Sci-Fi-O-Rama

More lush sleeve art from Dan McPharlin this a recent 12″ design for Prefuse 73 (AKA Guillermo Scott Herren) “The Forest of Oversensitivity EP” released via the UK’s premier electronic label Warp Records. Aside from the transfixing Illustration itself much kudos for using the chunky black header and retro themed SF logo - wicked, as usual.

Sourced from a Dan’s Flickr Photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/danmcp/ loads more fantastic work, but also a perfect example of why these days (with a Flickr Pro account) bespoke portfolio sites aren’t entirely necessary!

A further selection from British Artist Chris Foss one of the true masters of Sci-Fi Art.

I’ve collected these sample’s together as they best serve to highlight the elements I find most interesting in Chris’s work. IMO these are: the ship designs themselves (naturally)  the striped and checkered lexicon he adorns these craft with, the simply stunning cloudfields, aurora and rock formations, but of course most importantly of all - it’s all about the lighting.

A little more about the samples:

Top: This design typifies all of Chris’s aforementioned traits, a bulbous, large vented craft wrapped with industrial zig-zagging descending through a heavenly cloudscape…

Second: A breathtaking alien vista, incredible lighting tricks here, love all the soft glows.

Third: Something of a Gerry Anderson “Thunderbirds” feel here, again it’s all about the markings.

Fourth & Fifth: two different craft designs, one cylindrical the other very geometric, posed at a very similar angles - great atmospheric effects (corona / dustcloud).

Artwork collected and featured via: Net-Cafe http://www.net-cafe.hu/fantasy.php?ct=174 Astrona: http://astrona.blogspot.com/search/label/Chris%20Foss - do check Astrona for a much larger gallery and more artist info….

Probably the best way to get a true feel for Chris’s Style is to track down one of his books, try ebay of course for a bargain, or amazon.com has a wide selection here: http://is.gd/117Cb or better yet try Chris’s Home site: http://www.chrisfossart.com where for a there’s the chance to buy signed prints!

A vintage Astronaut used as the cover of the 1958 first edition of Robert A. Heinlein’s book “Have Space Suit - Will Travel” art is by the late American Illustator Ed Emshwiller

Image sourced from Flickr User Glen Mullaly’s Flickr Photo Stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/glenmullaly/ not just an avid collector of gorgeous vintage Illustration but a talented artist himself www.glenmullaly.com

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A little more on the book here: http://is.gd/Z9UF I’ve also added the B&W illustration, a fantastic costume design I reckon.

An amazing set of old Russian Matchbox Graphics celebrating early Soviet success in the space race. These wonderful images are taken from an astonishing selection of over 1,000 Labels !! all featured via Flickr User Mariad http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/sets/72157594234429063/. The majority of the labels are of Eastern European origin, and of course not all space related, Maraid has a also put together a feature on her blog here: http://is.gd/Tylc

A little more on each of the featured labels…

Top: Luna 1 (Mechta)
Launched in 1959 Luna 1 was the first Spacecraft to reach the vicinity of  The Moon and thus by doing so also become the first to fully achieve escape velocity from Earth… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1

2nd top: Sputnik 1
Launched in October 1957 the first man-made object in space was totally unanticipated in the West providing the spark the ignited the Space Race - Sputnik 1 spent 3 months in orbit emitting a radio signal for approx a third of that time… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

3rd top: Sputnik 2 & Laika
Following on from Sputnik 1 came Sputnik 2 - the second man-made object launched to earth orbit, this time carrying “Laika” the first living animal to leave our biosphere and enter space - alas - of course never to return… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_2

4th top: Solar Distances
The relative distances (in Kilometers)  of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. Aside from measuring distance in light years, another major cosmic measuring unit is AU (Astronomical Unit) each AU is relative to 149 598 000 kilometers. To put that in context the nearest star to our Solar System is the Red Dwarf Proxima Centuri which is roughly 4.2 Light Years away, that’s 268 000 AU or 40 Trillion, 92 Billion, 264 Million Km’s away - at least that’s what Wolfram Alpha Says…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit

5th top: Luna 2
Luna 2 launched Sept 12th was first space craft to reach the surface of the moon when it was purposely crash landed after 33 .5 hours of flight. Also noteworthy for confirming the existence of Solar Wind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_2

Bottom: Radio Telescope
Caption reads “Radio Telescope” (cheers Uisgea / Lionel )

Haunting still shots taken from the extremely rare late 80’s Polish Arthouse Sci-Fi Movie “Na Srebrnym Globie” (Translation: On the Silver Globe) Directed by Andrzej Żuławski.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve not seen this myself yet, though it’s gone straight to the top of my wish list on it’s rarefied nature alone… Youtube has a series of short clips taken from the films total 166min footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT4zmcDtbd8 and If your interested in aquiring a copy (I am!)  it’s available via Amazon.com here: http://is.gd/M3D9

These images are taken from a larger set of 22 photos via Flickr Fav “spinoza1632″ purveyor of all things cult, trashy and obscure or VERY cult, trashy and obscure” - check some of the fantastic featured sets out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8808272@N07/sets/ - Highly reccomended!

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Addendum: larger set of images via the Directors official website: http://www.andrzej-zulawski.com/Gallery-silverglobe.html WARNING! some graphic imagery and possibly spoilers….

Thanks for the link Andrew!

Polish Graphic Art in the shape of a screen printed Movie Poster for the 1968 Original “Planet of The Apes” design by Eryk Lipinski.

Image originally featured through Flickr User Junkyard Dogs Photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/36464802@N05/ some excellent Retro Sci-Fi, Movie and Video Gaming paraphernalia/visuals collected there, well worth a look….