Thursday, January 14, 2016

By Grabthar's Hammer Repost

Well, this certainly sucks. Actor Alan Rickman-- aka Hans Gruber, aka Professor Snape, aka Doctor Lazarus-- died today at age 69. 

I don't think I care much for 2016 so far. That'll do Death. That'll do.

There was probably zero chance of ever seeing a Galaxy Quest sequel after seventeen years, but there's no point in one now.

"By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"

It's Dr. Lazarus from the 1999 movie Galaxy Quest. Dr. Lazarus is of course a member of the alien Mak'Tar species from the planet Tev'Meck. He's highly intelligent, has limited psychic abilities and can increase his might by performing the Mak'Tar Chant Of Strength.

In the film Alan Rickman played Alexander Dane, the actor who portrayed Dr. Lazarus in the fictional Galaxy Quest TV series (got all that?). Dane was a classically trained Shakespearean actor (hence his last name) who resented being typecast as an alien in a defunct sci-fi program. 

Galaxy Quest is one of my all time favorite movies. It manages the difficult task of poking fun at Star Trek and its fans without downright ridiculing them. Dr. Lazarus is my favorite character in the film-- Rickman was the perfect choice to play a pompous actor who's uncomfortable with being typecast as a Spock-type character and disgusted at having to eternally repeat his popular catchphrase.

Dr. Lazarus is a vector drawing, drawn all in InDesign. Man, the Doctor has an incredibly complicated head. I didn't realize just how intricate it was until I started drawing it. I eventually figured out how to render it, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would-- even longer than it took to draw his ray gun.
Here's the digital sketch I did of the Doctor. Not much changed from sketch to final drawing.

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