I think my fascination with production art and 
designs goes back to when I saw Ralph McQuarrie’s art for the first Star Wars movie. Here we are many, many years later and I am still enthralled by art books. Some of the things I love to see is the concept art for ships and weapons. This is why the newest Star Wars art book, The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story is my new favorite art book.
The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story is bursting with so many stunning images it makes you want to go back to the theater and see Solo again. The book is divided 17 chapters. Each one of these is dedicated to either a person or a planet from the movie. I find looking at the evolution of a character or locale makes you connect more with what you see on the screen. The section on Qi’ra shows her evolution from looking more alien to her final human look. Aside from the physical look at the character, her section includes looks at wardrobe ideas as well as a look at her blasters. Speaking of wardrobe, sadly the Lando Calrissian section doesn’t devote enough images to his extensive wardrobe and amazing walk-in closet. The Lando section does include a decent amount of art shots of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon.
I find it incredible that even a prop or background that is on screen for 10 seconds has to go through numerous variations before the final product is decided. There is a great shot in the book of Han Solo’s blaster in its rifle configuration. It only took me 40 years to learn that the pistol Han carries is expandable. There are 2 shots (no pun intended) of Han’s blaster in the rifle configuration.
The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story has around 300 color images crammed onto just over 250 pages, so there is a lot see. I guess you can say that the Force is strong with this book. Abrams produces some extraordinary art books and The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story is no exception.
The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story is 256 pages and is published by Abrams books. The text is by Phil Szostak (The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi) with forwards by Neil Lamont and James Clyne. Pick up The Art of Solo with a SRP: of $40 USD. This book is available wherever fine books are sold. Also don’t forget to check out the Abrams site to see with new titles are being released.
