Star Wars: The Force Awakens Art Book Announced

09/11/2015 03:24 pm EDT

Art, from initial design sketches to storyboards, plays an important part in any film's production, but for Star Wars it has always been something more. Without the original art from Ralph McQuarrie, we wouldn't have any of the amazingly familiar figures of today, from the X-wing to Darth Vader to the lightsaber itself.

Continuing the tradition, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will have an art book hitting this December alongside the film, as announced on StarWars.com. The book looks at every step of the production through the lens of art as written and curated by Phil Szostak. In addition to the aforementioned storyboards and sketches, there are blueprints, production paintings, matte paintings, and interviews with the creative team. There's even unused concept art that will let fans see other directions the movie could've gone.

The cover is painted by Doug Chiang, Star Wars concept artist, featuring Kylo Ren and his now famous/infamous three-bladed lightsaber.

The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available for pre-order now at a suggested retail price of $40.00.

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