And I find it in photos. Not so much in other people’s artwork, strangely enough. But it happens. I search the web for interesting inspirational photos, landscapes, space, cityscapes what not. Those photos ignite ideas. All kinds of stuff bubble up. It is a synthetic process I guess. Where images from memory are composited with the photos I have in front of me. Looking for that emotional impact I mentioned. Inspiration also gives me a great sense of being creative. I get incredibly restless unless I can sit down and get those images painted.

TatooineTimes.com: You have a lot of Star Wars artwork in your portfolio. How did you first get into the franchise?

Ronnie Jensen: Painting Star Wars stuff I think started out after the ILM Art Department Challenge on Artstation some time ago. That challenge must have inspired me a great deal thinking about it. Not sure why I didn’t do Star Wars paintings before though? Star Wars is such an epic space fantasy and to me it is so much to explore. I like the odd bits e.g. Skorr or the Mantellian Savrip. Or like Greedo’s beef with Han and the who-shot-first scenario? The fascinating thing is that when I research events as those mentioned they all seem to have taken place for real. The story has its own life. Fascinating! I just recently got my hands on the storyboard book of the prequel trilogy and also the portfolio from 1977 (no, it’s not a reprint) with prints of concept art by the awesome [Ralph] McQuarrie. They’re right by my side at the drawing table. Inspiring!

TatooineTimes.com: What advice would you give for aspiring artists?

Ronnie Jensen: It is very hard to give advice to those who want to give this kind of profession a try. There are many times you will have sensational moments of joy. Especially when you nailed something magical in your piece - a mood or a moment that you can watch over and over again asking yourself how did I do that? And there are many times you will feel like s**t. Especially when you see that your efforts don’t pay off as expected. And you may also have heard that you mustn’t give in but try again. But harder! So my advice would be to instead of banging your head against the wall find out why this or that didn’t work as expected. Why doesn’t this face look right? And go study those faces that look right to you. What’s the difference? And do another take on it. Reflect on your work. That’s when you will improve. I hate drawing faces by the way haha!

Make sure to check out Ronnie Jensen’s amazing artwork at his ArtStation page and also explore around our site to discover his artwork!