I remember years ago in High School I checked out a book from the library. It was a big book full of paintings of giant spaceships. Most of them were derelict ships floating through space or ships that weren't quite completely built. I believe they were oil paintings and they were very well done. Is this the work of a famous Sci Fi artist? Anyone know what I'm talking about? Thanks!
Possibly it was H.R. Giger. Very haunting work, was responsible for the dark look of the original Alien movie. Do a search on Google, there are a lot websites devoted to his work.
andy - i think i know the "style" you're talking about. it looks like it was done with oil paintings? real muted colors...nothing bright or fancy. all the ships had a "realistic" look to them...not very streamlined or futuristic (in a modern sci/fi sense) etc. they usually looked kind of weathered. lots of windows, antennas, etc? [edit] duh on me...just saw were you mentioned they were oil paintings. my bad. oh yeah..i don't know who the artist is either, but i'd love to find out.
Yeah! I especially remember the antenna's. Some ships were full of them. Some antennas had lights on them that were very bright and he painted lens flares on those. It must have been done in the early 80's some time. The ships were usually very large barges or transports. I remember a few small single-man ships but mostly they were giant.
John Berkey, one of my favorite SF artists, love his artwork. Maybe it was Chris Foss, he was famous for his paintings of spaceships and he did many sf paperback covers in the 70's. Check out this link. http://www.altanen.dk/CF21stCenturyGalleryC.htm
I have a couple of books similar to what you describe: Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD (1978) by Stewart Crowley Great Space Battles (1979) by Stewart Crowley and Charles Herridge Both consist of paintings of spacecraft and with each picture a description written in the style of a history book explaining the image. Both are excellent large-format (aprox. 9x12 inch pages) hardcover books with great reproductions of the pictures. Stand out names are: Peter Elson Angus McKie Jim Burns Tony Roberts Bob Layzell
Andy, I had a book very similiar to what you describe back in the late 70's. Wish I still had it. BTW, have I seen you over at Starshipmodeler?
Believe it or not, but Boris Vallejo did a few spaceship paintings. But, I doubt he did enough to fill a book. It's clearly not Jim Burns...he perfected the jelly bean spaceship...each with their own unique flavour!
wade - i think you're right on the money. one of the ships in the link you sent looks almost exactly like what i remember. this one in particular i specifically recall a book i had as a kid. it had a bunch of short stories, with similar illustrations. andy - it's a total crackup you posted this thread. i've wondered many times over the years about this artist...thought i was the only one.
CharlesD: That sounds exactly like the format. I specifically remember one that showed a ship floating in space. The description said something like: This ship was discovered without a crew. There was no sign of a battle or struggle. Something like that. Do any of your books have one like that? Jeff Pryor: Yes you have! Although I don't frequent it as much as I used to.
I'd vote for Berkey - he had that rough painted look with lots of pointy aeriels. I was going through my old Future mags and they had a feature on him. Boris usually has a very majestic composition, with very detailed and lifelike hulky subjects (many self portraits) - his style is pretty easy to identify. I love his reissue Barbarella poster. Other popular artists were Frazetta, Meade, Miller...
Ted, that picture...I've seen that one before! I'm gonna check my Fire Upon the Deep cover and see if it is also by the same artist. Damn...I seem to have misplaced it.
Aha! Boris Vallejo painted the cover for Fire Upon the Deep, according to this site. I knew it! You can view the cover on Amazon here. I stumbled onto Locus' science fiction index. Look for the Cover Artists index. Really handy!
I would also have guessed Chris Foss. I remember seeing/reading a book by him full of spaceship designs for Dune especially... This is one of my favorites... http://www.altanen.dk/images/CF21stCentury047.jpg and this one: http://www.altanen.dk/images/CF21stCentury008.jpg
