Posted on by Dunc

The first image of Padme and Anakin… From 1993?

brian-ashmore-padmeHere’s a little oddity from the past: Brian Ashmore’s painting of Anakin Skywalker, his wife and baby Luke from 1993. Originally painted for Topps’ Star Wars Galaxy 2 card set, it may very well be the earliest depiction of the couple, for all it was pulled from the set by George Lucas himself. Here’s what Ashmore himself had to say about it back in 2008:

There are a couple things that I find interesting about the image. First, my depiction of Padme (I had no idea of her name at the time…this was 6 years before Episode 1) looks a bit like Natalie Portman. Second, Anakin’s shadow on the wall is in the shape of Darth Vader. I’ve always wondered if this image might have influenced Lucas even just a little tiny bit in his casting of Natalie Portman or even the decision to have little Anakin’s shadow be in the shape of Darth Vader in an early Episode 1 promo poster. Probably not, but I can dream. Can’t I?

I don’t know about the casting choice – Iain McCaig seems to be the culprit there – but the shadow? Stranger things have happened… In any case, the painting eventually saw the light as ‘The Skywalker Flame’ in the Star Wars Galaxy 5 set.

On that note, the Skywalker family is our current Tumblr theme – queued through Friday and including a reblog of the original post that reminded me of this.

10 Replies to “The first image of Padme and Anakin… From 1993?”

  1. This is incredible. I’ve never seen this anywhere – it reminds me of the Hugh Fleming portrait of Alec Guiness as a younger Obi-Wan. That was the image in my head for a very long time.

    2 things:

    Has there ever been any confirmation that Natalie Portman was the subject of that painting in the Imperial Palace in the Heir to the Empire comics, and do the images of the Star Wars Galaxy series live somewhere on the internet? I see them pop up on the Wook from time to time.

    PS – the Fleming card if anyone is interested:

    http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af277/Duffman_2010/obi-wan_fleming.jpg

    1. Wasn’t that bit in The Last Command adaption? That was after we knew they cast Portman (though before we’d seen her in costume or anything) but I do believe the artist did confirm he drew it based on her. Whether the characters were supposed to know – I doubt it.

      There’s another young Obi-Wan painting – with baby Luke – that I thought you were referring to. Same era as this one, but I forget the details.

      1. It was The Last Command, because the twins were in it.

        I’m not sure I’ve seen the Obi-Wan painting your referring to, but all of the Topps Galaxy stuff was incredible, especially at a time where there was not a lot of new Star Wars visual concepts happening.

        All of the Hugh Fleming comic covers are wonderful too, even if you can’t forgive him for putting Luke in the fisherman’s vest for Shadows of the Empire.

        1. He was a pretty beefy Obi-Wan who only looked kinda like Guinness. I haven’t the first clue where to start looking for that online. It must have been one of those early Galaxy sets through. I probably have it around here somewhere.

          I can forgive Fleming for the stupid vest because I’m pretty sure that decision was made above him. Though, for the record, I was never all that fond of the Hildebrandt’s and their acid-trip colored SOTE art.

  2. This came across my dash a while back. It’s an awesome piece of work and history, but that woman looks nothing like Natalie Portman.

    1. Yeah, I definitely don’t see a resemblance. Anakin looks a lot like Hamill to me, but the woman has a completely different face shape than Portman.

      1. Anakin is very Hamill-esque! I see Leia in the Padme. Her face is rounder, and she’s got that cute button nose that Carrie did in ANH.

  3. I agree she looks nothing like Natalie Portman, she does bear a strong resemblance to Beru though.

    1. The nose and cheeks are a little like Leia’s, aren’t they? Just a little bit. A little puffier, I guess, and the nose is somewhat snubbier.

  4. Padmé still can’t catch a break . . . one of the ACME Archives prints announced on the official site yesterday removes Padmé from preexisting art: http://www.vandersteltstudio.com/images/starwars/g5.jpg. This seems especially strange as the theme of these prints is “Join the Alliance,” an organization that Padmé was instrumental in forming. (Yes, those scenes were deleted, but apparently they’re canon, judging by Padmé’s Databank entry.)

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