May 28

Darth Maul, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

“Darth Maul”, 2020, wooden intarsia.
All natural wood colors, zero paint or stain. Maul was cut on a scrollsaw, and the frame was mostly handcarved with chisels. Made from 11 species of wood: padauk, wenge, walnut, chakte viga, mahogany, purpleheart, redheart, yellowheart, basswood, holly, and ebony. See below for more information. The process was documented in Instagram stories highlighted on my profile.

Darth Maul was a character I didn’t find particularly interesting until Dave Filoni and his team expanded on his story, character, and motivations in Clone Wars. I thought it was pretty sweet how for the final season they brought in both the original Maul @iamraypark and his voice @switwer1. There was 1 particular scene that when I saw it, I immediately knew I needed to make an artwork based on it. Luke @cyclocrosscutter had the same idea, and actually brought it up to me first. One day I sent him a vid of me working on the design and he replied with an identical vid happening at the same time. From there it snowballed into a competition between me, Luke, and Justin @scrollsawscribbler to see who would make the better Wooden Maul piece. They’re both incredibly talented artists/woodworkers, despite this obviously thorough trouncing (there’s your set up, Luke). As I’m sure you will see, Luke will soon claim victory with some heavy-handed gimmickry. We’ll see if he can actually pull it off. If he does, I will bow down in defeat. Justin’s version is pretty dang sweet, though he had significantly less time to devote given he’s neck deep in actual $ commissions. No one can touch Justin in his unique style.

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“Darth Maul”, 2020, wooden intarsia. All natural wood colors, zero paint or stain. Maul was cut on a scrollsaw, and the frame was mostly handcarved with chisels. Made from 11 species of wood: padauk, wenge, walnut, chakte viga, mahogany, purpleheart, redheart, yellowheart, basswood, holly, and ebony. Darth Maul was a character I didn’t find particularly interesting until Dave Filoni and his team expanded on his story, character, and motivations in Clone Wars. I thought it was pretty sweet how for the final season they brought in both the original Maul @iamraypark and his voice @switwer1. There was 1 particular scene that when I saw it, I immediately knew I needed to make an artwork based on it. Luke @cyclocrosscutter had the same idea, and actually brought it up to me first. One day I sent him a vid of me working on the design and he replied with an identical vid happening at the same time. From there it snowballed into a competition between me, Luke, and Justin @scrollsawscribbler to see who would make the better Wooden Maul piece. They’re both incredibly talented artists/woodworkers, despite this obviously thorough trouncing (there’s your set up, Luke). As I’m sure you will see, Luke will soon claim victory with some heavy-handed gimmickry. We’ll see if he can actually pull it off. If he does, I will bow down in defeat. Justin’s version is pretty dang sweet, though he had significantly less time to devote given he’s neck deep in actual $ commissions. No one can touch Justin in his unique style. There will be a separate post of all 3 pieces once Luke is done with his. … #clonewars #starwars #starwarsfanart #darthmaul #scrollsawart #starwarsfan #pittsburghwoodworking #pittsburghartist #woodintarsia #madeinpittsburgh #makergeeks

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Feb 28

Apprentice & Master, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

“Apprentice & Master”
(Ahsoka Tano & Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader)
Did you know that Anakin Skywalker had a young Padawan learner before his tragic fall to the Dark Side? If not, you probably haven’t watched “Clone Wars” or “Rebels” (spoiler warning). Thanks to a couple follower’s suggestions, I thought I’d give a little explanation of this piece below and why I chose it for the folks who haven’t watched those shows.

First off, my favorite character in the Star Wars Universe MAY just be Ahsoka Tano. Definitely top 5. She starts off as a plucky, slightly annoying, and initially unwanted 14 yr old apprentice to Anakin and ends up over the course of both TV series as a wise, badass, saber-wielding champion and rebel. Thanks to the stellar voice acting of @ashleyeckstein and the creative mastermind @dave.filoni , her story arc is incredibly well-developed (and hopefully not quite over). Her complex relationship with Anakin makes his eventual downfall all the more tragic. Anakin’s slow decent from true hero to corrupted villain and its emotional impact is made believable by the outstanding work of @mattlanter in a way that I don’t think the prequel movies ever really pulled off. I, like many, initially resisted watching because I thought it was a “cartoon for kids”. But once I got into it, I found some of the storytelling to be among the best in Star Wars. So, this artwork is based on a few stills from my second favorite scene from Rebels (guess my first?): the battle in which Ahsoka realizes that Darth Vader is none other than her beloved former Master. Noooooooooo!
Cut by hand on the scrollsaw, it was constructed from 16 species of wood (no paint or stain) in “intarsia” style over ~3 weeks. Their names in Aurebesh were burned into the frame, along with the Fulcrum, Rebel, Jedi, and Empire insignia.
Species: wenge, katalox, ebony, walnut, maple, chakte viga, crab apple, purpleheart, redheart, yellowheart, padauk, aspen, holly, yew, & basswood.

Jan 24

Captain Rex, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

Here’s a quick little project I built last weekend. A wooden intarsia piece featuring everyone’s favorite Jango clone and Ahsoka-friend, Captain Rex (@deebradleybaker) from Star Wars: Clone Wars. What can I say? I’m excited as hell for Season 7 next month! And why build 1 when I can build 2? The second one went to my fellow SW geek and woodworker buddy Luke @cyclocrosscutter. Made from regular, curly, and spalted maple, purpleheart, katalox, wenge, walnut, cherry, and luaun ply. PS pretend the purpleheart is blue. Unfortunately, blueheart wood isn’t a thing. And I don’t usually do stains/dyes.

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Here’s a quick little project I built last weekend. A wooden intarsia piece featuring everyone’s favorite Jango clone and Ahsoka-friend, Captain Rex (@deebradleybaker) from Star Wars: Clone Wars. What can I say? I’m excited as hell for Season 7 next month! And why build 1 when I can build 2? The second one went to my fellow SW geek and woodworker buddy Luke @cyclocrosscutter. Made from regular, curly, and spalted maple, purpleheart, katalox, wenge, walnut, cherry, and luaun ply. PS pretend the purpleheart is blue. Unfortunately, blueheart wood isn’t a thing. And I don’t do stains/dyes. #starwarsart #captainrex #clonewars #intarsia #scrollsawart #woodart #maytheforcebewithyou @craft_the_force

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