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The Five-Year Mark

10/11/2018

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January 2019, marks five years running for this Page. It's hard for me to believe it's been that long since I started sharing sci-fi art online. I want to thank everyone for their support over the years, especially those that regularly take the time to share their thoughts and comments. It's interesting to see what type of artwork generates the most buzz and how the concepts are perceived. As a writer, that kind of understanding goes a long way, helping me choose which details to focus on, as well as which concepts have a strong enough foundation in the average sci-fi lover's mind to leverage and avoid giving the reader too much unnecessary detail or exposition. In fact, I've learned so much from our engagement that if it weren't for the comments and messages I receive from people conveying how much they like the artwork, I'd feel a bit guilty for facilitating such a lopsided relationship. Again, thank you all for your support and sharing your ideas and thoughts.

Let me say right now that this isn't leading to a goodbye. The Page isn't going anywhere anytime soon. However, I do believe it's time for it evolve a bit. It was always my intent to use this Page, and my website, not just to share sci-fi art in general, but to share the kind of art that inspires me to write science fiction—the images and concepts that excite my Muse and play like an motion picture in my head, despite being a still snapshot of a single moment in time. If you follow this Page and read my novel, or any of the short stories on my website, I think you'd have a really good foundation for visualizing many of the details you encounter in my fiction. Does it help the reading? I'd like to think so—that an under-realized (and definitely underutilized) synergy exist between written works and the visual opportunities offered by the web—and it's something I'd like to explore going forward.

So what does all this mean for the Page? Well, over the next month or so, expect to see a slow shift in the type of artwork being shared. Of course everything will continue to be sci-fi focused, but with more emphasis on fictional worldbuilding. With each image, I'll try to explain what drew me in and why I saved it to my worldbuilding library, inviting others to share their thoughts. The goal of this shift is two-fold. First and foremost, to give prospective readers a sense of how my imagination works and the type of sci-fi I like to create. And second, to share and discuss worldbuilding and concept development with others creators and fans of science fiction.

In addition to the normal image shares, I also intended to create more content in long form, like the links below from past postings, as well as getting back to sharing some of the excellent sci-fi short films that are being made and distributed online.

http://www.andredavisscifi.com/blog/15-amazing-sci-fi-cityscapes
http://www.andredavisscifi.com/blog/reset-your-future-with-a-good-apocalypse
http://www.andredavisscifi.com/blog/imagining-rada-and-the-god-kings
http://www.andredavisscifi.com/johann-goutard.html
http://www.andredavisscifi.com/short-films-2.html

​Basically, things are changing a bit, not much, but enough that you might notice and wonder where the Page is going, so I thought I'd take minute to post a quick update in advance. Hope you like the new direction and content. And thanks for the support over the last five years. 
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On the Move

10/4/2016

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A bit of flash fiction, inspired by the image "Mech on the Move" by Alex Ichim
I was leading a pack of Metal Jacks, heading to LZ-4. We’d been retasked to help secure the area for reinforcements. Easy enough. Getting there was the problem. The whole damn city was hot, and there were at least fifteen blocks between us and the landing zone. It was like running a gauntlet, hostiles were all over the place—on the rooftops, in the alleys and windows, under cars, inside abandoned buses—just every-goddamn-where. 

We hammered down the street, loping along at a steady pace—around 30 kph—ignoring the constant ping of rounds bouncing off our armor. Unless they were rocking 50cals, bullets weren’t a concern. RPGs were a different story, though. Everyone had their eyes peeled. It only took a second to make your last mistake, and we all had better things to do that day than die. 

Topper was out in front, leading the way. She hooked a left at Foster Avenue, and then made a right onto Central. Hell…even rooks know better than to run a straight line. We had five blocks to go, when we came to an eight-lane intersection. Camden spotted three hostiles as soon as we came into the open. It was too late to turn back. 

“Go, go, go!” I sent the others through, while slowing to make myself the better target. It was the right thing to do. I was running rear—no one to obstruct if my Jack went down. 

I turned in stride, just in time to see a rocket whiz by. It missed my chassis by half a meter and struck something behind me, something close. I felt the impact from inside the cockpit. Smoke and dust flooded the street. Debris rained down, clanking against my armor. I sighted Camden’s hostiles huddled behind the tail of a car, fumbling with the launcher, trying to reload. They really should have thought ahead. 

I zeroed in and let my cannons rip. Turns out, I’m a much better shot than they were.

“All right, we’re clear. Keep moving. Five more blocks. And Topper…? You better keep us out of those goddamn wide lanes, you hear me?" I shook my head and picked up the pace. Rooks…there was always something they needed to learn.

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Imagining Rada and the God Kings

1/23/2016

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For the past few months, I’ve been building a world for a new novel, tentatively titled Prince of the God Kings. The story focuses on a group of immortals that have been living in secret among humans on Rada, a world colonized long after the collapse of Earth. For the most part, I’ve been focused on the history of this world, trying to understand how things got to the point in time where the actual story takes place. I’ve had a lot of fun developing the characters, as they all have long rich histories and complicated relationships that the story’s protagonist, a human recently turn immortal, struggles to understand and negotiate as she tries to resolve the central conflict. 

For reasons explained in the story, the original Radean colony suffered a collapsed, losing most of their advanced technology and knowledge. This caused them to slip into a dark era, similar to the Dark Ages in Earth’s history—but perhaps a bit longer. As I often do, I’ve been drawing inspiration for the characters and locations from concept art I’ve found across the web, looking to gain a better understanding of some of the things these long-lived characters might have seen and done throughout their time, and also how they may have influenced the development of modern civilization. 

It’ll be a while before the novel is complete—haven’t even started drafting it yet—but here are some of the images that have been inspirational in the development of both the story's history and present, as well as some of the characters the tale revolves around. Deciding how I’m going morph and merge these ideas and concepts into a new cohesive narrative is definitely going to be fun, and a bit challenging, but I’m excited about the story and can’t wait to get started. 

Below are some of the artworks that have influenced the development of Rada and the upcoming novel Prince of the God Kings. 

This artwork from Chris Tulloch McCabe, Jean Denis Coindre, and Chirag Tripathy set my mind to thinking about a civilization spawned from a failed colony, wondering what influences the visible wreckage and any monuments built by the original settlers would have had on their development. 
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Artist: Chris Tulloch McCabe
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Artist: Chris Tulloch McCabe
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Artist: Jean Denis Coindre
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Artist: Chirag Tripathy

I wanted the original colony to suffer a set back, and had several options on the table for the type of disaster that caused it. After seeing these images by Maxime Delcambre and Roman Ignatowski, I began thinking not just about the cause, but also about how the incident would be perceived, and the affect subsequent tales and legends about the event would have on future generations. Religion became a major component in developing the historical rivalries that shaped the story's present.  
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Artist: Maxime Delcambre
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Artist: Roman Ignatowski

The actual story begins in a present day society similar to modern Earth and advances to a future where the Radeans have started to colonize their star system and explore deep space. But since most of the immortals were born and raised in the pre-modern era, and have lived longer in simpler times, I used environmental concepts to explore a variety of cultures and locations—past, present, and future—to develop unique characters with personalities that reflect their background and world history. 
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Artist: Andreas Rocha
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Artist: Andreas Rocha
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Artist: Dmitriy Kuzin

I imagined the immortals leading humanity out of the dark era, but that rivalries between old houses/factions, eventually erupted into war. Many humans die during a long period of immortal led campaigns to establish dominance on Rada. The suffering brought on by the constant warfare, lead to King Rebellion and subsequent witch hunts that force immortals into hiding, to live in secrecy among humans. Over time, stories of the god kings and the undying become nothing more than myth and legend to modern Radeans. 
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Artist: Hans Park
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Artist: Natalia Milushko
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Artist: Robbie McSweeney
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Artist: Andreas Rocha

Looking at artwork like this from Aleksei-Vinogradov, Gabriel-Björk-Stiernström, and others got me thinking about all the ways the immortals could have used their wealth and knowledge to influence the progress of civilization on Rada. Which characters plotted and manipulated events from the shadows, and which were willing to risk exposure, donning various mortal guises through the centuries to help lead humanity into the future with their accomplishments in science, engineering, and exploration? A lot of interesting characters were developed while exploring this idea. 
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Artist: Aleksei Vinogradov
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Artist: Gabriel Björk Stiernström

As far as characters go, I want each of the elder immortals to have a strong, yet unique, presence in the story, their individual personalities crafted, bent, and sometimes twisted by the events of their time. Each of them carries their own personal demons and secrets, revelations that will alter the dynamic between characters and leave the reader questioning the motivations of some, unsure where their true loyalties lie. 
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Artist: Aleksei Vinogradov
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Artist: Daniel Kamarudin
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Artist: Marko Djurdjevic
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Artist: Pawel Brudniak
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Artist: Gal Or

I like to model my villains after live-action characters and actors—especially the ones I love to hate. I find it helps me keep my antagonist human in my mind, and motivates me to find ways to make the reader look forward to their scenes and arc resolutions, even though they may hate the character. In Prince of the God Kings, Maris is an ancient immortal, known for her religious zealotry. Until recently, she was believed dead, and is regarded by many of the others as being single-handedly responsible for the dominance wars that led to the King Rebellion. I was watching History Channel's Vikings one day and realized Amy Bailey fit the character of Maris perfectly, past and present. 
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© History Channel
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Sci-Fi Short Films: Set 11 (Drone, Episodes 1-4)

10/11/2015

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In the near future, war drone technology has advanced and a new weapon has been unleashed—a humanoid drone stronger and faster than any soldier. But in the aftermath of a mysterious incident, damaged battle drone 237 is forced to go on the run with its programmer to try and take down their corrupt commander.

EP1


EP2


EP3


​EP4

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Sci-Fi Short Films: Set 10

9/13/2015

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It’s been a while since I shared any sci-fi shorts. Things have been a little busy, and that section of the site was getting a little hard to maintain, because the pagination had to be updated with each new post, on each page. So, I’ve decided to move it to the blog section of my site, where the posts can be automatically grouped by category tag. The old section is still up, and will be until I move and backdate the current pages so they show correctly. If you haven’t seen some of the early films, you can check them out here. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy these new additions. 

STATE ZERO
A group of soldiers get an unexpected surprise while on assignment in a known hot-zone in this post-apocalyptic film by first-time director Andrée Wallin. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve shared some his art on my Facebook page.  


INITIUM
A daring pilot races against time to prevent a global disaster in this high-speed collaboration between Alexandre Dechel, Adrien Lambert, Emeric Larochette, and James Ross Greetham.

TELESCOPE
A cosmic archaeologist travels faster than light into deep space to capture images of the once vibrant planet. Telescope is a short film directed by Collin Davis and Matt Litwiller, written by Eric Bodge, and shot by Travis Labella
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Top Images from April 2015

5/10/2015

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If you’ve been following my Facebook page and website for a while, you probably know I like to write, and that most of the things I share online are things that inspire me in one way or another. Sometimes that inspiration will come in the form of a character, civilization, or plot line. But often, it’s nothing more than a tone or feeling I find myself looking to capture or emulate in written form. The bits and pieces I collect while worldbuilding serve as markers, lighthouses in the dark to keep my imagination on the right course. Nine out of ten times, I have no idea how or where the material I’m saving will fit into my writing. At the time, I just know I like it, that there’s something in it that resonates with me, and I like how my mind responds to the image, music, poem, information, or whatever it is I’m engaged with.

Every month, I find more and more images to add to my Muse’s toolkit. Below are the top five from April, along with a brief explanation of why I saved them and how they may one day influence my writing, serving as beacons for my imagination.

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Station, by Beomhee Lee   
This image makes me think of a hyper-advanced civilization, an old race that has long since mastered things like gravity, civil engineering, and mega-construction. They aren’t concerned about their cities falling from the sky, because, to them, an anti-grav generator is about as complicated as a toaster is to us. There are hundreds of failsafes and redundancies built into their city platforms, and the population isn’t the least bit concerned. If this were a human civilization, I’d imagine it to be in the far distant future. 

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Stranded, by Dylan Cole
This is such an epic image. It’s also one of those details that can allow an author to say a lot about a storyworld in just a few lines of narrative exposition. Sure, showing a character traversing the stars in a nice ship lets the reader know it’s a spacefaring race, but placing that same character on a planet and having him/her look up and describe such an epic sight as this would say the same and immediately give the reader a sense of technological scale and history.

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Titanfall concept art, by Tu Bui 
As a fan of military science fiction, I love images like this. They remind me of the grandness and scale that I want to capture when developing military fleets for large powerful civilizations—massive capital ships with impressive class names, like Guardian, Dreadnought, Hekatonkheires, and Titan. They’re the types of ships that make characters say, “Ahh…shit,” and can tip the scale of any battle when they enter the scene. Capital ships are one of the things I love most about military sci-fi, whether I see them in action or not, their mere presence makes me smile and appreciate the story a bit more. 

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Umek, by Jack 
When I first saw this image, I thought of a mining operation. But now, a few weeks later, I think I see a rebel or pirate ship looking for a place to hide—probably a Star Wars influence, but I like the idea all the same. I also like the ship design, and the starlight cresting on the horizon. The image would make a great visual model for a scene. 

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Mist Glider, by Calvin Chua 
While I do like the ship design in this image, I like the perspective even more. It has an introductory feel to it, and would make a great visual model when writing a scene, showing a ship for the first time through a character’s eyes. The goats on the hillside are a nice detail, too—good grounding. Any mountain dwelling animal would do. It’s the little things that bring a scene to life.  
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15 Amazing Sci-Fi Cityscapes

4/11/2015

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One of the things I like most about writing futuristic science fiction is worldbuilding—dreaming up new civilizations and speculating about the histories they were built on. I muse about their customs and venerable traditions, their types of government and level of technology, as well as the interesting people that might live there. I find it all fascinating, and have made freewriting a part of my process. Before I take to the keyboard to bang out the first draft, I spend quite a bit of time—days, weeks even—writing longhand to discover the history and nuances of the worlds and people that will bring the story to life. Having an image in front of me to draw inspiration from helps a great deal, something to stir my curiosity and get my mind churning, like an awesome futuristic cityscape. 


Below are a few of my favorites, images that—whether you’re a writer or not—are almost guaranteed to get your gears turning. After all, having an active imagination is pretty much a prerequisite for being a fan of science fiction. We all dream, and dreaming is just another form of worldbuilding, which is why—as I often like to say—the most amazing places I've ever lived exist only inside my mind.

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"Paradise City" by Alejandro Olmedo

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"Sky City" by Alex Figini

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"Downtown" by Andree Wallin

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"The Eternals" by Christian Hecker

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"Hudson City" by Dylan Cole

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"Cliff Cities" by Eli Maffei

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"Platform 9 " by Emilis Baltrusaitis

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"City 18" by Hristo Rusanov

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"Distant Palace" by James Paick

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"Tripartite" by JW Bubb

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"Underground City" by Marta Nael

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"District 19" by Pat Presley

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"Sci-Fi Paris" by Pierre Alexandre Schuller

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"Metropolis" by Simon Fetscher

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"The Gold Light of Morning" by Stefan Morrell
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Top 5 Images from March 2015

4/5/2015

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I believe doubt is something all dreamers struggle with, a never-ending battle against that unseen force, always pressuring us to change direction, tone it down, or worse—to give up, to shelf the idea and start over with something a little more sensible, a little more realistic and less ambitious. I know I’m always questioning my ideas, wondering if the scene or chapter I just wrote is as good as I think it is, or if I’m just geeking out on my own characters and plots. Sometimes, it really is the latter, and I’m lucky to have a writing group that I know and trust. Their feedback helps me see the difference and make the right calls during revision.

Turns out, at least for me, that particular kind of doubt is more a fear of sharing the ideas and thoughts in my head than it is questioning the quality of my writing. I realized this last month, when I began sharing a lot of images on my Facebook Page that—for whatever reason—I had been holding on to. In my eye, the were all great images, and really got my imagination going, but week after week I kept passing them over, convinced I was just geeking out, and that they weren’t as share worthy as I thought when I downloaded them. Needless to say, I was more than a bit surprised to discovered they were some of last month’s top images. Like with my writing group, I’m lucky to have an online community of like minds (sci-fi fans) to share and discuss and speculate with. Whether introducing me to new perspectives or expanding or confirming my own ideas and concepts, the feedback and comments I receive have been—and continue to be—extremely valuable, helping me craft better fiction.

Below are the top five images from March. I put an asterisk next to the titles of the ones that I had been holding on to. Silly me. :)

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* The Catacombs, by Nic Ames
Images like these seem to invoke thoughts of old civilizations. Races so old, fragments of their society can be found spread across the stars. Whether they still thrive or have long gone extinct, their existence and influence is known and felt by all spacefaring species in the galaxy. Facebook follower, Ian Haygreen mentioned the Gallifreyans, Time Lords of the Doctor Who series. I think that’s a good example, as would be the Protheans of Mass Effect, or the Galactic Empire of the Asimov’s Foundation trilogy.

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Planetside Port, by MuYoung Kim 
When I look at this image, all I can think about is its immensity. I imagine there being a deep, constant vibration from the thrum of all of the ship’s engines that can be felt for miles. No one needs directions to this port station. Anyone can find it with their eyes closed, just follow the feeling in your bones. 

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* The City of Clementine, by Tyler Thull
By the size of it, Clementine looks a bit more like a colony than a city, at least to me. But, regardless, it’s a beautiful concept and definitely looks like someplace I’d like to live. The birds are a nice detail and seem to make the image feel more active and less static. Follower, Kathryn Jones commented that it looked like a ship that had been turned into a colony. I agree, and I’ve always liked the idea of colony ships being cannibalized upon reaching their destination. It makes sense, especially if it’s a one-way trip. 

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* East Coast Mech, by Michal Michlewski 
The addition of the swimmer in the water gives this image a sense of scale, and I like that the sun is hidden behind the clouds. The gray, dreariness works well and helps create a sense of aftermath, like this machine is a remnant from a long-ended war, similar to the tanks and equipment that were left behind after World War II. 

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Takeoff, by Thibault Girard
Thibault Girard’s concepts seem to incorporate a few different influences. Facebook comments from David Hightower, Richard Henry, and Bill Edge, pointed out design similarities with Star Trek, the mothership in Alien vs. Predator, and the Wraith hives from Stargate Atlantis. But, resemblances aside, I think the image conveys a fantastic sense of adventure that makes most sci-fi fans wish they’d been born in a different time. 

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Top Five Images - February 2015

3/1/2015

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I’ve been doing quite a bit of worldbuilding for my new novel, Sparrow’s Gate. It’s set in a different universe than Terracova: Archon, so I’ve got a lot of assets to develop. I have the plot pretty fleshed out, but have been doing more research than writing over the past month, collecting images and putting together a soundtrack of music scores to help me define the mood and pace, as well as learning about zoonotic diseases (yes, that’s a plot hint :-) ).

Looking back at the images I posted on my Facebook Page in February, I can see how my research and intent influenced my eye. That’s not to say that all of the images I shared last month are representative of the style and feel of the new novel’s storyworld, in fact, that’s far from the case. But the elements—characters, ships, space stations, portals, etc—do have bearing. It’s like when you’re thinking about buying a particular product, like a car or cell phone. As soon as you narrow your choices down to one or two, you suddenly begin to notice more of them in the world. The need to develop similar elements in my new novel was definitely guiding my eye last month. I found and shared a lot of good images, many of which sparked great conversations and brought some new perspectives to a few old sci-fi theories and tropes.

Below are the top five images from February—follower favorites based on likes, comments, and shares. 

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Andrei Pintea’s Portal was the highest rated image, with 433 likes, comments, and shares. It’s no wonder. Portals go hand in hand with imagination, gateways to far off places. Through them, the future, past, and present have no bearing, and we’re free to imagine whatever we want. Placing it in a beautiful, majestic setting like the one above doesn’t hurt either. 

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I don’t know what it is about the Sith, but they sure do have a strong presence in artwork. The Jedi may be the heroes of the story, but, to me, the Sith are far more complex and intriguing. They exude emotion and depth and seem to be far better at striking a pose. The Apprentice, by Simon Goinard, received 386 likes, comments, and shares. 

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John Liberto’s Requiem Approach Vector has a dark, ominous feel to it that just seems ripe for a story. A derelict ship and a giant spherical space station hovering in the void? It’s the perfect backdrop for an epic tale. The image received 383 likes, comments, and shares. 

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Stephen Zavala’s Diving in the Clouds received 381 likes, comments, and shares. I’ve noticed images like these often do well. I think it’s because seeing a ship rocketing through the clouds, rising higher and higher, taps into our sense of adventure. We’re sci-fi fans. We dream of blasting off to explore the solar system and galaxy beyond. We see images like this and think, “Yes, please!”

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Parallel Viking Spacecraft, by Levy Wang came in fifth overall, with 360 likes comments, and shares, but generated more comments than any other image. Most of the comments were related to the blue energy ring around the ship, speculating as to its purpose/function. A lot of good theories were put forth—inertia dampening field, warp field, an orbital stabilizer/anchor, protective shielding, and a few others. My favorite came from Angel Rivera, who speculated it could be a type of ram-scoop, used to collect the exotic particles believed to be caught in the warp field generated by an Alcubierre drive.
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"Underwater Research Facility"                 by Jacek Irzykowski

2/1/2015

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(click to enlarge)
This image from matte painter and environment concept artist, Jacek Irzykowski was the top image on my Facebook page last week with 286 Likes. I love the environment depicted, and, judging from the comments the image received, so do others.

Underwater facilities like this remind me of how similar the environment is to space. While not nearly as hostile as the cold, radiation-soaked vacuum surrounding our planet, humans can’t live beneath the water without some form of protection. The pressure, the cold, and the lack of breathable air means we have to bring our environment with us in order to survive. It makes me wonder why we don’t spend more time building underwater habitats and colonizing the oceans. Seems like it would be great practice for space—a low-cost, local, and not to mention far less dangerous way to learn more about sustaining a small population in an artificial environment. 

Favorite Comments

"Totally cool . Perhaps we're looking at our future as the population grows."
~ Melissa A. Hamilton 

"Reminds me of seaquest dsv from the 90s and the old 50s/60s tv show which was pretty similar." ~ Graham Hart 

"With Earth's population predicted to reach 10 billion+ by 2050, I wonder how long it will be before floating/underwater cities become not just a reality, but a necessity."
~ Evan Hourihan 

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