Comments on: 75 sci-fi illustrations

75 sci-fi illustrations

nickyskye — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:17:31 -0800

75 Sensational Examples Of Sci-Fi Illustration at Designer's Terminal. If you click on an image there are details of each artist.

By: theodolite

theodolite — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:18:59 -0800

I FRIGGIN LOVE ORANGE AND TEAL

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:22:59 -0800

I find it orange and teal to be very comforting. It reminds me that I don't need to think anymore.

By: immlass

immlass — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:32:24 -0800

Looking at the click-through URLs, it seems to be a "best of deviantart SF" collection. The thing it brings home to me is that people at home now have sufficient computer power to do the kinds of digital illustration that used to be reserved for the pros. When the amateurs are moderately talented and the pros (as they often are) are uninspired, it's almost impossible to tell the difference.

By: Gator

Gator — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:36:51 -0800

Snerk. Trojan Llama, anyone? But seriously, these are lovely and cool and I thank you for the post.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:43:03 -0800

I FRIGGIN LOVE ORANGE AND TEAL Although it's sickeningly exaggerated in films (and elsewhere) these days, the orange and teal thing isn't really all that new.

By: 7segment

7segment — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:51:35 -0800

I FRIGGIN LOVE SPACE MARINES which is good, because there are a lot of pictures of space marines

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:52:37 -0800

All them Space Marines are dressed like astronauts .

By: Trochanter

Trochanter — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:04:03 -0800

people at home now have sufficient computer power Which should be liberating, and yet these all feel somehow constrained.

By: Trochanter

Trochanter — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:07:10 -0800

Also maybe they don't highlight their center of interest enough, somehow?

By: IjonTichy

IjonTichy — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:09:45 -0800

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:10:07 -0800

these all feel somehow constrained. Market forces, man. Ain't nobody going to buy a science fiction book with an ugly, weak man or a black woman on the cover. No, it's all armored lumbering warriors and eldritch, bare-legged white chicks.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:10:28 -0800

IF you look at these as student exercises or portfolio-builders, etc., they are fine. Most of these artists would benefit from a little professional direction, for sure.

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:15:15 -0800

In the future, buildings will be slightly taller than they are now, and more things will fly around! Men will carry guns! And there might be gears, or a giant monster, or something! Realize my vision, science! posted by IjonTichy at 2:09 PM on January 4 [+] [!] I've got some really great news for you. Tell you all about it next week in Costa Rica.

By: clavdivs

clavdivs — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:15:54 -0800

fav this as fitting this is nice spacial climax this is personal fav nice post. Great sythnesis of sci-fi genres. not cutting edge but thats not the point IMO. related(:) Why does Stephen Hawking think science has overtaken philosophy?

By: clavdivs

clavdivs — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:16:18 -0800

or jagged edges are sexy

By: Horace Rumpole

Horace Rumpole — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:17:51 -0800

Science fiction part of fiction, which deals with the futuristic impact of science on our society. Most of the times it opposes the known reality, but some people believe that it can happen in future. In this genre of fiction, we see what a designer expect to happen in future or have been happened in historical past, that contradicts known facts of history. Majority of Sci-Fi artwork involves outer space creations taking over this world. People believe it is against the known laws of nature but scientists are working as hard as they can to make science fiction a reality. I'm sure this reads better in whatever language it was auto-translated out of.

By: hanoixan

hanoixan — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:30:33 -0800

With futuristic concept art, I like to play a variation on that New Yorker cartoon caption game, except where each piece should read, "This is where assholes used to live".

By: overglow

overglow — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:42:05 -0800

I agree that there are way too many "bad-ass" space marines. And there's also a repeated motif of a white woman with a child threatened by some kind of baddie. Easy short hand for innocence, I guess? This one is my favorite--especially the red-orange cloud dragons, which in my opinion make it feel more like slipstream than pure science fiction. This one is also interesting. And there's a few nifty cityscapes.

By: Shohn

Shohn — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:43:12 -0800

I really want to read a story about the Shepherds Friend RX-902.

By: Gator

Gator — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:48:02 -0800

Maybe he gets robo-rabies from a robo-wolf and the shepherd has to freeze him in carbonite.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:53:27 -0800

Thank god I wasn't sipping tea when I scrolled to the Llama Fortress.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:53:56 -0800

Robo-rabies is one of those diseases that people worry about disproportionately to their risk of being affected, like ague.

By: anthill

anthill — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:55:44 -0800

One common graphic style in this list looks like Craig Mullins' excellent artwork for Bungie's Marathon... circa 1994. For 1994, that digital artwork was pretty mind-blowing.

By: iotic

iotic — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:56:09 -0800

These kinds of illustrations put me off buying and reading a lot of sci-fi books. These images are so samey, and devoid of simplicity and boldness. Against the common wisdom, I would tend to judge books by these, as covers. Although Kurt Vonnegut and Margaret Atwood might in some senses be called Science Fiction, it would be horrible to see their books illustrated anything like this. Or Asimov - much better cover art linked above. I once was browsing in the Horror section of a bookshop - full of similarly homogenised cover art - and was dismayed to see H P Lovecraft books packaged a bit like this. Not good.

By: usonian

usonian — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:00:10 -0800

All of these are more technically proficient than I'll probably ever be so I feel sort of bad hating on them, but they're all somehow so flat and uninspiring in their attempts at epicness. Even (maybe even especially) the ones that use the "stuff in the distance is lighter" technique. The only elements in the few of the that actually stand out and draw focus appear to be photos that have been composited into illustration. I'll take Wayne Barlow, Michael Whelan, Frank Kelly Freas, or Michael Uhlenkott any day.

By: TheophileEscargot

TheophileEscargot — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:01:40 -0800

They've been mentioned before, but the blogs Concept Ships and Concept Art World are great if you ~~have a trace of imagination left in your withered soul~~ like imaginary spaceships.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:29:28 -0800

All of these are more technically proficient than I'll probably ever be so I feel sort of bad hating on them, but they're all somehow so flat and uninspiring in their attempts at epicness. I agree completely. I can't draw for shit but I can recognize pedestrian, uninspiring illustration. These are not sensational. In terms of great SF illustration, I mean. If your kid just whipped one up after school they'd be pretty sensational. They're like really good karaoke. It's better than most of us can sing but it isn't "sensational singing" in an absolute sense. Is there where I admit I am ambivalent about Whelan? And I mean ambivalent in the actual meaning of the word, not in the watered down "I don't know what ambivalent means" sense.

By: Devonian

Devonian — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:34:10 -0800

I remember leafing through the heavy metal LP bins in the Plymouth Virgin Megastore, back in those heady days when the 70s were morphing into the 80s, not because I liked heavy metal but because I liked science fiction and thought that with all that SF imagery, there must be something which would snag me. Same feeling of "it's not very... this is a genre of ideas, right? What am I missing?". (I sorta got the hang of SF vs fantasy shortly thereafter, partially as a result of that sort of experience and partially through twigging that the Thomas Dolby and Tubeway Army stuff was closer to the mark. That and an interview with Gary Numan in Smash Hits where he namechecked Burroughs, Philip Dick and JG Ballard... ooh, I thought, wonder what they're like. Kept me going until I discovered that cheeky little indole group.) On a related subject, there are many things to be said for and against the Sinclair Research 8-bit microcomputers, but I think it's undeniable that the cover art for the ZX81, the ZX Spectrum and the Interface 1/Microdrive (especially) were the best evah.

By: mnsc

mnsc — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:41:50 -0800

This (hi-res) maybe falls under "3d rendering" but I clicked the link in the post with high hopes of finding more of this type of sci-fi imagery. But I was disappointed... Too much drama and action! The closest one was the theistic dawn but I want more detail.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:54:07 -0800

I really want to read a story about the Shepherds Friend RX-902. While not perfectly analogous, the concept of a weaponized cybernetic dog that is the Rat-thing from Snow Crash has a lot of the same basic awesome built into it.

By: longdaysjourney

longdaysjourney — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:57:53 -0800

That Teal and Orange link should be a FPP.

By: mostlybecky

mostlybecky — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:02:49 -0800

Not enough cyborg harpies.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:08:51 -0800

It has been, longdaysjourney.

By: iotic

iotic — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:12:44 -0800

That Teal and Orange link should be a FPP It has been

By: kbanas

kbanas — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:26:51 -0800

The Emperor protects. A lot of people see WH40K Space Marines and think they're entirely derivative - but the thing of it is, they were - I mean, they were first. They were the Space Marines that made space marines.

By: kbanas

kbanas — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:27:55 -0800

In fact, I'm not sure why Starcraft doesn't take more flack for blatantly copying the WH40K "template" - Human, Eldar, Tyranid - how about we call them... Human, Protoss, Zerg?! Genius!

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:34:12 -0800

Yeah I can't believe they grabbed "human."

By: Evernix

Evernix — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:35:06 -0800

This one is just fantastic.

By: smoke

smoke — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:41:26 -0800

I thought some of these were great, and some less than great. 75 is a lot of sensation, really. I think maybe 20 would have been more achievable.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:41:51 -0800

A lot of people see WH40K Space Marines and think they're entirely derivative - but the thing of it is, they were - I mean, they were first. They were the Space Marines that made space marines. Eh, what? Starship Troopers? John Steakley's Armor? I can't recall offhand if they wore battle armor in The Forever War too.

By: straight

straight — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:42:13 -0800

I liked a lot few of those than I thought I would when I clicked that link. But then when I think of Science Fiction, I'm not usually thinking of stories that would make good levels in Mass Effect or Warhammer 40,000.

By: Catblack

Catblack — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:46:30 -0800

I think it's a horrid trend that's been gaining steam the past few years. All of these "75 amazing things of all time!" SEO linkbait articles. The hyperbole falls flat and only really works on an audience of teenagers. What makes this collection, these particular works of art, so sensational? Are these sorts of things going to be allowed on Mefi from now on? Seriously. This linked page looks like someone went in and typed "sci-fi" in google image search and then made a page with the results. It's ...nice that they linked to the artists' sites, but... wait, these are all deviantart links? Blogspam.

By: His thoughts were red thoughts

His thoughts were red thoughts — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:46:48 -0800

I can't recall offhand if they wore battle armor in The Forever War too. They did.

By: A Thousand Baited Hooks

A Thousand Baited Hooks — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:47:04 -0800

Human, Eldar, Tyranid - how about we call them... Human, Protoss, Zerg?! Genius! Related.

By: His thoughts were red thoughts

His thoughts were red thoughts — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:47:55 -0800

A lot of people see WH40K Space Marines and think they're entirely derivative. Yes. Because they are.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:56:31 -0800

When I first started scrolling through, I thought this was a setup and that all the works were from the same artist who wanted to work everything to a bloodless sheen. There are a few that are a little rougher and looser (13, 14, 67) and 12 is described as unfinished by the artist here. I think it looks great just as it is and that she never succumbs to the suggestion to add some neon green to it.

By: Catblack

Catblack — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:03:24 -0800

Holy crap, it's the 2nd post on a new blog. Wow, compiling this must have taken an entire HOUR! This is the sort of crap that is ruining the internet. At least when you see a superlative-rich cracked.com headline, you know there's going to be a fun, snarky article attached.

By: Gator

Gator — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:08:56 -0800

Eh, I'll take this over Yet Another Buzzfeed/Tumblr Page Full of Unattributed Photos.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:17:35 -0800

They did. I figured they did but I didn't want to undermine my point if I was wrong. Thanks. I wonder if a decent FPP could somehow be constructed around the dialogue within SF between books like Troopers, Armor, TFW, and so on. Although I guess that'd be about it... stuff like Scalzi's Old Man's War, are more of a homage than something engaged in the dialogue. Maybe Gerrold but I'm not sure where he fits into the conversation and, frankly, at this point I'm pretty sure he doesn't know either.

By: flaterik

flaterik — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:36:24 -0800

I'm pretty sure Gerrold was eaten by a giant red worm. I'm fairly certain that worm is going to eat GRRM soon too.

By: girih knot

girih knot — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:57:05 -0800

I once was browsing in the Horror section of a bookshop - full of similarly homogenized cover art - and was dismayed to see H P Lovecraft books packaged a bit like this. Tangential, but I really loved the cover of the anthology I got from the science fiction book club several years ago. Up close it has a lot of great pen detail. I think what ends up being uninspired and homogenized about the kind of art in the post is that they try too hard to be realistic. Exploration in a lack of realism (of form, not subject matter) can say a lot more on a symbolic level.

By: girih knot

girih knot — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:00:33 -0800

I guess my phone takes higher resolution photos than I realized. That second image is showing more of the four color process than pen detail.

By: digitalprimate

digitalprimate — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:33:54 -0800

And yet still, I cannot find decent renditions of any of the Culture books' ships, tech, etc no matter how I tweak the GIS. Grrrrrrr.

By: dng

dng — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:46:45 -0800

Tangential, but I really loved the cover of the anthology I got from the science fiction book club several years ago. Up close it has a lot of great pen detail Is that by Ian Miller? Its very similar to the cover he did for the greatest book ever written. He's a brilliant artist. The graphic novel he did with M. John Harrison, The Luck In The Head, contains some wonderful and terrifying images.

By: kozad

kozad — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:49:50 -0800

Slightly better than "fantasy art." Worse than "art" art. And..."Theistic Dawn"? Worst title ever.

By: Trochanter

Trochanter — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:23:11 -0800

This is my favourite cover ever. 'Cause of Wyrm willies. Yeah!

By: girih knot

girih knot — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:00:18 -0800

dng: It is! Thank you for the links!

By: helmutdog

helmutdog — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:11:46 -0800

Hey! Isn't this one the Book Tower in Detroit? God, first Snooty French Photographers (previously on Metafilter), now cutting edge science fiction illustrators. Can we stop beating up on HockeyTown?

By: Joh

Joh — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:10:27 -0800

I love science fiction. I love the ideas of space travel, sentient AIs, distant planets, alternative universes, alien races, and so on. But I really don't enjoy most of this art. I particularly don't enjoy space marines or post-apocalyptic fantasy waifs. I especially don't enjoy space marines meeting post-apocalyptic fantasy waifs with a backdrop of a futuristic city torn apart by war.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:41:47 -0800

Mostly very meh, but the girl waiting to blast herself and the tank to kingdom come gave me the shivers.

By: daikaisho

daikaisho — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:21:21 -0800

The art was there, for the most part. Some of them were pretty. But after about five of them I just started assigning which roleplaying setting they belonged to because it was more interesting that way (aside from all the obvious WH40k stuff, that is). And after that I realized, not for the first time, that 1). I am a huge dork, and 2). I am really jonesing to play Shadowrun again. Sigh.

By: usonian

usonian — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:54:43 -0800

Is there where I admit I am ambivalent about Whelan? I have a soft spot for Whelan from his covers for Asimov's Robots and Foundation novels, which I read voraciously in high school. I think his style has been imitated so much and for so long that it makes his own work stand out less than it used to. (And on rereading my comment, that's Barlowe.)

By: Ahab

Ahab — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 06:38:25 -0800

You post the best stuff, nickyskye. Thanks!

By: eyeheartyou

eyeheartyou — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 06:28:01 -0800

so great!