Out of the 350 cards, Cummens admits that her favorite character to draw would change from the beloved Master Jedi Yoda to more obscure characters that may not get the same kind of fanfare from collectors.
"My favorite character to draw is Yoda but while working on the Heritage cards, I developed a fondness for drawing prequel characters like Rune Haako, Sebulba and Watto," Cummens confesses. "The colors and textures of their clothing are so rich and varied. The subtleties of the way they move, their expression, is fascinating to me. I especially like drawing Watto because he is a combination of those things, lots of expression in his eyes and body language as well as amazing skin textures."
In addition to her Star Wars projects, Cummens also offers her skills to those who appreciate the inhabitants of Middle-Earth.
"Being a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I attended a recent Lord of the Rings convention in Pasadena where I taught a room full of kids how to draw their own Tolkien characters," Cummens says. "I also illustrated a Hobbit-themed coloring book for children who were at the event. It's exciting to meet with the kids and watch them color the pages I designed. I've also been doing concept illustration of figurines and village sets of licensed characters like Lord of the Rings and Universal Pictures Monsters (the Mummy, Dracula, etc) for Bradford Exchange. My other freelance work involves illustrating comic strips, newsletters and coloring books for children, materials that are designed as educational tools for kids with chronic illnesses. I feel good about using my art for children, which is a something new I discovered about myself after taking a children's book illustration class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago a couple years ago."
Even with her relatively new success as a Star Wars illustrator, Cummens says she still faces obstacles inherent with many artists.
"The biggest challenge I face as an artist is successfully ignoring the inner critic, the art demon, which will occasionally pop in and try to prevent a sense of accomplishment in my work whether it's for a project or something for my own body of work," Cummens admits. "The biggest rewards are those moments when you squash that inner critic and immerse yourself in a world where nothing else exists but you and your connection with the image you're creating."
Like many artists who seem to have made careers out of their work, Cummens still remembers how difficult it is for budding artists to remain focused on their goals and break into the competitive world of illustration.
"Don't spend too much time worrying about who you think you should be as an artist," Cummens advises. "Chances are your beliefs are going to change as you get older and discover new things about yourself and your goals as an artist will change to reflect that. It's only as difficult to achieve your goals as you decide it's going to be. You have to be able to stop resisting in order to let the universe hand you what you're asking for, and it will."
To learn more about Cummens and her work, visit her site: cynthiacummensart.com
