Felix became an officially licensed artist when he was asked to illustrate the cover for Aaron Allston's bestselling Legacy of the Force book
Star Wars: Betrayal. "Years ago while I was attending a comic book convention, I met a couple of the editors that were working at the Skywalker Ranch," Felix recalls. "While my artwork was fairly dark in mood, they had requested for me to create some 'test' art. They wanted to see what I could create and how I would handle the
Star Wars universe. I worked for a month on four pieces of finalized art and submitted them. To make a long story short, years passed and then I received a call to work on the new Legacy of the Force series. My eyes lit up and I happily jumped on board."
"I really enjoy working on each cover and to contribute to a legendary series," Felix continues. "I enjoy illustrating the novel covers simply because it has to represent, in one image, what the mood of the book needs to be. It can be overwhelming what to illustrate based on all the material that each book supplies. Luckily there are plenty of helping hands to point me in the right direction. But the most rewarding element of this experience is to be a part of something that I have always admired."
Felix says he likes to begin each project, such as the Legacy of the Force cover, by loosely drawing out his ideas in a traditional sketchbook. "I usually start off sketching in my sketchbook some super duper small thumbnails to work out posing and scan that in," Felix explains. "I then like to photograph people posing to match the sketches with my digital camera. Once photographed, I composite the figures into the scanned thumbnails using Photoshop and use that for my base to start painting. I will create five different rough compositions and send those off for approval. Usually this process takes the longest because tweaking rough sketches is much easier than fixing a final painting. After a final sketch has been approved, I use that rough color sketch as my foundation for the final painting."
While working on a project, Felix likes to test his limitations in order to grow as an artist. "The biggest challenge for me is to make sure that I am pushing my artwork, my skills, and evolving," Felix says. "I'm one of those artists who want to learn, improve, and excel beyond what I am currently creating. Some of the best artists that I admire apply themselves, evolve, and always produce amazing pieces of artwork."
Felix continues to illustrate covers for the Legacy of the Force series through the fourth book Exile, and is also hard at work completing his full-color art book called Salvaged, scheduled for release at the end of 2006. As Felix strives to push himself as a professional artist, he admits there are quite a few things he's learned that he wish he knew earlier in his career.
"Follow your instinct and do what makes you happy," Felix suggests. "Art is about communication and sharing experiences. Make sure that you spend equal time 'experiencing' life while creating art. The best artists out there work hard, but they also play hard. Remember to study from the masters -- Andrew Loomis knows best -- and use computers as an art tool rather than a crutch. Draw when you don't want to and draw more when you do, just make sure to draw something every single day. Lastly, talk to people whom do the work you want and try to find out how they got their start. You will be amazed by how different each artist's approach is, yet similar in pattern."
To read more about upcoming projects from Felix, visit his official site here.
