Ok so once again apologies for the sparse activity on Sci-Fi-O-Rama, legitimate excuses this time – broken shoulder via downhill mountain biking then stolen Mac Book Pro via little scumbags! Anyway all up and running again (thanks to time machine and a sling) so I’m going to start off with an easy post, another Flickr favourite round up, here’s the notes on the images…
Top: “North American X-15″ – A superb painting of the legendary late 50’s experimental Rocket/Space plane, which at Mach 6.72 still hold the record for the fastest manned flight… Well worth reading a bit more about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15. Here’s an additional link to an amazing photograph that shows the X15 slung under a B52 wing (from which it was launched) http://is.gd/eh8Ac …the Cold War did have it’s perks… Not sure of the artist here so please post if you now more, Illustration via X-Ray Delta One
2nd Top “The Man Who Fell to Earth” – a subtle composition and unusual Gothic display font make up this interesting jacket for the 1963 Walter Tevis SF novel that was adapted to the big screen (starring David Bowie) by Nicholas Roeg in 1976. The covers tattered quality lends that extra finishing coat of charm. via Curly-Wurly
3rd Top “Los amos del tiempo” (The Masters of Time) – Another feature for one of my favourite artist’s listed here, Horacio Salinas Blanch, this cover with it’s ultra vivid palette typifies his work, such a great style… Art via C. Rancio
4th Top “Rhapsody in Black” – A beautiful enchantress takes prominence in this haunting book cover by late American SF Illustrator Maestro Kelly Freas. Illustration via mystique123_2000 – a wonderful photostream.
Bottom: “Spring” This final image is a sister piece to something I posted almost two years ago, exuberant flamboyance from Michael Whelan. Illustration via Flickr user Fantasy.Gallery also check Michael Whelan’s portfolio at: http://www.michaelwhelan.com/
More updates soon…
Ian Albinson over at the excellent artofthetitle.com got in touch with me the other day asking me to help identify the original artists and books that were used in the title sequence of the 2009 Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) Comedy “Gentlemen Broncos“. You can view a movie of the the whole sequence here: http://is.gd/dbKfK
In total of 24 books were used by production designer Richard A Wright in creating the title sequence, and I’ve included a small selection here. A few of the designs look familiar, but I must confess I don’t actually know for sure and wondered whether any readers can help out?
Some notes on the featured images:
Top: This looks either like a Frank Frazetta or possibly Peter Andrew Jones – not sure though!
2nd Top: I was thinking this has an echo of Peter Elson ? looks like a 70’s cover
3rd Top: A really well rendered painting, an older cover I think – early 60s’?
4th Top: This reminds me somewhat of StarWars concept artist Ralph Mcquarrie – late 70’s?
5th Top: No idea here! cool though…
6th Top: Again this looks slightly older – a 60’s cover?
7th Top: I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one browsing through the extensive Flickr Sci-Fi-Books Pool but alas I didn’t favourite it.
Please do post a comment if you are familiar with any of the covers featured above or from the movie. Also, do make a point to check out Ian’s site – a superb read & inspiration resource: http://www.artofthetitle.com/
Finally here’s a link to the trailer for Gentlemen Broncos staring the excellent Sam Rockwell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpFpfIBkXc
Just a quick post as a reminder that if you like reading Sci-Fi-O-Rama then definitely check out Jeff’s Skiffy Blog. It’s recently been massively updated with a large selection of super-rare new material, including this retro trading card from the 1960’s…
Highly Recommended: http://ski-ffy.blogspot.com/
The above familiar looking alien and font is the work of American Artist Norman Saunders (January 1, 1907– March 7, 1989) who was commissioned by Topps to Illustrate the original trading card series, dating from 1962….
Read a little more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Saunders
A further selection of the work of Mark Weaver, the master of found collage & montage…
Top image ‘Avenge’, 2nd image ‘Transmission’, 3rd image ‘Memory’, Bottom Image ‘1963′. All art is via Mark’s Flickr Photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/markweaver/. Well worth following!
I recently picked up some semi-vintage Scientific/Natural History Books that belonged to my late uncle, loads of superb stuff that I’ll be posting over the course of the rest of the year…
Onto the first scan then – this amazing image is taken from the 1970 edition of the Time-Life International book “The Universe” and is by an artist I’d not come across before, Italian American Antonio Petruccelli (1907-1994) born in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Alas I’ve had to crop this as the painting covers the spread, it really has to be seen to be believed the colours are something else, and I’ve done my best to keep them intact here….
A snippet from the Illustrations accompanying text: “A Close look at the Solar Furnace”
The Sun’s vast sphere, 864,000 miles in diameter contains 335 billion cubic miles of violently hot gasses that weigh more than 2,000 quadrillion tons. Direct study can probe no deeper than the sun’s double atmosphere (the tenuous outer corona and the shallow, inner chromosphere) and it’s surface skin (the photosphere), because only the energy from these two zones reaches the earth after a 93-million mile journey in the form of visible light or invisible radiation. Yet the density, temperature and composistion of gasses in the suns’s hidden interior have been calculated, and astrophysicists know the nuclear processes that make them burn…
Antonio Petruccelli was an extremely versatile Illustrator, a very capable space artist just one of his attributes – read a bit more about him at buttes-chaumont.blogspot.com
