Speeder on Sanctuary Moon, upcycled vintage painting

"Pass on what you have learned. Strength. Mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is.” — Master Yoda

This Imperial 74-Z speeder bike gave me a lot of grief! I must have painted and drawn it ten times... it's just technically difficult painting something head on. I persisted, and shook hands with Failure many times (with many sketches ending up in the bin!), and even deciding to completely scrub off what I initially painted into this piece. I let it sit for a day or so, and then gave it another go... and am much happier with the more subtle result. 

The ninth moon of the Outer Rim planet of Endor is also known as "The Forest Moon of Endor" or "Sanctuary Moon." The scenes on Endor from Return of the Jedi are core memories from my childhood... from the speeder bike chases to the Ewok village, it had everything a kid from the 80's could want in a space fantasy! (Did anyone else watch the Ewoks cartoon?!)

With this painting, I wanted to capture the feel of being a lone scout patrolling the perimeter, dwarfed by the enormous trees that hid the mischievous Ewoks. I imagine that even for agents of the empire, it would be difficult to not appreciate a quiet drive through the forest. 

The original vintage painting by Hennessy was collected locally. It's a particularly nice vintage painting in that 70's landscape style, so I wanted what I added to be subtle and not distract from the beautiful, lush forest.  It's in very good condition, and the frame has also been well cared for. 

"Speeder on Sanctuary Moon"

Painting on vintage painting on canvas
41 x 51 cm (16 x 20 inch) canvas
59 x 69 cm (23 x 27 inch) vintage frame