Lydrae - The Transponder

¤ Lyridae created "The Transponder" and includes it in his Gallery on deviantART. Lyridae is a young man from German who creates computer graphic images.

¤ A new wave of information technology -- space communicating with the Earth via a bluey-green plasma -- a one way portal. This communication device has one drawback however, it has to be careful not to singe the Earth's surface. The way it communicates with the planet is by etching small codes into our fingertips. Unfortunately none of us has been able to decipher these messages from space -- but that is okay, because it just adds to the mystery.

~ Mags

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Everything mentioned in the above review is not factual, it is purely fiction.

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¤ There is a lot going on in this interesting cosmic image by Lydrae. Taken in quickly it reminded me a lot of images of a sword in front of a shield -- a blazing blade pointed up toward the sky. Looked at closely you can see... well I don't want to describe too much of the detail -- leaving it to the gallery to see for themselves.

It is another beautiful use of a limited pallet. I know that some would look at this as an advantage for decorating, or for a choice of gift for someone when you know their favourite colours -- but I also know it can add power to a composition. This one has interesting flow -- your eye is drawn to the cosmic bodies and then upwards with the plasma-like torch. It reaches up to the dark void where the eye rests a moment in the dark and then flows down the sides to pick up the image of the spheres once more for another ride up the image. That is the flow for the image as a whole before looking at the details that abound in it. Looking at the details is like taking side trips on a vacation.

I wonder... "transponder" refers to a device that receives a signal and then rebroadcasts it immediately. Is this what the artist intends -- is this a signal being rebroadcast? What was the source of the signal and to who is it being broadcast too. Questions to ponder, I guess... though you might want to look at the details in the piece and perhaps find your own answers.

~ Darrell

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

dinyctis - Space Lane

¤ You can find dinyctis' piece "Space Lane" on deviantART as well as a few other places on the Web. He has an interesting gallery, though some might find it a bit opinionated.

¤ dinyctis' "Space Lane" takes us on a fascinating journey across space -- and perhaps further afield -- in this work -- that is huge in size -- to take in the incredibly detailed story of that journey. You really must see it at full size to fully appreciate it. If you have dial-up you might have to be satisfied with the default view on his page. (On deviantART you click on the image to get the full sized view.)

I am not sure that it is intended to be viewed all at once, but rather a bit at a time either starting at the top and working down, or from the bottom and working your way up. There is a seeming story-journey on this vertical mural image. I won't give away the ending and spoil it here.

dinyctis uses intense colour on black to good effect in his chosen media, computer graphic image. I think you will appreciate the details as well as the story-journey and will enjoy looking at other images in his gallery.

~ Darrell

¤ One would find it slightly odd that this artist would begin his piece and end his piece with the exact same frame and style. I find that quite perplexing -- and to be honest one has to find a reason to be captured by this image. The depiction of the galaxy is strategically placed in the best spot for eyes to be drawn into its very core. Other works that you might want to chew over are: "Nebular Playtime" and one entitled "Vessel". We all have a desire to reach for the stars -- this artist just takes it to whole new level.

~ Mags