OK, as promised, I’m very proud to present an exclusive Sci-Fi-O-Rama feature, this time with Swedish Design and Illustration superstar Kilian Eng. Here we have a total tour de force of the imagination, gloriously twisted, washed in 80′s technicolor and blending only the very finest Sci-Fi and Fantasy references…

I’m quite sure you’ll be familiar with Kilian’s work, he’s built a considerable following since first proliferating through the major design/illustration blogs. Interestingly it was in fact Dan McPharlin that first put me onto Kilian with a post over at But Does it Float, and I’d put these two in the same bracket, pretty much the finest contemporary Science Fiction Illustrators on the planet. Another totally enviable fact is just how prolific Kilian is, check his primary portfolio site at behance.net/KilianEng for a vast array of interstellar work, amassed in just a few years.

So then, in the tradition of the Sci-Fi-O-Rama interview I have set the post up as follows, firstly a selection of Kilian’s work with my notes, then the interview we traded via email, before finishing on a selection of links and further reading. Lets start then with the notes:

Above: This wonderfully surrealistic illustration typifies Kilian’s portfolio, it’s a truly beautiful style that obviously pays homage to French masters such as Moebius and Enki Bilal. For me what really sets this work apart from others is just how hardcore the imaginative elements are – totally out there – a fusion of the surreal, the psychedelic and the technological, re-birthed with just the slickest style. The fact that the above image could easily work as a fashion illustration serves to underline that.

Above: This example highlights several of Kilian’s clever design traits. Firstly we have a lovingly balanced colour palette, subtly and carefully diffused to give a sense of depth. Next up, edginess – this work is the Sci-Fi definition of it – often tinged with darkness as above, but brought back with a wry sense of humour with nods to the 80′s cartoons that thrilled a generation. Ultimately though, the defining ingredient is the otherworldly factor, totally unforced, it’s the product of a powerful, wandering mind.

Above: Love this! A more graphical element is deployed here in one of the most striking examples from Kilian’s portfolio, thus one of my absolute faves.

Above: A follow up to the prior Illustration, indeed this is actually part of a set of four, check the other two here: behance.net/gallery/Various-work-05/1134721 …what to say, wonderful stuff!

Above: This frenzied, sinister illustration shows Kilian at his most detailed and linear, note the carefully selected tones, only 5 or so colours to define the background – cloud or cave?  – there is something of a feel of Fighting Fantasy’s Russ Nicholson here.

Above: We move once more onto the surreal tip here, this fabulous, dreamlike image forms part of a small series called ‘The Statue’ check the rest here: http://bit.ly/vFW9Ae

Above: This image is just one of many, fantastical environments Kilian is able to – seemingly – effortlessly create.

Above: In addition to his linear drawing and the graphical facets, Kilian also is capable of working in this quintessentially 80′s ‘Robo’ mode – note the much heavier diffusing and neon glows. It’s a style that looks almost effortless (though trust me it isn’t!) and again mixing in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy creates something truly haunting.

Above: Another rendering in the aforementioned ‘Robo’ mode. As usual it’s mind bending stuff, suffice to say it’s another personal fave, would love to see this entity in motion.

So that brings to a close my small selection (bonus after the interview). As I alluded to earlier I’ve barely scratched the surface so if it’s more imagery you seek, head directly to behance.net/KilianEng

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INTERVIEW

Hi Kilian, tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a 29 year old illustrator and live in Stockholm/Sweden. My commercial work as an illustrator began around 4 years ago when I started to do record covers for bands in the electronic music scene. However I had been drawing on my own stories long before and exploring different sides in my work. My education was at Konstfack, University of Arts Craft & Design in Stockholm at the graphic Design & Illustration department which is also called storytelling at Master’s level. From there I graduated in 2010 with an animated short film and I have continued to work on this afterwards so its soon to be completed.

You have a very distinctive style, how would you best describe your work?
Well its perhaps easier for others to put a label on it but I would say something like “often rich in colour with a surreal sci-fi approach with alot of focus on environments and architecture”. Perhaps not exactly what I would say if someone asked me on the street, but I hope it explains something of what I do.

Your portfolio oozes Sci-Fi and Fantasy references, but is there a visual style/genre you identify with more than others? (ie Cyberpunk, Post Apocalyptic, Surrealist?)
I would say that all those themes visit my work from time to time. Its always hard and certainly not necessary to sort out exactly what takes place in the pictures but I would say that a rather surrealistic approach often comes back, both in motive and the way that some work is being created. Surrealism is of course a huge area with limitless approach, but for me some of the best moments in the work process is when the subconscious is allowed to take part. It doesn’t happen too often but from time to time things just go almost by themselves and you can create like 5 pieces without thinking or analysing the process. Afterwards you start to put in the meaning and you try to understand what it is you have in front of you. At that point you can start to see explanations and the meaning or at least hopefully something that can be interesting to look at. When I do commissioned work I plan it much more and think about what kind of themes/genre I want to include, there you have to respect and be aware of the expectations from others on the outcome.

Do you work straight to screen (via Wacom) or does part of your workflow still involve pen and paper?
At the moment almost all of my work is drawn with the Wacom board, some exceptions are black and white outline illustrations that i scan and the color in the computer. Then I draw a lot of rough ideas in the sketchbook offcourse.

And following on from that, which part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
I love to create shapes and plan the composition and space in images so I would say to build the environment where everything takes place. If you look at a lot of my work your can see that many times it puts focus on the room, often the surroundings are dominating the image and the character’s just passing trough or standing there without really doing anything, just taking in whats around them.

What are you working on at the moment? anything exciting coming up?
I’m just finishing a commission as concept designer for a sci-fi short film, the details around this project is still top secret but I have a very good feeling about the whole thing.  Other than that I’m doing some cover artwork and trying to develop and improve my work with animation. Then there wil be a little book with my work in preparation. It will hopefully be available in december this year. (Sci-Fi-O-Rama says, more on this soon!)

**A couple Sci-Fi-O-Rama generic question’s

What’s the best piece of Sci-Fi related material you’ve come across and been impressed by recently (book, film, artist)
As many others I’m really into H.P Lovecraft and just found out that in the 80′s a great Swedish Actor called Ernst Hugo Järegård read Lovecraft stories to tape and they are available as audiobooks. So far I have just been listening to a short preview of the reading but it sounds fantastic. What makes this so great is that I can’t think of any other actor here in Sweden who would fit better to read Lovecraft for an audience. This is of course very local as its only in my native language but it made me very happy to find out about!

Finally a follow on to the last question, any classic Sci-Fi material (book, film, artist) you could recommend think reader’s might not know of or have overlooked?
Some time ago i watched two short movies by Saul Bass and Elaine Bass called Phase IV and Quest, amazing and visually very strong films.

Many thanks Kilian!

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Final Notes:

Before we finish up here’s a essential follow up links, Kilian’s portfolio site behance.net/KilianEng his Tumblr: http://dwdesign.tumblr.com/ and a link here to his Facebook Page.

Finally Kilian has very kindly took his own visual spin to our Sci-Fi-O-Rama logo! here it is, with the artist at work!

More from Kilian soon…

Once again apologies for the long delay between posting, and responding to email. I’ve finally freed up some time and space to start posting again, so lets jump right then…

Above sits a wonderful cross section of art, illustration and design, not the work of an agency, collective or duo but in fact products of just one individual, Sydney based artist and designer Johnathan Zawada. I first came across Jonathan’s work whilst perusing the phenomenal inspiration repository that is butdoesitfloat.com (macro mode). As you will know the quality of the curation there is exceedingly high, each feature generally astonishing, however I was particularly drawn to the spectacular, otherworldly iridescence of Jonathan’s ‘Over Time’ series. This lead me back to his home site Exhibition and Commercial portfolios, where I researched and selected samples for presentation here.

Top & 2nd top: ‘Notes n Tokes’ and ‘Populations’. An exhibition of large scale drawings and oil paintings at Prism Gallery, Los Angeles from December 16, 2010 – February 28, 2011. The landscape topographies were derived from graph data (displayed as printed mirrors on accompanying plinths), modeled in 3D and then oil paintings created from those 3D renders. To see more check: http://zawada.com.au/2010/12/over-time/

3rd top: From Johnathan’s commercial portfolio a cover illustration on the the theme of ‘purple’ for Japanese creative magazine Brain.

4th top ‘Vallery 2011′ a photograph of part of Jonathan’s ‘Free Dumb’ exhibition, more on that here: http://zawada.com.au/2011/05/free-dumb/. I think the twisted jet is an F16 Falcon by the way…

5th top: A poster design to celebrate the premiere of Jean-Baptiste de Laubier’s film ‘It Was On Earth That I Knew Joy’, a 35 min science fiction film. Watch it on vimeo http://vimeo.com/9183277

6th top: An optical illusion rendered in a retro-tech fashion. Another inspired design, this time for the French clothing label Six Pack http://www.sixpack.fr/

Bottom: Signing off with this cheeky Disney adaption ‘Gunboat Willy’ an Identity design for a mens’ shoe label. Love it!

For further reading, if you haven’t already do visit Johnathan’s home site http://zawada.com.au or follow him through Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanzawada/.

Time once again to electroshock Sci-Fi-O-Rama from it’s semi-dormant state, here with a selection of work from the late Scottish sculptor and artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005).

Paolozzi has always been a favourite of mine, particularly his beautifully composed, ultra-vibrant graphic screenprints. This post was sparked when I recently picked up a copy of “Paolozzi” a 1999 paperback publication that gives a chronological overview of Eduardo’s work. Here is the back page synopsis, note that I’ve embellished this slightly, altering present to past tense.

Eduardo Paolozzi (of Italian descent) was one of the major figures of postwar British art: A father of Pop Art a creator of key icons of the nuclear age, a brilliant manipulator of the images produced by the media, an iconoclast and traditionalist, an outsider and academican.

Onto the notes, I’ll keep it simple and won’t attempt a heavy analysis. If you would like to read more about Paolozzi, his methods, motivations and technique then the best place to start is his in-depth wikipedia page. One (patronising!) point I will make is when viewing, remember that all of these images hail from the 60′s or 70′s, long before the age of Photoshop. An obvious point for sure, but for me something that underlines just how sophisticated and forward leaning this work was at the time.

Top: “Hollywood Wax Museum from Zero Energy Experimental Pile (Z.E.E.P)” 1969-70 Screenprint on paper. We kick off here with a real trademark pieces, and I’m actually referring to the title not just the artwork, every bit as out there! A real diverse mix of elements features here, Sputnik, attitude indicators, giant Mecha robots, Marylin Monroe and the uneasy focal point of a NASA space monkey (Sam?).

2nd top:“B.A.S.H”1971 Screenprinted on paper. A flat colour, more geometric offering, this one gives clues as to Paolozzi’s background in surrealism.

3rd top: “Silken World of Michelangelo from Moonstrips Empire News” 1967 Screenprint on paper. Another great example of the way that Poalozzi used repeated patterns, to layer up composistions, at no point here does the eye rest easily. Also of note; the deconstructed Disney image worked down to mosiac form, something that appears in other screenprints.

4th top:“Print from Mein Kolner Dom: Blueprints for a New Museum” 1980-81lithograph and screenprint. Another playful and innovative composition; a giant blue bottle, Skylab (remember that?), Albert Einstein, jet packs and more, all playfully juxtaposed over the inners of a grand gothic cathedral.

5th top: “Part One, Frozen Terror… Part Two, Fangs of Death”1965 screenprint. This piece and the subsequent lower two are taken from http://www.paolozziprints.comand are available to buy, signed by the artist with the edition number. Another fab title, this mixes familiar pattern geometrics with pin girls and a strange alien type crusader creature, printed with a typically vivid contrasting colour palette.

6th top: “Cover for a Journal” Screenprint. This more abstract piece features a slick example of overprinting.

7th top: “Why children commit suicide…read next month’s issue” Signed and numbered photolithograph 1965-70. Another crazy title!

8th top: A photo of the artist, taken at a Hamburg ship breakers yard in 1961.

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Images taken from paolozziprints.com scanned from Paolozzi (Fiona Pearson 1999) http://amzn.to/mwl61i

Namaste! I’ve just returned from a 3 week break in South India, which I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone, such an amazing place and people. Amidst the traveling and odd bit of partying (thumbs up for Arambol North Goa and The Silent Disco near Palolem South Goa) I kept my beady eye out for bit’s to collect for the blog, and now own a substantial collection of outlandish Hindu graphic paraphernalia, including window stickers, postcards, labels and even (my fave) some super kitsch Lenticular Printed Artwork which of course, sadly am unable to scan

So here’s the first batch of my collection, I’ve tried my best to match the vivid, lurid colouring through scanning and tweaking, and whilst I’m sure these designs perhaps won’t be every readers ‘Cup of Chai’ personally I just can’t get enough of the relentless iridescence and saturation overdrive…

Here’s a bit more on each card and deity, I won’t attempt to explain the history or symbolism with each image as alas currently it’s a subject matter I know little about – so please feel free to post and explain more!

Top: This beautiful, tropical rendering is “Ganesa” (also spelt also spelled Ganesha or Ganesh) perhaps the most instantly recognisble of all the Hindu pantheon. Read more about Ganesa.

2nd Top: A portrait of “Bala Krishna” literally meaning “Child Krishna” or “Divine Child Krishna”. Read more about Bala Krishna.

3rd Top: This is “Krishna” often depicted as here playing a flute, he’s also known by many other names and titles including Govinda, “finder of cows”, or Gopala, “protector of cows”.

4th Top: The Cobra crowned ‘Maha Vishnu‘ or “Sri Maha Vishnu’.

Bottom: The Goddess Kali also known as Kalika is the Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva.

All images scanned from original postcards – produced by “Spectrum” for vzindia.com

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I’ll run a future post with some of the gorgeous sticker designs, and create a full sticker set – but next up a special feature on a certain Austin TX based collective…

Just a quick Flickr round up here, hopefully followed tomorrow (or very soon) by a larger special feature, then I’m off to India till the 5th of Feb. To the notes then…

Top: “Energy Zero” Sci-Fi Book cover art dating from 1976. Love this trippy janus-head inspired design. Artist unknown, please post if you know, via (as always) Mystique_123_2000

2nd Top: “Lord of Light” Psychedelic graphics with a lovely colour palette. Published in 1967 by double day, once again Artist/Designer unknown. Via another Flicker fave Wolfwings

Bottom: “Merlins Ring” Some out and out fantasy from 1975 in the form of a classic Ballatine book cover, first time I’ve ever seen a fire breathing swan, so naturally a big thumbs up. Image by surrealist artist Gervasio Gallardo via Nick Pope.

** Note that I’ve finished tinkering with the site design, check the cheesy logo hover state.

A mixture of contemporary and retro imagery here with another round up of my recent Flickr favourites. Here’s the notes on this selection:

Top: “My Chemical Romance – Sing” Cover art by Director/Photographer Neil Krug. I’ve been meaning to post some of Neils work for a while as I follow his superb flickr photostream – a really beautiful and distinctive, warm technicolor style that oozes class. Much of Neils work has a real dreamlike quality and although I can’t say I’m a fan Chemical Romance (tbh I don’t really know anything about them!) I do love this portrait, great costume – then again who’s not going to look good in a primary coloured 70′s Ski Jacket and Soviet Tank Helmet?

2nd top: “Lake Bride” by Vangel Naumovski (1924-2006). This one I book marked via another Flickr Photostream I highly recommend: A Journey Round My Skull curated by Will Schofield who regularly posts some truly jaw drop art and illustration, this image by the late Macedonian Artist Vangel Naumovski being no exception.

See a full set of Vangel’s work at http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/2010/10/black-cradle-of-bright-life.html

3rd top: Matthew Leibowitz – “Apollo – The first moon landing is merely a prelude to future space launchings. Future astronauts will explore constellations.” Photomontage Graphic for American defense contractor General Dynamics, this dates from 1965. See more from this set at the full post over at Aqua-Velvet.com originally spotted via another excellent Flickr Stream that of: junkyard.dogs

4th top: “The Green Lady” a Vladimir Tretchikoff contemporary tribute by Manchester based Illustrator Stan Chow. I’m a big fan of Stans work and in particular his gorgeous Adobe Illustrator portraiture, a really confident style with subtle shapes and colouring – excellent stuff! See more at:  http://stanleychow.bigcartel.com/ and here: http://www.stanleychow.co.uk/. Just to jog your memory the original Green Lady looks like this which was once (60s/70′s) one of the worlds most popular reproduced paintings.

5th top: “The Worlds of Theodore Sturgeon” SF Book Cover Art dating from 1972, by David Meltzer. This unusual illustration caught my eye and I was thinking the sinister river of demon eyed wolf heads would make a pretty cool tattoo -  spewing down the back from the nape of ones neck?  erm, just a thought! I probably won’t be getting it done… Via Flickr user: Jim Linwood

Bottom: “Roadside Picnic” Another strange and slightly deranged airbrushed SF Book Cover from Adrian Chesterman this one dates from 1979. I’m not sure exactly what it is – the “Simon-esque” console perhaps? – but this just screams late 70′s early 80′s… art via Flickr user qualityapeman (quality user name!)

A Halloween special here, consisting of zero Halloween related material! Instead what we do have is an excellent selection of obscure(ish) French SF Illustration…

These images come via bxzzines.blogspot.com a blogger site maintained by “Clifford Brown” (an anonymous pseudonym) The focus is mainly on vintage soft erotic magazines and related material; however Clifford also blends the occasional SF & Fantasy Scan into the mix, and that’s where this set has come from…

Here’s a link to the full post with 30 or so large scans: http://bit.ly/aPjHlO there is some mild nudity on the site, hence the warning. Merci beaucoup à Pierre for originally pointing me in the right direction!

Top: I think this is a Moebius Illustration (or is it Enki Bilal?) as I’m unsure of the source I can’t confirm – If you do know the origin please post a comment…

2nd Top: No real info on this piece I’m afraid, I’m guessing it’s from the 60′s? – The creatures great anyway…

3rd Top: This is definitely the work of Philippe Caza, again I’m not sure of the exact source though it’s dated 1973. Caza really does possess a knack when it comes to Illustrating freaky looking monsters – out there! Check more of Philippe Caza here

Bottom: A slice of Psychedelic Sci-Fi and Surrealism dating from 1970, these paintings are part of a set composed by polish born but French based artist: Wojciech Siudmak – more of him here: http://www.siudmak.com/

Once again the link to the source: http://bit.ly/aPjHlO

A very welcome to return to Sci-Fi-O-Rama for contemporary Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fashion Illustrator Barnaby Ward definitely one of my favourite featured artists. As is clearly demonstrated here, Barnaby’s capable of drawing extremely beautiful female characters whom he vivaciously mixes with the surreal and bizarre, such a cool inspiring style that always makes me want to grab a pen and start scribbling… In fact I’d go as far to say that’s there’s really only one other contemporary Illustrator capable of drawing quite such gorgeous, stylised characters and that’s Britain’s Jason Brooks.

Ok so to the notes on the Images, the top four here I’ve cropped into from a series of large Illustration intended as desktop backgrounds, there’s a full set of 9 available via Banarby’s expertly presented portfolio site: somefield.com, the final Illustration is a teaser illustration for his next major Illustrative project “Leavetaking” – all very much under wraps at the moment!.

Finally If you’ve not had a look before I also highly recommended checking Barnaby’s past Graphic Novel Work and the superb “Sixteen Miles to Merricks“.

Ok something of a bit of an exclusive here, from a contemporary Artist & Illustrator I’ve long admired – Brighton based Jasper Goodall (UK).

I first came across Jasper’s work as a design student around the turn of the century, his work prominently featured in Angus Hyland’s seminal “Pen and Mouse: Commercial Art and Digital Illustration” the book that triumphed traditional Illustrations transition into digital and thus the 21st century. It may seem strange now but once upon a time traditional illustration was in it’s death throws, out in the cold, superseded by saccharine layers of cheap and nasty Photoshop/Stock imagery that thanks to lazy graphic design had (horrifically) risen too prominence in the late 90′s. Something needed to give, and did, a new wave of Illustrators adapted, opting to use the Mac as a primary tool rather than just a finishing repro one, the computer became an integral part of the image making process, giving rise to a new fresh approach that continues to evolve – Jasper Goodall remains at the vanguard of this creative zeitgeist…

As something of a fan I decided to approach Jasper directly to ask him to supply Sci-Fi-O-Rama with a selection of recent work which he’s kindly done. Before I add the notes I’d like to point out that prints of all of the above images are available at http://www.jaspergoodall.com/shop.php

Top: This wonderfully lit latex beauty is entitled “Eye of Horus”, part of Jasper’s brand new “Sunrise Series”.

2nd Top: “Perpetual Dawn” – another superb rendering, with a slight echo of Hajime Sorayama to whom Jasper admits to being a fan…

3rd Top “Into the Void” – a flawless example of a superior digital airbrush technique.

4th Top & Bottom: “Dione’s Rapture” and “The Birth of Erebus”, these two final pieces came out of Jasper’s work for British Alternative Rock Band Muse, though they were not used as covers they were inspired by the project – see the full selection of Muse A/W here: http://www.jaspergoodall.com/projects.php?show=4#1

** Further Reading:

I hope to feature more on Jasper at some point in the not too distant future, in the meantime however do check his portfolio website for projects past and present: www.jaspergoodall.com

Two samples of wonderfully coloured, surrealist fantasy painting from Filipino Artist Rom Villaseran.  I first encountered this distinctive work whilst browsing through FFFFound and decided to get in touch…

A native of Manila, Rom began his career as a visual artist creating album covers for local rock bands, he adds “It was a lot of fun, but I was looking for something more fulfilling – I wanted to build a series of paintings that would better describe the world that I have in my head“. In 2000 Rom put on a 30-piece show called Matadora and has since held 4 more solo shows: Pre-Lunar, Lunar, Piloto ng Hatinggabi (The Pilot of Midnight) and Foreplay.

I asked Rom about the motives behind his artand he describes it as “Most, if not all, of my work are self-portraits. I know it sounds egotistical, but if I wanted to be honest in my work, I’d have to talk about things that I know and understand. The inspiration for the pieces may not be fantastical ideas, they are actually very simple realities that have happened to me over the years. But once these experiences are filtered through my mind, they become scenes and characters from my fantasy world. It really is like living life in your own head. “

The two samples I’ve included are from the Piloto ng Hatinggabi series, the Top is entitled “Awit Sa Ambon” (Song for Rain) and the second “Biyaheng Talon” (Journey by the Waterfall).

Of Awit Sa Ambon Rom adds “is about me coexisting with my paintings, my work. The bird is singing for rain to nourish the tree, which in return, provides a home for the bird”. And of Biyaheng Talon “it’s about a kid going through a journey. he rides a carriage that is being lifted by birds. Instead of money as payment for passage, he gives them fish. I have always been far more fascinated with the journey one takes rather than the destination.”

Rom sites his influences as “Like everyone else, I grew up enjoying the works of H.R. Giger and Dave McKean. But when I came across the works of Ian Miller (Luck in the Head), and Kent Williams (Meltdown-Wolverine), back in 1995, that’s when I knew I wanted to paint my world for the rest of my life. These guys are amazing!”

Cheers Rom!!

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See the full portfolio (hosted on the excellent Cargo Platform) over at http://cargocollective.com/romvillaseran

Originally spotted via Folkert Gorter’s AKA Superfamous FFFFOUND posts.