Monica M. Magaña

For other uses, see Monica.

"Star Wars has always been a source of immense inspiration to me."

―Monica M. Magaña^[2]

Monica M. Magaña, born September 26, 1992, is a Canadian artist who created a digital landing page for Star Wars: Attack of the Clones on Disney+ as part of a celebration for Star Wars Day in 2021. Interviewed for a StarWars.com article alongside other artists who contributed to the day's celebrations, she shared the source of her passion for Star Wars, what she wanted to capture in the piece, and some of the technique she used.

Biography

"I wanted to get across some of that youthful awe that I remember with my piece and one of the biggest things that always stuck out to me was the bright colors of the lightsabers. I wanted my piece to be as illuminated as the lightsabers themselves."

―Monica M. Magaña^[2]

Magaña's Attack of the Clones landing page — Magaña's *Attack of the Clones* landing page

Monica M. Magaña is a Canadian artist^[2] of mixed Mexican American and Salvadoran heritage.^[3] Born September 26, 1992, she^[1] was one of fifteen artists commissioned to create an art piece to celebrate Star Wars Day on the Disney+ streaming service. Magaña created the image^[2] for the landing page^[4] of the second prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.^[2] Like the other commissioned artworks, her piece was showcased from May 4 to May 9, 2021^[4] as well as in the associated StarWars.com article "Meet the Artists Behind Disney+'s Stunning Star Wars Day Art" by Dan Brooks.^[2]

In that article, Magaña explained her passion for Star Wars—watching the prequel trilogy with her father, the original trilogy on VHS, and enjoying the Star Tours ride at Disneyland. She explained her inspiration for the piece as an attempt to capture "youthful awe," using bright colors and the illumination associated with the saga's lightsabers. Magaña's love for Drew Struzan's hand-painted posters and paintings used for the original trilogy gave her a desire to give the image a traditional media feel, despite it being created digitally. To this end, she used customized digital brushes that could emulate a more natural and real brushstroke.^[2]

The image features the film's title next to a montage of characters from the film. Featured in the foreground are^[2] Jedi Knight^[5] Anakin Skywalker,^[2] Senator^[5] Padmé Amidala^[2] and Jedi Master^[5] Obi-Wan Kenobi, with a shrouded Darth Sidious behind Kenobi. Above and behind the main protagonists^[2] is Jedi Council member^[5] Mace Windu deflecting a blaster bolt fired^[2] by bounty hunter^[5] Jango Fett. Between these two combatants is a brightly backlit Boba Fett,^[2] son of Jango,^[5] holding his father's helmet in replication of the same scene from the film.^[5]^[2] Bright swirls surround the characters on a blue background.^[2] Magaña's favorite part of the image was Obi-Wan Kenobi.^[6] Magaña has also drawn fanart of the Togruta Ahsoka Tano during a series of entries about her favorite women in animated games and other media.^[7] Othyer characters from Star Wars that she's illustrated include fanworks of the youngling Grogu,^[8] Obi-Wan Kenobi,^[9] the droid L0-LA59,^[10] and Princess Leia Organa.^[11]