Space Art by Christopher Doll

Author: Christopher Doll

  • Revisiting Breaking Fitts’s Law

    Revisiting Breaking Fitts’s Law

    For several years I’ve been threatening to return to my comic strip, Breaking Fitts’s Law. It was a fun opportunity to rail against the many oddities and incongruities of office life in the tech world, from the perspective of a “User Experience Designer” (UX). This is all something that was close to my own experience for many years. Fortunately, I captured many of them in the corners of Moleskin notebooks and sketchbooks that I always had on hand through countless (and mostly boring) meetings.

    Congratulations! Get Out – Opening new strip

    The strip ran in the Fall of 2014 and shortly into 2015. It was enjoyable, and cathartic, but it took a lot of my time. Unfortunately, events in my life conspired to make it difficult to keep up the pace so I had to walk away. With starting a small business, there just wasn’t enough time to devote to my strip. But I always wanted to come back to it.

    Sneak Peek at the return of Breaking Fitts’s Law

    The first of my return strips are up already, and in an effort to shore up my efforts I’ve opened a Patreon page. This is purely optional for those who wish to support Breaking Fitts’s Law. All of the comic strips will be posted for free on Breaking Fitts’s Law site itself. Patreon subscribers will get early access to the strips – approximately one week before they are posted in the clear. And there are a number of other side benefits I’m adding like behind the scenes info, live Q&A sessions, and for some, the ability to suggest comics.

    Breaking Fitts’s Law on Patreon

    I’m going to make every effort to keep this going on a regular basis, and will certainly let everyone know if I run into issues. Given all of the other art-related projects going on at the moment, Breaking Fitts’s Law would seem to be a perfect fit. And I might have a bit of material to draw from:

    The Archive
  • Planets Installation Update

    Planets Installation Update

    I received these wonderful photos from my client who ordered the scale model planets from me last Fall. They are installed and are awaiting a light fixture to represent the Sun. It’s great to see these in their new home!

    Planets in the Foyer

    Each of the planets included a small hook so they could be hung from a ceiling display. I’m happy to see that they made the journey to Australia in good shape.

    Planets with Temporary Lighting
    View from Below (planets distorted by camera lens)

    If you would like a set of planet models, they are still available in my shop! They can be ordered individually or as a set.

  • Welcoming 2020

    Welcoming 2020

    2019 was a difficult year for us, as much as it was for many of you. We lost our shop in the Country Village, but we managed to continue with our baking business through our local farmer’s markets. While we knew the Country Village was being sold, it was still a blow to our business and morale.

    Country Village – Boat on Pond

    The silver lining is that we found so many people who loved our baking, and followed us to the local markets. This helped us finish out the year and for that we are thankful to all of you.

    It’s also given me time to build my business as a professional artist. I’ve managed to work on a lot of great projects in 2019 including book covers, retro-science fiction labels for Folksbier Braueri in Brooklyn NYC, and a wonderful scale model of the solar system.

    Folksbier Recurring Dreams#32

    Going into 2020 I am continuing with several ongoing art projects and I will be sharing these as we go. Some projects I’ve had to keep under wraps until they release, so keep an eye out on my Instagram feed and my site for more details.

    Random Walk – Full Artwork

    Also, if you are looking for custom artwork for your own project please feel free to contact me. I’m always looking for new projects and this is a great time of year to set something up. If you happen to know of any science fiction authors, editors, art directors or anyone else in the publishing field I am happy to meet them and see if I can make something cool for their projects.

    I’d like to thank you all for following me this far and I look forward to sharing new art in 2020.

    Now in the Shop

    I’ve just made a new category in my shop called “Small Works”. These are smaller, original paintings that would be happy to find a new home. They are less expensive than some of the larger originals that I sell, but no less fun.

    SEE ALL SMALL WORKS IN THE SHOP

    CURRENT SALES

    All of my ornaments are 30% off, with coupon code ORNAMENTS. Get them before they run out!

    SHOP ALL ORNAMENTS AND GIFTS

    Prints in the shop

    I’ve posted several prints in the shop that you can order at any time. If there are other images you are interested in, please contact me about having a print made. Depending on the image, I may be able to run it for you. All prints are made at a local print shop and they do a fantastic job.

    Shop All Prints
  • New Prints and Market Recap

    New Prints and Market Recap

    The holiday market at Lake Forest Park last Sunday was a huge success, and I want to thank everyone who was able to visit in person. It was great to see familiar faces and so many new ones! Looking to 2020, I’m adding more to the schedule and I’ll be updating these as I go.

    One of the biggest requests I’ve been getting recently are more prints. As much as people love owning original artwork, I am going to be adding more print options for a number of paintings, starting with these three that I had at my booth last weekend:

    These will all be signed archival prints and are going to the printers this week. Unfortunately I cannot guarantee that these will be ready for the holidays, but they will remain available in my store as long as supplies last.

    These will be a limited run, and I will be adding more as I go in 2020.

    Thank you again for your continued support. Here are some photos from the last events at Lake Forest Park:

    Ornaments were the big hit this year! I’ll be working on some more fun things for 2020!

  • New Saturn Models

    New Saturn Models

    I am thrilled to announce my new line of scale model planets, starting with Saturn!

    Each Saturn is 11″ in diameter, and the planet’s body is 4.5″. They are made from clear acrylic, and each is hand-painted.

    Pre-Order Now!

    Both the standard sized Saturn and the smaller ornament are now up for pre-order in my store. These are all made by hand, and can take up to two weeks for delivery in the Continental US.

    COMING SOON

    The rest of the Solar System planets (including Pluto, regardless of its classification on the day you are reading this), are going to be available soon as well.

  • Cover Art Reveal – Random Walk by Rachel Lulich

    Cover Art Reveal – Random Walk by Rachel Lulich

    I’ve been working with author Rachel Lulich on this piece for her first book, Random Walk – Book One of the Fractured Galaxy Series. It’s a 30″ x 20″ painting, casein on illustration board with some digital touch-ups in Photoshop.

    Random Walk – Full Artwork

    This was a fun project that included a fiery red nebula and a near-future NASA-style spacecraft. I wanted to capture a classic, retro-science fiction look with this image.

    Here’s the back cover description:

    Three Astronauts. One Impossible Journey.

    Derek Williams, Jacob Mendez, and Vicky Abrams have trained for years to helm the first manned spaceflight launched by US Air Force Space Command. The Pioneer�s mission is simple � test the experimental new Hawking Engine, designed to take them to Mars faster than any manned craft has travelled before. But when the engine reaches full capacity, the craft unexpectedly hurtles into the unknown.

    With power levels falling and communications offline, the crew must face the unbelievable truth � The Pioneer is lightyears from Earth in uncharted space.

    Far from the safety of their simulators and support from Ground Control, Derek, Jacob, and Vicky are challenged to the end of their abilities to keep the ship safe � and survive long enough to find a way home.

    For more about Fractured Galaxy, follow Fractured Galaxy and Rachel Lulich on Twitter. Rachel also has an Indiegogo Campaign where details on the book will be available soon.

  • Upcoming Holiday Markets

    Upcoming Holiday Markets

    I’m happy to announce that I will have a booth at two upcoming Holiday markets, both hosted at Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park. Sunday, November 24th and Sunday December 15th. Both markets run from 10am to 3pm, and I will be downstairs with the artists.

    I will have some exciting new things on display for the first time, as well as prints, gifts, and original paintings.

    Details at the link below:

    https://www.facebook.com/events/459321258011215/

    Artwork on Display, Summer 2019

    This is an excellent holiday market, with a lot of fantastic food from the Lake Forest Park Farmer’s Market Community, as well as many quality artisans.

    Be sure to stop by Doll House Baked Goods upstairs as they will also be there with fantastic baked treats!

    Hope to see you there!

  • Planets Project Update – First Color

    Planets Project Update – First Color

    The scale model of the solar is coming together and here’s the first color on each of the planets. I’ve also test-painted the rings for Saturn, which is fun to see in 3D. More below, and please pardon the dust – these shots were taken in my art studio and there’s a lot going on.

    Planet Hemispheres, all with base colors

    Each of the planets has their base color tones as of this writing. Some of the planets are painted inside the clear acrylic hemisphere, which will give them a bit more depth. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Venus will make use of this effect. Except for Uranus, clouds will be painted on the outside, but some light will scatter through the acrylic and bounce off of the inside layer.

    Process for painting the inside of the planets

    After the base color is applied, I went over them with white primer. This provides enough light blockage to prevent them from glowing too much. There was still too much of a glow, so I covered the white layer with a deep black. I don’t have a photo showing the effect, but it’s very similar to Uranus above (which is pretty much ready to be sealed as-is.

    Jupiter

    Jupiter North Pole

    The cloud bands were mapped out using an airbrush and several colors. Additional cloud details are needed, some to cover up that unfortunate splatter from my airbrush. Or, I just call that part a storm.

    Jupiter – South Pole

    The recent images from the NASA/JPL Juno mission have provided high resolution detail of Jupiter’s south polar region. I’ve started here by getting the colors more into a gray-purple realm. A good base for many whirling clouds.

    Saturn

    And finally my favorite of the bunch, Saturn. I’m thrilled with how the rings turned out, courtesy of my friend and colleague Joe “Faust” Graziano. Shown here are one of the prototype rings we cut to my original design.

    Base Color for Saturn and Rings

    While there’s still a lot to finish on each of these, it’s fun to see them come alive.

    Let me know what you think! And if you like this, please share at your leisure. Thank you!

  • Latest Project – The Planets

    Latest Project – The Planets

    Recently, I was approached by someone who saw my painted planets from a few years back. They wanted a new set of planets, in a larger scale, for an installation at their home. I am happy to announce that this project is now underway.

    My previous planet set – each 2 1/2″ across

    Previously I offered Jupiter, Mars, Earth and its Moon. Each was approximately 2 1/2″ across, and far more round than the actual planets they were depicting.

    I’ve always wanted to upscale the planets that I made before, and render them in a more accurate fashion. This is a perfect opportunity to do so, and to perhaps offer these updated planets to others. Especially Saturn, which is by nature a difficult planet to depict in 3D due to its beautiful rings. I’ve had my own ideas on how to make a scale model of Saturn, but they required tools that I did not have easy access to at the time. And frankly with the bakery business that we were running, I didn’t really have the capacity to make any progress on them. But I did manage to knock together a concept model using smaller wood hemispheres and a shape I cut on our Cricut Maker.

    Original Prototype – 3.5″ across – wood and chipboard

    I’m pretty fond of this size Saturn, but the details would be quite hard to see. And the thickness of the rings is a bit distracting. This design was a test of the rings that are suspended from a single ledge behind the planet (not shown in the photo). It’s effective when viewed from multiple angles.

    As luck would have it, a good friend and colleague of mine started collecting some clever machinery that would help make this project a reality. And this week, after some back and forth about the details, we have our first Saturn prototype ready to go:

    Full Size Saturn Prototype

    The main body of Saturn will be two acrylic hemispheres, 4 1/2″ across. The rings were laser etched and cut by my friend Joe Graziano. We will be working together on these and I am thrilled with the results so far. Overall Saturn will be just over 10″ across with the rings.

    Outer Planets (L to R) Jupiter 6″, Saturn 4.5″, Uranus & Neptune 4″
    6″ Hemispheres for Jupiter – clear acrylic

    The largest single planet will of course be Jupiter, at 6″ diameter. Uranus and Neptune will each be 4″. As much as I’d like to scale these with 100% accuracy, I am at the mercy of available hemispheres. At least until I can manufacture my own at a later date. Each of the hemispheres will need to be reduced in height to match the proper profile of the planets.

    Inner Planets (L to R) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter (for scale)

    The inner planets will be mostly at scale with each other, but for the sake of the display, they will each be larger than they should be compared to the outer planets. As of this writing, I am considering bumping up their scale a bit as they may be a bit small when viewed in person.

    For my client, these planets will be suspended from the ceiling with a dedicated light fixture. I will be working on stand-alone sets as well, either wall-mounted or tabletop. Either way, I am excited to share this with all of you and I will be updating as things progress.

    Let me know what you think!

  • Art Prints from Becky Chambers’ Novels in the Store

    Art Prints from Becky Chambers’ Novels in the Store

    For those of you who enjoyed Becky Chambers’ science fiction novels, I have made prints of the cover art that I made for her and Harper Collins US. They are available in my store, and will be on hand at my upcoming local events.

    And my congratulations to Becky Chambers for winning the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Series. I am thrilled to have met her and I wish her the best.

    Science Fiction Art Prints in my Space Art Store
    Cover Art Prints for Becky Chambers’ Novels

    If you haven’t read her books yet, I highly recommend them – especially if you enjoy science fiction books. She’s done a great job and I am honored to have participated in a small way.

    Head on over to my store, or click on the image for a direct link. Thank you!

  • Recurring Dreams #32 – Folksbier Brauerei (with time Lapse Video)

    Recurring Dreams #32 – Folksbier Brauerei (with time Lapse Video)

    I’ve made a video!

    Over on my Youtube Channel I have posted a time-lapse video of me painting Recurring Dreams #32. I’m working on a longer, narrated version that will be available on my soon-to-be-active PATREON page. I will be posting more about my Patreon page soon, but in the meantime here is the timelapse painting:

    About the painting

    Folksbier Braueri from Brooklyn, NY commissioned this piece for their Recurring Dreams #32 IPA. They wanted a retro science fiction inspiration, in the style of artist Paul Lehr. I was thrilled to paint this scene for them.

    They identified a color scheme, a gradient from mauve to deep blue tones with a few stops in between, and several of their favorite Paul Lehr images to get a feel for the style they were looking for. I made a small color sketch and proceeded to paint their scene.

    Small color sketch

    I used Richeson Casein Paint, which is a water-based paint used by illustrators and artists for many years. It’s fast, like acrylic, and can be painted opaque like guache or thinned for washes like watercolor. It’s very versatile and the colors are bright. Casein was used by many of my favorite artists, and James Gurney (Dinotopia) has some wonderful videos on how to use casein.

    Richeson Casein Paint – Titanium White, Permasol Blue, Rose Red, Naples Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue

    Recurring Dreams #32 is out, as of this writing. So if you’re near Brooklyn, NY drop on by and try out Folksbier Braueri.

    Recurring Dreams #32 in the wild

    Prints on the way

    I am now taking pre-orders for prints of Recurring Dreams #32 in my store. This will be a limited run and I expect to have them by September 10th.

  • My First Art-Only Show at the Edmonds Farmer’s Market

    My First Art-Only Show at the Edmonds Farmer’s Market

    On Saturday, August 24th from 9:00am to 3:00pm I will be setting up a booth at the Edmonds Farmer’s Market. I’ve been there every weekend this year with baked goods from Doll House Baked Goods, but on August 24th I will be setting up a booth to showcase my own art.

    EDMONDS FARMERS MARKET
    Bell St. & 5th Ave NE
    Edmonds, Washington 98020

    I’ve been working on a number of new pieces that will be appearing for the first time in public, and I will have prints of my older work as well.

    I’ll be flying my Space Art By Christopher Doll sign, instead of baked goods. But I might have a few cookies on hand, just in case.

    I would love to see you at the show, and there is no obligation whatsoever. Stop by and say hello and enjoy the afternoon. There are a lot of great vendors at the Edmonds Farmer’s Market and downtown Edmond is a great place to spend the day.

    August 24th 9:00am to 3:00pm
  • Original Art on Sale, Country Village Prints Now in Store

    Original Art on Sale, Country Village Prints Now in Store

    I have marked down a selection of my original artwork in the store. This sale will be up for the next week. I would love to find a permanent home for some of these pieces.

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    New pieces will be added soon, stay tuned!

    Country Village Art Prints Now in the store!

    We offered these art prints from my Country Village series in our shop. They are now available to order in my store. There are two sizes, 9″ x 12″ and 5″ x 7″. Options for print-only or framed are available.

    Country Village Art Prints Now in the Store

    These were originally painted with casein on illustration board, and depict the Country Village in Bothell where we had our bakery for three years.

  • Celebrate the Country Village with Art

    Celebrate the Country Village with Art

    Thursday, October 25th from 6pm to 9pm we are hosting a pop-up art gallery at The Country Village Shops! If you happen to be in the Seattle area, come on by. This will be the debut of the first of my Country Village paintings.

    There will be beverages and snacks at the event, and prints will be available. After the show, prints can be ordered here in my shop or at Doll House Baked Goods in the Country Village.

    In addition to my Country Village series, I will also be showing some of my recent science fiction artwork.

    Artist Dennis Brown will be co-hosting this show. Dennis Brown is a fantastic artist. He sculpts magical creations at his studio in the Country Village. It’s been an absolute pleasure to see Dennis work, and to see his sculpts in person.

    Link to Event on Facebook

    Location

    The gallery show will be in The Country Village, Bothell Washington:

    The Country Village Shops
    817 238th St SE
    Suite C
    Bothell, Wa. 98021

    Link to the Country Village via Google Maps

    We are set up in the building just across from Doll House Baked Goods, and next to Keepsake Cottage fabrics. Contact me if you have trouble finding the spot.

  • Oil Painting, The Enterprise, and Cabooses

    Oil Painting, The Enterprise, and Cabooses

    We’re getting ready for a busy Fall and Holiday season at the shop, and things are heating up in the home studio too. I’ve been painting a lot more than I have in the last two years and I’m enjoying the results so far. Here’s a peek at some of the latest projects, and some of them fall completely outside the realm of SPACE ART.

    The Enterprise (In Progress)

    I’ve been wanting to paint this scene for years, and in my last post I showed you the preliminary stages. The Enterprise itself is still little more than the under painting but it’s coming along nicely. This is a big piece for me, 3 feet wide and 18 inches tall. I had to step away from it a bit due to the Country Village series that I’ve started but I plan on finishing this up shortly.

    Once finished, this will go on sale in my store, and I plan on making a limited number of prints available.

    The Country Village

    Next Spring we have to leave our shop at the Country Village and it’s a shame to see all of these wonderful buildings and places go away. I’ve started painting some of our favorites, and I’d like to capture many more throughout the season. These are small paintings, about 9″ by 12″, painted with casein on illustration board. I was inspired to try this medium by James Gurney, artist and author of the Dinotopia books. He is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to learn how to paint. I highly recommend checking out his site and his YouTube channel. Thank you for all of your help so far, James!

    Artist Dennis Brown Studio in Winter
    Fae’s Caboose
    Keepsake Cottage
    Scout 829 Caboose
    The Chicken

    These are the first few paintings and I have more lined up. It’s a different subject for me, but I’ve enjoyed them. These will be on display in our shop at the Country Village this Fall and we will be having prints available in several sizes.

    Oil Painting

    A couple of years ago a good friend of mine from our local Science Fiction Model Club sold me his oil paints, tools, and a pile of canvases. He was getting out of it altogether and I was thrilled he came by. It’s taken me this long to break them out, but I’ve been wanting to paint with oils for a long time. First I picked up an unfinished acrylic piece I’d started last year, and decided to use the acrylic base as my under painting – a technique often used by artists.

    This piece is about 12″ x 20″ on wrapped canvas. It was a lot of fun, and I just had to paint something from scratch so I found a small 8′ x 10′ canvas board and tried out a moonlight scene with a lighthouse.

    I’m pretty happy with the results and it was a great way to get my hands back into oils again. It’ll be a couple of weeks before I can varnish these and have them on display in the shop, but both are available.

    Inquiries are welcome on these, or any other piece. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

  • From the Shop

    From the Shop

    It’s been two years since we opened Doll House Baked Goods, our small bakery, and in that time we have learned a lot about running our own business. We had no illusions that this would be easy, the hours are long and we don’t have nearly the same amount of free time or freedom to travel like we used to.� But it’s been rewarding and I make a mean batch of chocolate chip cookies.

    One of the bonuses of having our own shop is that we have room to display and sell my original art and prints. In the last two years a number of my pieces have found good homes and I am working hard to make more.

    A corner of our shop with space and science fiction art

    Current Art Projects

    I’ve updated several areas on the site, adding new artwork that has recently made its way to the shop. Some of them are also available in my store here, and at Doll House Baked Goods. If you happen to be in the area please stop on by and say hello!

    Stellar Explorer VII

    Some of the most popular paintings in the shop were scenes from Washington State. I had a number of lighthouses from the Pacific Coast and beach scenery. I love visiting that area and have a lot of fond memories from family trips over the years. In fact, all of my original lighthouse paintings have been sold and I plan on making more soon.

    Shores of Long Beach, Washington

    Speaking of art, it’s been a bit quiet on the art front for me lately. The long hours we spend each day baking cookies, pies, breads, and other treats has been draining and I have not kept up the pace with my art as much as I would’ve liked. But I am turning a corner on this and there will be many more new pieces coming up soon, so stay tuned. Here’s a sneak peak at a large piece on the easel right now:

    In Other News

    Be sure to check out Becky Chambers’ new novel, Record of a Spaceborn Few published by Harper Collins. It’s out in the stores now and it features my artwork on the cover. Becky’s books are great, and well worth your time if you enjoy good science fiction.

    Record of a Spaceborn Few

  • Latest Cover Art – Becky Chambers’ Record of a Spaceborn Few

    Latest Cover Art – Becky Chambers’ Record of a Spaceborn Few

    It’s set to be released this coming July but you can pre-order it now.

    Record of a Spaceborn Few

    This piece was made digitally. The spaceship, an Exodan Homesteader, was entirely hand-drawn in Photoshop with my Wacom Intuos tablet. These are old colony ships, and have spent hundreds of years in space and have gone through generations of renovations and improvements.

    When I was first given the assignment, I had no description of the spacecraft but my art director definitely wanted a spacecraft in a nebula. My first sketches had a totally different spaceship but I was happy with the color scheme. After the first drafts were complete, I received a book excerpt with descriptions of these vast spacecraft, and her own sketches. Becky had even cobbled together a paper model of the ship as she envisioned it.

    With all the new information at hand, I went back and re-drew the Exodan Homesteader in similar colors to work with the background.

    I highly recommend Becky Chambers’ books. She’s doing fantastic work and I am thrilled to have been a small part of her commercial publications.

    Closed and Common Orbit – Becky Chambers

    A Closed and Common Orbit

    And her debut novel, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

    A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

    I have previously written about my work on the covers for Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. It has had several iterations before the final US release by HarperCollins.

  • Imagined Futures at Pivot Art + Culture

    Imagined Futures at Pivot Art + Culture

    Last week I dropped by the new Space Art exhibit, Imagined futures hosted by Pivot Art + Culture, part of the Paul Allen Institute in downtown Seattle. Located near the shores of Lake Union, this new gallery is well worth the visit. I am thrilled that such an exhibit opened up in my area and it does not disappoint. It was a sunny day in Seattle, and there was enough daylight to make it somewhat difficult to get good straight-on photos of the pieces on display due to glare, but in person they are spectacular.

    Space and Science Fiction Art

    This amazing display features examples of space and science fiction art, classic and contemporary. As a professional space and science fiction artist myself, I was humbled to be in the presence of these original pieces. Many of them were inspirations to me from as far back as I can remember. My thanks to Pivot Art + Culture for hosting them.

    Let’s take a look at the gallery

    Imagined Futures Gallery Looking Left
    Imagined Futures at Pivot Art + Culture
    Artist Robert Longo’s brilliant Saturn in Charcoal
    Imagined Futures at Pivot Art + Culture

    Legendary Space Art

    Chesley Bonnestell
    Chesley Bonnestell – Detail
    Chesley Bonnestell – Destination Moon
    Concept Art from Forbidden Planet – Mentor Huebner
    Fred Gambino
    Ron Miller reproduction of a Chesley Bonnestell Moon Rocket
    Matte Painting of Earth used in Destination Moon – Chesley Bonnestell
    Chesley Bonnestell
    Jim Burns – The Neutronium Alchemist

    Close Up Shots

    I loved being able to get right up close to these original pieces and see the paint and material in detail. Again, I had difficulty with daylight glare in the photos. In person it’s very easy to see the art.

    Up close with Bob Eggleton’s Anvil of Stars
    Bob Eggleton’s Anvil of Stars
    2010: Odyssey Two Cover Art – Michael Whelan
    2010: Odyssey Two Cover Art (detail) – Michael Whelan
    Don Dixon – The Clouds of Saturn
    Don Dixon – The Clouds of Saturn (Detail)
    Don Dixon – The Clouds of Saturn (Detail)
    Descending Toward the Moon – Chesley Bonnestell
    Descending Toward the Moon (Detail) – Chesley Bonnestell
    Chesley Bonnestell
    Chesley Bonnestell
    Chesley Bonnestell
    Chesley Bonnestell
    Chris Foss – Asteroid Collision
    Chris Foss – Asteroid Collision (Detail)

    John Berkey Space Settlement

    John Berkey is one of my all time favorite artists, and here I was able to see his Space Settlement up close.

    Space Settlement – John Berkey
    Space Settlement – John Berkey
    Space Settlement (detail) – John Berkey
    Space Settlement (detail) – John Berkey
    Space Settlement (detail) – John Berkey
    Space Settlement (detail) – John Berkey

    Robert T. McCall – A Settlement on Mars

    Another classic, Robert T. McCall’s Settlement on Mars. This is a� much larger painting than what I’d imagined and it’s quite impressive in person.

    A Settlement on Mars – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars (Detail) – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars (Detail) – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars (Detail) – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars (Detail) – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars (Detail) – Robert T. McCall
    A Settlement on Mars (Detail) – Robert T. McCall

    Models

    A number of fine scale models were on display as well.

    Models on display
    The Angriest Rocket Model Ever Made (constructed by David Merriman)
    Moon Ferry – David Merriman
    Spaceship Luna Miniature from Destination Moon
    Forest Dome – Silent Running
    Forest Dome – Silent Running
    Forest Dome – Silent Running
    Voyager Concept Model – Chesley Bonnestell
    Lunar Lander (Wernher von Braun concept) by Steven Gallacci

    I’m giving David Merriman a tough time for calling his Moon Ship “The Angriest Model Ever Made”. David Merriman is a master model builder who doesn’t suffer fools lightly. It was great to see his work in this show.

    Want to see more?

    If you’re interested in seeing these wonderful paintings and displays in person, Imagined Futures runs until July 10, 2016 at Pivot Art + Culture.

    Imagined Futures Poster
    Imagined Futures Poster

    And if you can’t make the trip to Seattle yourself, I’d highly recommend Ron Miller’s book The Art of Space – available now. It features many of the paintings in Imagined Futures, plus many more (including one of my own, see page 116).

    ArtOfSpaceBook

    Visit the Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    Thank you for dropping by, and if you like space art like this please drop by my space art store. I’m offering original artwork and a number of smaller gifts, including my adult coloring book, Coloring Space 1.

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store
    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store