A polar expedition about to be ruined (in a big way) by a bizarrely crowned, giant furry humanoid…
This is the work of zany Belgian Illustrator Brecht Vandenbroucke, an artist who specialises in mixing playful cartoon like, video game visuals with horror and general weirdness… Suffice to say then, that his portfolio includes some pretty far out work, definitely raises a smile for me!
To see more of Brecht’s work check his Flickr Photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/brecht_vandenbroucke/ or blog http://brechtvandenbroucke.blogspot.com/
Ok this post I’ve put together with the help of Tommi Bren over at the excellent http://www.houdinination.de/ an excellent online archive of science fiction literature…
The above images are taken from the 1971 German Sci-Fi Novella “Der Purpurne Planet” (The Purple Planet) Illustrations are from excellent Werner Ruhner, whom I confess to know little about! though very much like his style… Fortunately Tommi has helped with some translation, and here’s a little bit more on Werner via German Wiki:
Werner Ruhner born 27 May 1922 in Meerane, Sachsen, Germany – According to the very short entry at Wikipedia, he is or was an assistant at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig (where the artists Neo Rauch and Peter Piller teach, for example). In the former East Germany, Ruhner was among the busiest illustrators for a variety of genres, science fiction (Verlag Neues Leben Berlin) among them. He allegedly lives in Borsdorf near Leipzig.
Tommi also adds that finding information on German / East German Illustrators isn’t always that easy as not all them have have really made it big – Kelly Freas being the most prominent exception…
Scans via http://www.houdinination.de/
These superbly intricate spectral, reanimated creatures are the work of Atlanta based graphic artist Jacob Escobedo – most recently responsible for producing a series of excellent designs for American indie rock band Broken Bells.
Jacob Escobedo grew up in Pioche, Nevada, a small desert town three hours North of Las Vegas, surrounded by his father’s horded collections of oddities, old medical books, and encyclopedias. Jacob states that his childhood provided an amazing backdrop for creative experiments and interest in the outdoors. The Artwork I’ve featured here combines organic elements with the psychedelic, and recalls the complexity of Nineteenth Century etchings, the meandering linework reminds of two of my favourite artist I’ve featured here: Russ Nicholson and Harry Clarke
Jacob currently works as the Creative Director for the Cartoon Network’s adult-block of programming, Adult Swim - See more of his Portfolio here: http://jacobescobedo.com/ and the full set of ghostly creatures (with a chance to buy prints) here: http://is.gd/aNZIi
The stunning Barbarella, as visualised by the late Tim Hildebrandt an America illustrator who worked with his brother Greg (as “The Brothers Hildebrandt”) producing art for many famous film, book and comic franchises; StarWars, Tolkien and Harry Potter and many more.
Check out “The Brothers Hilbert” official site for a full sample of their collective portfolio http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/ and of particular interest there is this really slick set of Star Wars Illustrations http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/starwars.htm
Many thanks to Sérgio for the lead on this, I’ll definitely be posting more Hildebrandt art…
Also if you fancy a quick brush up on Barbarella, if only to remind yourself of just how amazing Jane Fond looks in the sumper-camp 1968 classic! check the original trailer here http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3858367257/
A recent E.P Cover from Dan McPharlin the first in a planned series of three, lovely stuff as usual blurring the line between hard Sci-Fi and abstract geometric design/art, washed with a beautiful lime palette. The font used is the classic Serif Gothic looks great particularly in the heavier cuts.
Art via Dan’s regularly updated Flickr Stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/danmcp/
