Artist Marsha Parkins: ‘[Talking to Colin] was like having a direct line to the god of model building’
Like many of us who grew up in the 1970s, professional artist Marsha Parkins was captivated by the 1977 release of Star Wars. “My father was a model builder, as am I,” she explains, “so Colin’s work was always around. It was the photo of Colin posing with an X-Wing and TIE Fighter from the making-of TV special that really drew me in as a small girl.”
She continues: “All I remember was thinking, ‘That’s a job? No way! I want to do that!’, and gone were my ambitions to be a space pilot, plane pilot, or ambulance driver. Now I wanted to be a model builder, and thankfully a few years ago, I was honored enough to tell Colin how much he influenced my father and myself over the decades due to the social media friendship we had.”
While Marsha is based in the UK and didn’t have a chance to meet Colin Cantwell in person, she talked to him on social media. “I often chatted privately with him and I shared what I was currently building. He was incredibly enthusiastic and encouraging and I regret not having spent more time with him. We spoke about how maybe one day he would get invited to do a big UK comic con and I would certainly meet up with him if that happened, but, alas, Colin was ill and eventually he became one with the Force.”
Asked what her experience talking to Colin was like, she replies: “Honestly, it was like having a direct line to the god of model building. Maybe I didn’t always get answers right away, but he always answered and always had time for me. He was and still is the grandfather of how my brain designs things and how I use scrap parts as well as sheet plastic. My whole design process was molded over my life because I watched how Colin did it from when I was six years old. That’s an impressionable age and it shows.”
“My whole design process was molded over my life because I watched how Colin did it from when I was six years old.” — Marsha Parkins, artist (Topps Star Wars cards and other media)
She says her favorite piece of work by Colin is “without a doubt the Y-Wing prototype that was decades later on featured in the latest trilogy of films — the big bubble back port for the gunner and the red strips. Also, the Star Destroyer that was featured in Andor season one, the Cantwell-Class Arrestor Cruiser: I cried when that scene came up. It was such a lovely tribute.”
Star Wars artist for life
Marsha has been a Star Wars artist since 1977. “As a small child, I was selling or swapping my drawings for sweets or someone’s pocket money. As I got older, I got better and eventually had a life working in illustration, photography, and even film, but it took me years later to be brave enough to actually come back to Star Wars and do nothing but Star Wars. I do calendar and card art for charities now, all Star Wars and all for good causes.”
She adds: “I was honored to do a base card for the 2018 Topps Galaxy card set. I have had a few cards of original art from myself in the past and many can be found on eBay and in collectible shops around the world — they are 1-of-1 hits and quite rare.” She has also created artwork for Garbage Chute Droids, which is a line of cards based on Garbage Pail Kids.
We’ll close this profile with Marsha’s remembrance of becoming a Star Wars fan and why she thinks it continues to be popular. “I actually became a Star Wars fan in late 1976. I was five years old and my uncle in America sent the novel to my dad, who hadn’t read it, so i tried it three times. Teachers were impressed and had me read parts aloud in class, and we got class paused for the radio drama version. The film came out for my sixth birthday, almost, but only in the USA and a new book, this time with photos, was sent over. The film was still not yet in the UK theaters; it arrived that winter.
“I drew pictures of scenes in that book over and over. At six years old, I was already getting obsessed, and in my last year of primary school I was building clay Dewbacks, paper mache masks and costume parts and filming using my grandfather’s old 8mm camera. I saw the film twice in one sitting: my grandmother was a projectionist at the cinema and I was there for Christmas and had to go to work with nana.
“[My grandmother] had to run [Star Wars] again for the next showing and was worried I was bored and wouldn’t sit through the same film again, but I said, ‘Oh YES PLEASE!'”– Marsha Parkins, artist (Topps Star Wars cards and other media)
“She kept an eye on me through the projectionist’s little window. She came out once to make sure I wasn’t scared. Nope, I was frozen still because I was immersed so much. She had to run the film again for the next showing and was worried I was bored and wouldn’t sit through the same film again, but I said, ‘Oh YES PLEASE!” I couldn’t get enough, and I haven’t shut up about it ever since. It was and still is mind blowing on every … single … level.”
‘It’s relentless and resistance is futile!’
As for why she thinks Star Wars still endures, Marsha says: “I think it’s mostly due to how it struck and stuck when it first came out. There isn’t much that’s had the same impact with the special effects and the whole look and production of old-and-dirty sci-fi versus new-and-shiny. It was like rock-and-roll or punk smashing things on stage and kicking the old dusty farts off out into the crowd.
“[Star Wars] was like rock-and-roll or punk smashing things on stage and kicking the old dusty farts off out into the crowd.” — Marsha Parkins, artist (Topps Star Wars cards and other media)
“ILM: Industrial Light & Magic pretty much sums them up, with computers being used to track and repeat camera moves, in-camera effects, and they built cameras to do new things. The music! The merchandise! The sequel (The Empire Strikes Back)! Minds were blown all over the world, and it set the levels at which everyone else wanted to aspire. It changed the world and our language. Science was even influenced. How could it not still be popular? It’s also been a clever franchise, hasn’t it? Every decade is marked by significant new Star Wars stories, in comics, books, cartoons, films, and video games. It’s relentless and resistance is futile! There is only Star Wars! Hahaha!”
Indeed.