We were lucky to catch up with Al Abbazia recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Al , thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I drew pictures and created little comics since I was a kid. I even got in trouble a couple of times in school for doing it during class time. Some kids made fun of me and called me a nerd but I shrugged it off and kept at it. As an adult, I branched off into oil painting and later, photography. It was during my time as a pin up photographer that I started to experiment digitally. Over the years I progressed to drawing and painting digitally. I would watch every free tutorial I could and then even took some online classes to get better. I find that I still learn something new each time I create a new piece. It makes creating art even more exciting.
Al , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have always been drawn to (no pun intended) retro styled artwork. I currently do official lithographs for Star Wars/Lucasfilm with Acme Archives. I have also done official work for Bettie Page, going back to my pin up roots. My other work includes promotional art for movies and merchandise for Disney, Warner Bros., DC Comics, Universal and Coca-Cola, as well as more pin up work for various signs and calendars internationally. I was flattered to be one of the artists picked this year for the Star Wars Celebration Art Show in California. My piece that was chosen was from an idea my daughter had years ago. It was an image of a little girl looking in the mirror and imagining herself as Wonder Woman. Since then, I updated it and it was shown live on DC FanDome by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and the cast of Wonder Woman 1984, including Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig. I took my original concept and wanted to create a Star Wars piece around it. In “Reflective Power”, a little girl is playing in her mother’s room and imagining herself to be her favorite character, Ahsoka Tano. The message of my piece was very well recieved and I even got to hear a nice voice message from Rosario Dawson, who plays Ahsoka. I am planning a follow up piece to submit for the next Star Wars Celebration in London next year.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I have always wanted to be an official Star Wars artist. Many people do not realize how many failures it takes to become successful. I first got their attention back in 2017 and submitted a piece for consideration. It went well at first. I made edits from suggestions given to me by Lucasfilm and Acme. In the end, the piece was not put out and my contract was gone. It was very disheartening, but I was undeterred. Over the next three years, I would submit two or three pieces a year to see if I could get their interest again. During the Covid lockdown, I was inspired by the end of The Clone Wars and created an image of Darth Vader with a reflection of his former self, Anakin Skywalker in the ice. A few weeks later, I was offered the contract from Acme Archives and Lucasfilm. My first official piece, “The Gift” was released in 2020 and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s been two years and I have had five more pieces put out and was chosen to be one of the artists in the art show at Star Wars Celebration. Being part of the Star Wars Universe has been a dream come true for me. Even since I was a kid, Star Wars has been my joy and refuge from everyday life. So, my advice? Never given up on your dreams. Keep at it. Work on your craft and skills. Be professional, polite and persistent. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I have been a high school teacher for over 20 years. I enjoy teaching and it affords me the time to be able to indulge my creative side. For years, I also enjoyed acting on stage while doing my artwork. I was doing improv comedy but the time came to make a decision. My photography and art started to take off and I was approaching my first gallery showing. This was about 15 years ago. So, I decided to leave the theater behind and focus more on the artwork. I miss it at times but never regretted my decision. I am also still a teacher. My students have a hard time believing I’m the artist on the internet when they google my name haha.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://martiniavenue.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofalabbazia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartofalabbazia
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alabbazia
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabbazia
Image Credits
Star Wars copyright Lucasfilm, Ltd. (for the Star Wars images) Wonder Woman copyright DC Comics Jungle Cruise copyright Disney Captain Carter copyright Marvel All images created by Al Abbazia