Space Art by Christopher Doll

Preview! Rigel 7 print coming soon

Written by

Christopher Doll

in

, ,

Last year I made this painting based on the classic scene by famous matte painter Albert Whitlock. It’s the Rigel 7 fortress originally shown in the first Star Trek pilot episode, “The Cage”. It was re-used several times during the rest of the Star Trek series and I always wanted my own version of this classic shot.

RGL7_sml

 

The original was an 18″ x 22″ acrylic painting on stretched canvas that is now in the collection of a good friend of mine. I’ve received a lot compliments on my interpretation, which is very close to the original. People have also asked me if I am offering prints. Today I’m moving forward on this and will be offering the option for prints on a Kickstarter to be opened shortly.

The print will be smaller than the original – likely 14″ x 20″ or so – and will be offered in several versions:

  • Archival quality paper with protective sleeve
  • Stretched canvas (borderless)
  • Framed, archival quality paper
  • Stretched canvas with floating frame

Prices are not set as of yet, but the options above should put them within the comfort range for a number of people. Feel free to contact me for questions, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

If this proves to be popular enough I have plans for several other classic scenes from Star Trek, and several other shows. Thank you!

Comments

8 responses to “Preview! Rigel 7 print coming soon”

  1. Michael Jasinski Avatar
    Michael Jasinski

    I’ve search this image several times over the years . As a 64 year old Star Trek fan, I sent away for Star Trek Film clips through Lincoln Enterprises. I only got about 2 dozen or so, but Rigel 7 was one of them from the original film stock. What was interesting about my slide clip was the Frame it was painted on. It had writing on masking tape on the wood frame .its been 50 some years and the slide has started to turn,but still survives . I did manage to make some prints but I’d have to dig deep into my archive. I’m relieved to know the Original exists. For Me it’s the Holy Grail of Trek Art! I’m looking forward to acquiring you art print.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Doll Avatar
      Christopher Doll

      Hi Michael! Thanks for checking this out. I will definitely contact you when these become available. It went on hold a bit a while back unfortunately and I’ve planned on returning to the project. There’s at least one more person who managed to secure some of those original images, and I was able to use them as reference. My first painting was a bit cropped so for my next version I want to do the full scene with all the towers. Cheers!

      Reply
      1. Michael Jasinski Avatar
        Michael Jasinski

        I’m revisiting this sight on Black Friday Nov 26 2021. I’m sure I’m not alone in interest of this Magnificent Image from Original Matte painter Albert Whitlock. As an Artist myself I too would like to attempt to re – create this masterpiece , but alas ..its still on my bucket list. Feel Free to update me on your Enhansed and Faithful Reproduction. Live Long and with tenacity, Prosper!

        Reply
  2. Michael Jasinski Avatar
    Michael Jasinski

    I’m revisiting this sight on Black Friday Nov 26 2021. I’m sure I’m not alone in interest of this Magnificent Image from Original Matte painter Albert Whitlock. As an Artist myself I too would like to attempt to re – create this masterpiece , but alas ..its still on my bucket list. Feel Free to update me on your Enhansed and Faithful Reproduction. Live Long and with tenacity, Prosper!

    Reply
    1. Christopher Doll Avatar
      Christopher Doll

      Hi Michael, and thank you for your patience.

      I�ve started on the larger Rigel 7, which shows the full castle. The first painting shown here was based on a cropped screenshot, the best I had at the time.

      I�m currently finishing a Voyager painting on my weekly livestream, which will be finished next week. I will pick up the larger Rigel 7 as the next painting to finish and after a very long wait I will get this one done.

      Again thank you for your patience and the reminder. My family got a bit sidetracked the last couple of years but now I�m back at the studio.

      Reply
    2. Christopher Doll Avatar
      Christopher Doll

      I believe I have a scan of the slide you mentioned – it shows some of the frame with bits of masking tape and paint swatches. The color on my scan is a bit faded so I plan on following the color scheme of my first painting – but include all the edge details missing from my first cropped painting.

      I wish we knew where the original painting ended up. Sometimes glass paintings were scraped to do more for different productions unfortunately.

      Reply
      1. Jasinski Avatar
        Jasinski

        Thanks for your reply .Things have slowed down globally due to the pandemic so there’s been a lot of in-house exploration of personal items in the archives. My original side is lost in my archives it seems u et to be found along with a dozen or so film clip frames I purchased f r on Lincoln Enterprises back in the mid 70s. If/ When I find that elusive clip( the Holy Grail) of Trek Art I’ll find a way to Reserect and Restore it! Now here’s one story..kind of sad actually but my 65 year old memory recalls a film frame I mounted of TalosIV seen very briefly on the view screen from the Cage.pilot that depicted the surface landscape of a mountain terrain at night with a starry sky behind it. Its was a second of footage but I know I had the clip and think the tiny 35mm frame slipped out of the film frame holder and ,perhaps got lost inside a borrowed 35 mm projector. Anyways that was 40 years ago .So I think with detective work I’ll find that Image ononline. Someone who worked on that film has probably been deceased. So thats my story and well ….back to reality! Keep busy stay well and Live Long till You Expire! ?

        Reply
  3. Christopher Doll Avatar
    Christopher Doll

    Just dropping by to let you know – I’m working on the bigger Rigel 7 painting again. I’ll be working on it during my livestream over on Twitch.TV:
    https://www.twitch.tv/blackbirdcd
    Next Tuesday, February 15th at 11am PST

    I’ll be posting update photos as I go over on my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages – and I’ll have a post on the site here shortly.
    Thank you for your patience. When it’s finished I’ll be offering print options through my store
    Cheers!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts