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!!

**

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.

Here’s a new set of 8 tracks to follow on from last years original “Sci-Fi-O-Rama Spotify Playlist” – this bunch I’ve imaginatively entitled #02!

Once again a bit of a mixed bag of spacey electronic sounds starting with the warm, radial ambiance of Loscil’s “Umbra”, before shifting into slo-mo synth house territory, tripped out techno, finally finishing off with a track from my favourite act of the moment; Blondes and “You mean so much to me”.

Here’s a full tracklisting, hope you enjoy!

1. Loscil – Umbra
2. Coyote – Beat Journey
3. Kathy Diamond, Mario Basanov & Vidis – In My System (Downtown Party Network Remix)
4. Gus Gus – Northern Lights
5 Lazersonic, Zak Frost – Aquaplane (Unit 4 Remix)
6. Dance Disorder – Zusammen (Instrumental)
7. Giorgos Gatzigristos – Binary Star System
8. Blondes – You Mean So Much To Me

Here’s the link for the Spotify URL: http://is.gd/dgvou

*Note that you must have the Spotify App installed, and of course be signed up to the premium service to dodge the Adverts. Artwork once again from Eric Carl’s fabulous Flickr Photostream: http://is.gd/dgxcE

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

These powerful, minimal designs with a fauvist-esque palette are a small selection of the art of Eyke Volkmer a German Graphic Artist/Illustrator. During the 60’s & 70’s Eyke worked closely with publishing House Wilhelm Goldmann, and during this period produced a total of 162 airbrushed covers for the SF series “Goldmanns Weltraum Taschenbücher” and another 70 covers for the series “Goldmanns Zukunftsromane”, his publisher once remarked to Vokmer: “It doesn’t look like that in outer space.” but encouraged him to follow and develop his unique and prolific style.

You can see the full set of “Weltraum Taschenbücher” covers at covers http://www.weltraumtaschenbuch.de and there’s a full bio on Eyke here: http://www.weltraumtaschenbuch.de/pages/eyke_volkmer.html

Many thanks to Tommi Bren for getting in touch with the link, Tommi set up the aforementioned tribute site and also runs the excellent Sci-Fi book archive http://www.houdinination.com/ great stuff! check the Book cover Gallery here: http://www.houdinination.de/covers.html

Another retro Sci-Fi Book cover from the golden era of SF Book covers – the 1970’s -  this trippy cover is the work of Scottish Illustrator Wilson Mclean and was commissioned for the 1973 Ballatine edition of “Dilation Effect” penned by Douglas R.Mason

A little more on Wilson McLean at Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_McLean
and his official site: http://wilsonmclean.com/

Art via Flickr User: mystique123_2000 << recommended Photostream.

Beautiful B/W graphite art from the extremely quirky world of David Jien

David recently graduated from the art center college of design and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Most of his drawings are about certain cultures and rituals that take place in a parallel world, David describes this as “my metaverse”.

Notes on the Images:

Top: Wildstyling at Bat Mountain (great title!)
2nd Top: Top Wizard 1
3rd Top:  Galmara
Bottom: Visitor

David’s notes on Galmara:
“Galmara” is the name of a house, over time, the natural landscape around the house is slowly reclaiming it. Instead of fighting it, the lady who lives in the house has embraced this and allows the animals and trees to live with her. Galmara’s windows and doors are always open. She does however, maintain some order. She cleans and sweeps the house and even removes rodents from the pantry, taking them and dropping them off carefully outside.”

See more of Galmara here: http://www.davidjien.com/work/index.php?/projects/galmara/ and David’s full portfolio site here: http://www.davidjien.com/

Thanks to Katy Wu for originally posting me the link

Some pretty far out and slightly Horrific Psychedelic Fantasy Illustration from English artist Patrick Woodroffe.  this piece used a cover art for the 1974 edition of Micheal Moorcock’s ‘The Oak and The Ram’ published by Quartet Books, London.

Art is via Flickr User: Jovike, I highly reccomend checking out his Photostream over there, loads of super cool stuff including retro SF novel covers and Record Sleeves….. Also Check his Blog:  http://www.enkil.demon.co.uk/

A small sample of Irish Illustrator’s Harry Clarke’s (1889–1931) work for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” first published in 1923…

More notes coming soon…

Art Via http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com” (an amazing blog!) full article here: http://ow.ly/JE9V

Originally spotted via butdoesitfloat.com

Another retro book cover gem via flickr user mystique123_2000. Artwork by Don Maitz……

More post’s coming soon!