Interview with illustrator Hans Jenssen

How long did it take to complete the book?
From an illustration point of view, about five months. This works out to about three to four weeks per illustration.

Do you collaborate on the drawings or do you work individually?
Rich and I work individually on our own subjects which we divide between ourselves at an initial planning meeting at Skywalker Ranch with Simon Beecroft [editor at Dorling Kindersley], Jonathan Rinzler [Lucasfilm editor] and Iain Morris [Lucasfilm art editor] who is our inside man there. Decisions are made between the four of us with only a little fighting.

What's it like working at the Skywalker Ranch?
It's like the coolest thing you've ever done with three extra layers of cool on top! The art department there are not only some of the most talented people in the world, but also the friendliest. They were always willing to give up their time to help us out.

There are so many amazing details in the book--which are your favorites?
My favorites are Obi Wan's starfighter and Owen's swoop bike out of my artworks. Of Richard's I like Slave I and the Trade Federation Core Ship best.

Were you a Star Wars fan before you started working on these books?
I always loved the movies and went to see the special editions at the cinema when they came out, but compared to some people I've met I could hardly call myself a hardened fan. But I do feel very lucky to be working in the Star Wars galaxy!

What kind of research goes into making one of these books?
The only way to accurately research and gather sufficient reference for the illustrations is for Rich and I to spend two weeks at Skywalker Ranch working in the actual art department where we have full access to the concept art, plans, sketches, production paintings, and even get to digitally photograph maquettes and models at ILM, For any Star Wars fan this is the trip of a lifetime!

How did working on this book compare to working on the other Star Wars:Incredible Cross Sections book?
The vehicles books are much quicker to do than the Inside the Worlds books, but are still a heck of a lot of work to do in the time allowed. While illustrating a book, I don't get any days off and usually work about sixty to seventy hours a week. The books for the new movies were in many ways easier than the Classics because we were the first to do them. Our work is considered definitive and used for reference by Lucasfilm and ILM!!! We didn't have to reconcile our work with twenty years worth of previously published material which often conflicted with each other.

What kind of insider information do you get while working on this project? Did you get to see models, or advance clips from the film?
As previously mentioned, we did see the models and production paintings etc. This was very exciting for us.