Dave "Artwork" Liew - Master Propaganda Art Designer.

Apart from Malaysia’s first Jawa and Boba Fetts, the Malaysia International Toys Fair 2010 also saw the Star Wars artwork debut of Dave “Artwork” Liew; a happy, mild-mannered artist by weekdays, and the 501st Legion: Malaysia-Brunei Outpost’s internationally acclaimed and Lucasfilm approved master propaganda art designer by weekends.

With subjects ranging from the Original Trilogy, to Clone Wars, to parody, his one-of-a-kind masterpieces decorated the walls of the 501st Legion’s field headquarters at the MITF 2010. They were highly sought-after by both the visitors and the members of the 501st alike. Dave was even kind enough to autograph some of his artwork at the event.

To commemorate his achievements and to show appreciation for all his hard work, I interviewed Dave:

When did you get into arts?
Hmm... I started quite young actually; my first drawing was a clock. I got my creative genes from my mum's side: My granduncle is good at making life-size characters for decorations in his restaurant, and my two cousins - one is a designer and the other is a video editor/illustrator. My mum, she loves to draw.

She always helps me with my school artwork. From then one I kept drawing and drawing. When I was 7 years old, I used to draw combat scenes complete with sound effects and dialogue. My uncle once told me I'm a “walking sound effects” person.

My interest grew when I got consolation prize for my local art competition titled: "Malaysia: Wawasan 2020". With sci-fi as my forte, I drew Coruscant, but what kept me going, though I just won the consolation prize, was the good and supportive comments of the public and judges. From that time onwards, I just drew all the way till now. Graduating from a pencil to a mouse.

How and when did you get involved with the 501st?
Well, actually I have always wanted to join the 501st ever since I've started my job, but financially I was not capable. I started with RM900 per month in a post-production house during the economic crisis. RM900 doesn't go well with my plans to get a trooper suit.

In 2010, I revived my plan to join the 501st, this time after watching The Clone Wars (3D). I was very, very determined to get a suit - It’s one of those “100 Things To Do Before You Die” kind of thing for me. After much debate between me and myself, I went for the ARF (Advance Recon Force Troopers).

So, I got hold of Peter Lai (Sith OverLord) and he advised me on the rules of the 501st, the forum, and how to do my ARF Trooper suit.

How did you end up doing art for the 501st?
Art is an extension of me reaching out to people and the feeling is good when you inspire fans and in return they inspire you with their passion and dedication to Star Wars. I've started a thread called "The Republic Propaganda" under clonetrooper.net to give support to Clone members to keep up their good work in the detachment. In another word I'm giving back to the community.

What inspired the art you did for the 501st MITF trooping event?
The MITF was the first time I'm doing The Trilogy. All this while, I have been doing Clone Wars characters (I'm a Clone Unit). This posed a challenge to me.

The MITF artworks, especially the Trilogy, are based on the Malaysia-Brunei Outpost's characters which participated in the MITF. I did every character, but I accidentally missed out the red Royal Guard and Boba Fett - sorry. With Peter's input and 1:1 reference, from frame to frame from film to fan photograph, the characters are drawn to specifications.

The best artwork I did was the Droid Hunt (DH) Badges which was approved by Steve Sansweet from Lucasfilm. My proudest achievement from THE Establishment (all this while I always dreamt of working in Lucasfilm, this comes close to it.). One week - 4 detailed illustrations.

Were you nervous sending in your art to Lucasfilms for approval?
Nerve-wracking... It was a rush work. Another worry we have to think is handing the DH badges in time for the printing schedule from the MITF. Once we got the confirmation from Steve, I was so relieved; it didn't hit me till the next day that it was approved by Lucasfilm. WOOHHOOO!

Do you have a favourite 501st character?
My favourite... tough choice... The Parjai Trooper!

Any regrets?
Regrets... I could have done more for the 501st in MITF. I should have printed more KISS Troopers... LOLz. There is no regret knowing the 501st! Great humble people with great costumes and great activities!

Thanks “Artwork”! Best of luck to you in your future endeavors. Who am I kidding? You don't need luck, you've got skills!