AQUANAUTS: DISTANT ORIGINS

Illustrations that depict a person(s) standing in front of or gazing out a large window have been a staple in american sci fi for almost a century.

    Usually the image will show some futuristic vista on another world or more commonly a colorful nebula.  For that reason alone I decided to relocate this entire image deep into the unknown abyss of the ocean and focus on the characters within this world.  For beneath the surface lies the future… a shameless quote from the intro to “Seaquest”. 

 This image was done for an upcoming sci fi art exhibition being held this month at the Tubman Museum in Macon, Georgia.  The Show will include the work of JP Targete, "Brotherman" creator Dawud Osaze Kamau Anyabwile and many others working in the field of comics, illustration and fine art.

It was really cool to be included in the invitational for the exhibition.

I liked the idea of doing a simple portrait of a human officer standing between two opposing alien races on some distant aquatic planet.   I gave two of the aliens’ gills to suggest some common link between the two.   Here is the result.  24” x 40” Oil on MDF panel. 

A few weeks ago I met a number of students from all over the world at a workshop given by James Gurney.  Some of them had  many questions that I tried my best to answer without visuals.  So for them and you, the next few posts will chronicle the creation of this image from start to finish.