The Artist of Naboo

"Just north of Theed, an artist lived and worked in his studio at the base of an abandoned castle."

―The opening line of the story^[1]

"The Artist of Naboo" is a twelve-page Legends comic written and illustrated by Erik Tiemens and published by Dark Horse Comics in the anthology Star Wars: Visionaries. Presented as a series of paintings, the comic follows an artist from the planet Naboo who has a series of premonitions relating to Senator Padmé Amidala after encountering her. The artist obsessively paints Amidala for weeks and ultimately saves her from a Separatist attack. The comic was created following Lucasfilm senior editor Jonathan W. Rinzler's idea to highlight the works of concept artists who worked on the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

Publisher's summary[]

"Evocative paintings capture the tale of an unnamed artist from Naboo, who is captivated by Padmé Amidala after a chance encounter. Her beautiful features graces [sic] his artwork, leading to disturbing premonitions about her future."^[4]

Plot summary[]

"A chance encounter, and Padmé's gaze transfixed the artist. Unexpected visions of Padmé and her twins replaced his suns & moons."

―Narration^[1]

ArtistPainting — The artist becomes consumed with the urge to paint Padmé Amidala.

During the Clone Wars,^[2] a reclusive Human artist works in an abandoned castle north of Theed, the capital city of^[1] the Mid Rim planet^[7] Naboo. He is consumed with painting suns and moons. Concurrently, Senator Padmé Amidala enjoys the beauty of her gardens on peaceful days. Both individuals have a chance encounter at the outskirts of Theed, where Amidala's gaze transfixes the artist. Immediately afterward, the artist begins to have visions of Amidala and her^[1] unborn^[8] twins,^[1] Luke Skywalker and Leia,^[8] instead of the suns and moons.^[1]

After making his way to the castle, the artist obsessively paints Amidala for twenty-four weeks until he has an epiphany. The artist enters Theed just as it suffers an attack by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He knows that he needs to find and rescue Amidala. Amidala tries to escape as the artist searches the city streets; he ultimately saves her life by taking blaster fire from battle droids meant for her. The artist recovers from his wounds and continues painting based on intuitive visions, with his next focus being^[1] the planet^[7] Alderaan.^[1]

Development[]

""The Artist of Naboo" by Erik Tiemens: An artisan living in the Naboo city of Theed becomes entranced by images of Padmé, leading to disturbing visions of her future."

―Description of the story from Star Wars Insider^[9]

The twelve-page comic story "The Artist of Naboo" was written,^[1] pencilled, inked, lettered, and colored^[2] by concept design supervisor Erik Tiemens for the graphic novel anthology Star Wars: Visionaries. The concept for the graphic novel was pitched by Lucasfilm senior editor Jonathan W. Rinzler,^[9] who wanted a way to honor the unseen works from artists that had worked on the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.^[3] Each artist had free reign to explore any aspect of the Star Wars universe of their choosing.^[10] Visionaries was announced on StarWars.com on August 3, 2004, in a post which also revealed Tiemens' involvement.^[11] A later post on March 15, 2005 revealed the titles and summaries of each of the eleven stories in Visionaries.^[4] "The Artist of Naboo" is illustrated as a series of paintings and features only third-person narration instead of dialogue.^[1]

Release and reception[]

Visionaries was edited by Jeremy Barlow and published as a trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics on April 2, 2005,^[4] prior to the premiere of Revenge of the Sith on May 19 that year.^[12] In the anthology, "The Artist of Naboo" is placed second, following "Old Wounds" and preceeding "Wat Tambor and the Quest for the Sacred Eye of the Albino Cyclops."^[3] Barlow praised the work of the artists who made Visionaries, stating that they had justified why they were working for^[9] Star Wars creator^[12] George Lucas.^[9] Visionaries was later republished by Dark Horse in Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 2^[5] on October 9, 2013.^[13] "The Artist of Naboo" was later published in Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars Vol. 1 by Marvel Comics^[2] on December 28, 2016.^[14] The story occupies the last place in the collection, following the 2004 one-shot comic Jedi: Yoda.^[2]

Continuity[]

"Later… he recovered from laser wounds to continue on, painting intuitive visions… Alderaan concerned him next…"

―The final line of the story^[1]

PadmeBazaar-AoN — Padmé Amidala, as portrayed in the comic

"The Artist of Naboo" focuses on the titular character's fixation on Padmé Amidala,^[1] a major character in the prequel trilogy films.^[12] The comic includes the titular character's premonition of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa,^[1] tying into the plot of Revenge of the Sith, in which Amidala dies while giving birth to them.^[8] The comic also portrays an attack by B1-series battle droids in Theed, similar to the Capture of Theed as portrayed in the 1999 prequel Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[15] A Separatist plot to assassinate Amidala was also a a major plotline in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.^[16] Although the artist is not described as Force-sensitive, the concept of visions of the future^[1] through the Force has been previously portrayed in Star Wars media, originating with the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.^[17]

The comic ends with the artist's visions turning to Alderaan,^[1] which in-universe would later be destroyed by the Galactic Empire's Death Star superweapon in 0 BBY^[7] as portrayed in the 1977 original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.^[18] A summary of the stories in Visionaries published in the Drawn by the Force department in the eighty-second issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine,^[9] which shipped to subscribers on May 17, 2005,^[19] incorrectly stated that the artist in the story worked within Theed,^[9] rather than north of it as described in the comic.^[1] "The Artist of Naboo" is part of Star Wars Expanded Universe media, which was categorized as Star Wars Legends in 2014.^[20] Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars Vol. 1, which includes "The Artist of Naboo," states that the stories within it take place between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which took place in 22 BBY and 19 BBY respectively.^[6]