York artist's work to feature in packs of Star Wars collector cards (From York Press)

York artist's work to feature in packs of Star Wars collector cards

8:56am Wednesday 25th July 2012 in News By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

AN ILLUSTRATOR and artist from York is proving he is a force to be reckoned with after his work was turned into a series of commemorative cards for the 35th anniversary of Star Wars.

Lee Lightfoot, who works from his home in Rawcliffe , has produced more than 100 tiny paintings depicting scenes from all six of the space saga’s films.

The portraits are now being used by trading card manufacturer Topps, as part of a range of collectable cards launched to mark 35 years since the first Star Wars film was released.

Mr Lighfoot said: “I think they had seen some of my work online and they asked me to get involved. I am really pleased about his.

“I have drawn a lot of characters; Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Ewan McGregor’s character and Han Solo. I had to work fast and have been working 18 hour days.”

Lee’s images will be sold as a single “sketch card” within packs of the regular trading cards, popular with children, Star Wars fans and collectors.

He said: “The last series I illustrated, Night Of The Living Dead, for Unstoppable Cards, sold out in a few days. A strength of the hobby is that a collector can collect hundreds of artworks from various artists all in one album with special pockets for the cards. Sketch cards are usually the classic baseball card size of 3.5in by 2.5in. Some artists have trouble working at this scale.”

“I have been told it will really put me up the league tables when it comes to future commissions.”

The cards will be available from September.