Star Wars Inspiration: Sketching the Grand Inquisitor in My Style
I recently watched the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+ and was inspired to do an illustration of The Grand Inquisitor. He’s a cool looking Star Wars villain who first appeared in the Rebels animation series. On Obi-Wan we get a live-action portrayal by actor Rupert Friend. The Grand Inquisitor is the highest-ranking Inquisitor of the Galactic Empire. Inquisitors are not true Sith but Sith underlings that hunt surviving Jedi of Order 66. A Pau’an and a former Jedi Temple Guard, the Grand Inquisitor is a tough dude.
The live-action version of the Grand Inquisitor has a larger, rounded head than the Rebels version. The animated version is thinner with a more ovel shaped head which is more in line with how other Pau’an are usually portrayed. My illustration leans closer to the Rebels animation version but in my comic book art style.
The illustration was created in Procreate. I’m really enjoying this software on my iPad to create art. I first started out with some sketchy pencils for this portrait with the Procreate pencil brush. Then added shadows using a marker brush with a lower opacity setting. Changing the color of the brush to a bright Sith red, I added some highlights to the right side of his face. I imagined the light from a red lightsaber was giving off the Dark Side light. Then I colored in the Grand Inquisitor’s Sith tattoos with the red. Finishing off the portrait with the Dark Side iconic bright yellow Sith eyes. I added a grey ink wash for the background.
I’m really happy with the way this digital illustration came out. The more I work in Procreate the more confident I feel with it. This was a fun illustration inspired by the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Are there any shows that have inspired your art?