Donato Giancola - Traveler

¤ "Traveler"¹ is an illustration done by Donato Giancola in 2005 and included on his site, "Donato Arts" It is 20" x 30" and in Oil on Paper on Panel and part of a private collection.

¤ Within the "Traveler" each segment lends itself to the other so you can't look at one portion in isolation to the rest. If you did so it would loose its collective meaning.

When I first became enchanted with this piece I mistakenly thought she was staring out into the limitless realms of space, but on further inspection I find myself let down by the potential of this piece. If she was staring into space we would wonder, does she want to leave this world behind in search of a lost love or uncharted territory. But as she is not glancing into space, one might assume that she is not all there.

Is she just allowing herself to be a possession 'til the artist is ready to discard her? At first inspection I found her gown quite exquisite and low cut but now I find it quite distasteful and it makes her look vulnerable. What kind of message is the artist trying to portray in this piece? Is he trying to convince us that there is only one perception of beauty and one way of looking at things. Over all I would not be rushing back to look at this artist's work again as it does not make my heart sing.

~ Mags

¤ This is a crisp piece of science fiction artwork which I might call science fiction fantasy work. I'm not using any sort of technical term, but referring to the combination of the beautiful painting of the spiral galaxy and the glowing nebula in the background with the organic shapes of the foreground. I am not sure whether the title "Traveler" refers to the person being a traveler or if, perhaps, it refers to the Science Fiction Role Playing Game "Traveler". I have no real reason to suspect the later, but it is a suspicion.

I wonder if the composition is balanced for a title or text to be placed over the galaxy on that section of the image because while the galaxy is nicely framed, so too would be any text or title placed there. If a book cover, it would place the woman on the back cover however, and likely be covered by text. The figure seems to be formally posed rather than caught in thought. Perhaps I get this impression because she is facing away from the view and not toward the viewer or toward anything in the composition. She also has her eyes closed and so doesn't seem to be looking at something off the set. She seems to merely be there to be seen and somewhat pleased at that.

I like the way the colours work in the space art in it and the contrast of that with the "interior" and with the reflection of the lighting playing off the parts of the foreground-interior.

Donato does do interesting artwork and I am sure that you will find at least some of his illustrations familiar if you read fantasy, science fiction, graphic novels, or play role playing games or collectible cards games. His art graces many covers and cards and illustrates many books. His work and bio speak for themself.

~ Darrell

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¹ The American spelling "Traveler" is the spelling used on the website as opposed to "Traveller".

Andy Everson - Farewell

¤ Andy Everson has gone to his roots to create very interesting artwork like "Farewell" which he highlights on his website "Artwork by Andy Everson".

¤ The most striking part of Andey Everson's piece entitled "Farewell" is the indigenous style engraved on the Moon. It has very similar characteristics as some other cultures I have learnt about. In saying that however, the materials used to both draw or carve the image could be vastly different. I am facinated by the way this artist has caused the Moon to fade ever so slightly into the background of the painting.

From first glance I wasn't going to comment on the rest of the painting, but after having a closer look I have revised my decision. On first assessment I thought it was rather dull and plain, but after close inspection I find the hat and wig to be quite exquisite, because it adds a bit of colour to what otherwise might be seen as a two toned painting.

~ Mags

¤ The artist gives some reference to this piece on his page on "Farewell". The figure is that of Captain George Vancouver who explored the West Coast of North America. He was  looking for a western entrance to a northwest passage for British Imperial trade between Asia and Europe. He didn't find the Northwest Passage, but did explore a large part of the coast of what is now known as "The Pacific Northwest". He left his mark in ink, naming many features and places after members of his crew, which replaced the names already given them by the native population.

The image shows the Captain on his last voyage leaving the area and realizing he would likely never see these lands again. It tries to capture the sense of loss that might accompany this sort of moment and shows the full moon in a traditional Kwakwaka’wakw style.

I find the muted tones of the image to make a powerful emotional statement -- melding the formal British Naval uniform with the formal Native styled moon -- all set on a dead calm sea. Remember to click on the image on Andy Everson's site to get the larger view so that you can truly appreciate the image.

~ Darrell

Andrew Annenberg - Portal of Hunab Ku

¤ Andrew Annenberg's "Portal of Hunab Ku" is shown on his site: Annenberg Masterworks visionary fine art & posters. It is part of his "Lost Words Suite".

¤ "Portal of Hunab Ku" is an interesting painting in Andrew Annenberg's series of lost worlds. This one shows a sunken Aztec or Mayan temple complex now visited only by sealife like sea turtles, dolphins and whales. There is a peacefulness that the water brings along with the streamlined grace of the sea life.

I like the crisp style of Annenberg's work -- an illustrative style. It brings the right touch where you want to highlight the detail of the archaeological structures in the piece. He uses shades of violet to draw the eye to the entrance of the foreground pyramid. The emitted light might make you wonder just what lies within.

Dolphins and Whales are creatures of intelligence so it is fitting that they are explorers in this painting.

This is another image where you can look and find new details on further inspection -- some that might be obvious once you find them, might not have been noticed at first.

~ Darrell

¤ When one looks at "Portal of Hunab Ku" one automatically starts to look for similarities between the human race and the underwater world. The only similarity I could come up with is that these historical structures of the deep are the dolphins equivalent to children's building blocks. The shape and size of structure remains the same and one wonders whether they are content to use these cement blocks of the deep as their dwelling place or whether they would much rather be exploring the larger landscape of the ocean. One can only speculate as mankind have not been able to fully converse with these playful creatures of the deep. I look forward to the day when we can converse as one because they have a lot to teach us about living in harmony.

~ Mags

Lynette Cook -- HD16141 b and Moon

¤ Lynette Cook's "HD16141 b and Moon" can be found on her site, "The Many Facets of Lynette Cook", along with other examples of her work including books, products, prints and other information.

¤ I found Lynette Cook's work while looking for depictions of what they thought a "Hot Jupiter" might look like. It is in a collection of space art depicting "exo-planets" -- planets which have been discovered which orbit stars other than the Sun. Of course for such things we depend on the work of Space artists. I enjoyed looking at her work and wanted to review it here. I chose this piece out of all the works she has on her site because of its similarity with the work by Chelsey Bonestell, "Saturn as seen from Titan"¹ which we recently reviewed.

Of course the two artists use a different style and probably media, and Cook's piece if of a moon close to its star and thus very hot and backed. But still there are great similarities in the compositions. I wonder if the crispness of Bonestell's work intentionally highlights the crisp coldness of Titan while the rounded bluffs of Cook's piece give a baked and rounded feeling of heat to hers.

I note that while Bonestell includes a dusting of ice on ridge and cliff tops, Cook includes a baked "river" bed on hers. I suspect that it wasn't water that flowed in that bed... perhaps sulphur?

I think the choice of including the system's star in the image ads to the feeling of heat in the composition. On the other hand, I find that space art of exo-planets traditionally include the star to indicate how similar that star is to the Sun and how close it is to the planet.

It is very interesting to see how space art has evolved.

~ Darrell

¤ This space art by Lynette Cook is in some ways very similar to the recent piece reviewed entitled "Saturn as seen from Titan"¹. Although we tend to concentrate on common elements there is one striking difference -- the planet's surface looks serene as well as being on it's death bed. Including the yolk yellow sun in the image adds a gentle finishing point.

~ Mags

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¹ "Saturn as seen from Titan" reviewed August 18, 2008

Chelsey Bonestell -- Saturn As Seen From Titan (1944)

¤ "Saturn As Seen From Titan (1944)" By Chelsey Bonestell from a gallery on the artist: "Bonestell Space Art". There is a page called "titan" on how this masterpiece was created.

¤ Rings anyone? Not a star gazer by nature -- but when Darrell suggested I look at this space art, I could see the attraction straight away. Chelsey Bonestell has a unique gift in bringing the unfamiliar to your attention so that you feel like you have been there before and that you are returning home. The bit that impresses me the most is the shadow-like phase of Saturn floating between two rocky crags. The crags remind me of a Cadbury Flake confectionery bar. (Oops, must be hungry.)

~ Mags

¤ When you are a child and going through school many images "just are" and you don't think about how they were created and by whom. The images are something that always have been in the books that you know and perhaps loved. I loved books about space and films and film strips about space. (I wonder how many remember film strips in school? Basically a slide show on a roll.) This picture is one that I remember. I cannot even tell you what books I saw the image in.

Space Art was extremely important in the days before we had the fantastic imaging equipment and far flung exploring satellites we have today. Today we actually have seen images from Titan's Surface! In 1944... it was up to imagination and science to provide any inspiration to people as to what wonders might be out there. Some like this Bonestell work, nearly seem photographic and perhaps better than photographic. Perhaps some details are wrong... it wouldn't be from cloud shrouded Titan's surface but perhaps another larger moon of Saturn?

We still actually rely a lot on artist's interpretations of objects and vistas in space beyond what we can actually observe with remote sensing and satellite. But the artist's have better resources to draw on. They also now have computers to draw on. I shall have to in future review some of the current space art of new planets discovered around stars far away.

This one has incredible towering cliffs with perhaps methane ice on the ledges and tops. Saturn is seen from towards the back in a difficult angle to see from the Earth with the top surface of the rings illuminated. There is a link to how he created models to paint the rock faces from and experiment with different lighting. That was interesting. It was also interesting to learn that the media is thin layers of oil paint on "illustration board" which had a large black and white print of the model mounted on it.

I am thinking that in a way, an artist can be a space explorer just as an astronomer or other scientist can.

~ Darrell

Rob Gonsalves - Spring Skiing

¤ "Spring Skiing" is an illustration by Rob Gonsalves whose artwork is featured in a number of places on the net though the best actual gallery of his work I have found is at Discovery Galleries. Another location with some good images of his illustrations is on "Seamless pictures | haha.nu -- a lifestyle blogzine".

Rob Gonsalves does interesting artwork in his own particular style. He uses an awareness of architecture that started at a young age taking direction into perspective techniques leading to his first paintings and renderings of imagined buildings. This has directed him into works which are surreal in quality where an image done of one scene blends seamlessly into another. It is reminiscent of Escher to me.

He uses "carefully planned illusionist devices."* to create these images in a seamless fashion that I find are very unique. I do like the term "Magic Realism"* to describe his work as referred to in the Discovery Galleries' Biography of the artist*. Outside of the seamless illusion of the blending of one image into the next, his style is crisp and reminds me of the best illustration work I remember from school books and Reader's Digest. I am not sure what you would call that style, but it works well here and can speak volumes. I think it is the clarity of the style that adds even more to the illusion. It is easier to hide an illusion in mist and fog than in crisp good lighting.

"Spring Skiing"blends that pure white snow of the mountains with that pure white "snow" shower of petals from the flowering fruit trees in Spring. While in places you may have drifts of pink, here you would have the white drifts from these fruit trees. The alpine purity of snow blending seamlessly into the floral purity of the Spring fruit trees.

~ Darrell

For those extreme skiers amongst us, Rob Gonsalves piece entitled "Spring Skiing" is a sports lover's delight. He has managed to turn an extraordinary environment into a seamless slope of powder which only makes you want to be there in person.

My selection on which piece of his artwork to review was made extremely difficult -- not because his gallery does not have much to offer -- but because each piece has elements that are worthy of artistic critique. After much pondering we settled for "Spring Skiing". More works of his will be reviewed in future here at Blended Realms.

~ Mags

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* Rob Gonsalves -- Discovery Galleries -- Fine Art