72 / STAR WARS INSIDER
PavingthewayforStarWarsstreetartin Germany
WORLDWIDE
CELEBRATING THE SAGA
DRAWING THE JEDI
G
rowing up near the small
German town of Geldern,
Lena Lackmann became
interested in street art through a
popular local contest, held there
every year. “Usually I enter the
contest as a copyist, but this year
I wanted to paint something
original,” explains Lackman. “And
I also wanted my pieces to have a
connection to Star Wars.” A fl ash
of inspiration to create a jokey riff
on Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training
soon struck, and the artist opted
to work in her preferred medium
of pastels.
The artwork’s process began
long before the festival, with Lenausing Photoshop to digitally paint
her comical idea of Yoda looking
over Luke’s shoulder, judging the
young man’s attempt at drawing
the Jedi Master with chalk. A
speech balloon describes Yoda
offering a critique on Luke’s artistic
technique with the phrase “Viel zu
lernen du noch hast!” In English that
translates to, “Much to learn you still
have!”
After printing the rough outline
of her ideas onto large sections of
paper, the German fan artist tapes
the pieces together and sets the
layout on the ground, then she rolls
the paper up inch by inch, gradually
copying her design onto the street.Over a period of two days,
Lackmann transferred her design
onto the sidewalk, and completed
her artwork by filling in the empty
spaces with colorful pastels to bring
the two Jedi to life.
The talented artist also utilized
the same process to produce a
detailed portrait of Rey at another
art festival in the town of Viersen.
Lackmann wished to commemorate
the importance of the sequel trilogy
character, whom she feels reassures
young women that Star Wars is
meant for them as much as it is
for boys. Rey’s importance was
reflected in the size of the art, which
measured approximately 8.5 feet by
5.25 feet, with its Luke-based
counterpart measuring an equally
impressive 7 x 5 feet. You can see
more of Lackmann’s art on
Instagram at @lenackmann.