Drawing a Jawa

As the galaxy's best recyclers, Jawas understand the true value of a discarded droid better than anyone. They comb the deserts of Tatooine in search of crap metal and abdandoned droids. Using their makeshift weaponry, they can shut down droids and drag them to their treaded homes on wheels known as sandcrawlers. Appearing as meter-tall humanoids they are completely hidden behind rough, handwoven robes. Their faces are hidden within the dark folds of a cowl, all execpt their glowing yellow eyes.

Star Wars illustrator Grant Gould explains with these easy-to-follow steps on how to draw a Jawa.

Steps 1-5 are to be drawn lightly with a pencil. No pen, no dark lines. Finished lines and details will come at the end.

Step One: It's always best to start with basic shapes. When drawing a Jawa, start with an oval shape for its head and then create a rectangle to provide a frame for the body that is a bit wider than the head. Make sure you slant the shoulders a little. Jawas are short creatures, so you don't want to make the rectangle too long.		Step Two: Draw two circles on the head for eyes, and then add little oval-shaped feet at the lower corners of the rectangle. You can also draw an "X" in the top half of the rectangle. This will provide a basis for the Jawa's belts in Step Four.

Step Three: Now that you have the basic body template, add the robe shapes, as well as the Jawa's arms. From the shoulders, draw quick sloping lines, and then draw half-circles for hands. For the Jawa's hood draw a triangular shape that slants a little to one side.		Step Four: Now you get to start adding more detail, but keep it loose and light. Add some folds in the Jawa's robes, and draw boxes along the his belt -- because that's where you'll be drawing his pouches and bags. You may want to have part of his hood drape over one of his eyes, too, as seen in the sample.

Step Five: Now you're ready to fill in all the final details. Use your pencil to lightly shade in the dark parts of the Jawa, such as his hands and face. Spend some time fleshing out the belts, pouches, feet, and robes. The great thing about Jawas is they all carry different gizmos and gadgets, so you can add almost anything you want. In this example the Jawa a little stun gun, so that when he finds a stray droid, he can capture it without harming it.		Step Six: Once you're happy with the look of your pencil drawing, add ink. Use any pen or marker that you're comfortable with. For thsi, I used a Faber-Castell brush pen. Carefully draw over your pencil lines, and once you''e done (made sure the ink is dry) go ahead and erase your pencil lines. This will give your drawing a nice, crisp look.

Step Seven: Some of you may want to add color, too. Try using crayons, colored pencils, markers, or even the computer. This example is colored in a software program called Photoshop. Another fun trick is to take your final black and white drawing to a copy shop and make several copies so that you can practice coloring on different sheets and not worry about ruining the original. The more you practice, the better you'll get!