I was delighted to notice that Kathryn just added three digital paintings that she and Josh created to their joint album. They depict an enormous spaceship -- you will guess which culture it comes from.

The ship looks like a cross between a crystal and a crinoid, an extinct relative of the sea anemones which may appear to be delicate flowers yet are carnivores. It looks powerful and deadly, which is clearly the intent.

The details are all meticulously rendered, melding the engineering aspects with the intimidating aura. It is very exciting to see a starship designed with both intelligence and imagination. I can easily imagine this behemoth hovering menacingly just beyond a planet's atmosphere.

I was just going to say that Sanscard and I had just posted some new concept art.

Some notes on the ship renderings:

The overall design is rocket's - I did the modeling and rendering based on her sketches and under her guidance. I always knew she was creative and smart, and this effort proved it over again to me.

The ships have a "closed" mode wherin the big arms and "flower" envelop the bridge. The flower material is a substrate for generating magnetic fields. These fields act as focusers/aimers for the weapon systems and as deflectors when used defensively.

One idea for a mode of thrust is based on the idea that the engineers have the ability to manipulate gravity (hence the non-rotating occupancy sections). The ship has gravitic satellites that it can eject from several ports to pull and push it along. The satellites are recollected when no longer needed. This mechanism also serves as a defense against ballistic weapons and an accelerator for the ship's stores of the same (bombs/missiles). Of course, this is just a suggestion.

The long boom that makes up the length of the ship is a particle accelerator that provides input to the primary weapon system - the collection of masts that are "tunable" to different frequencies of EM or perhaps plasma output. I can invision energy battles in space involving a lot of tactics around tuning different attack and defensive frequencies or systems. For example, if infrared lasers are being used spraying dust would be an effective defense, but not so for x-ray lasers where chaged shields would be a better choice. The main reason for energy weapons rather than ballistics would be their high speed, and therefore the element of surprise when the energy met the target. Ballistics may be more powerful - especially if anti-matter is used, but defending against them would be much easier (shoot them with energy weapons or deploy a gravity field to deflect them).

Again - just ideas.

Finally, the real purpose behind the 3D was to work out the perspective - not an easy task with their rather difficult geometry. RS is now working on some hand renderings that I feel confident will exceed the 3D work. The organic looking sketch is too organic in my opinion and I struggled to find a better visual vocabulary for surface features. RS's sketches already look better, so I can't wait to see the final output.

cheers!

SC

I very much like the idea of "tunable" weapons, it would make the ship a versatile adjustable system. Also, I wonder what a working gravity adjuster would be (small confined black holes?)

I can hardly wait to see the new sketches!

Stunning, captivating images! (Though it took me long enough to view these) The first perfectly captures the atmosphere of benign majesty and clearly conveys the tone of a routine mission. More than that, the components of the ship combine in such a way that they establish convincing symmetry and through that, the unmistakable origins of the vessel and its function. Shiprender2 seamlessly includes many of the details and nuances of the first while at the same time effectively transforming the ship into a dangerous, formidable object and the tone of the image into one of turbulent peril.

Ships Open is equally as arresting, with the vessels reflecting the same overtones of danger and efficiently wielded threat. More than that, the blending of both mechanical and almost organic elements (here and in the first two illustrations) makes the environment depicted here all the more compelling and heightens the sense of a futuristic, otherworldly setting. Thanks for sharing such fantastic work!

Heather

There are now two more sketches in Kathryn's science fiction art folder. To me, preliminary work is as interesting as finished work -- it shows the thoughts of the artist, always a fascinating process.

The sketch of the cyborg is dynamic and tense, especially the dramatic foreshortening and the focus on the fiercely taut grip. I truly like the juxtaposition of the angular lines with the fluid motion of the whip that acts as a counterpoint, at the same time defining the space occupied by the figure.

The sketch of the lovers is extremely poignant and evocative. I love the subtlety of the poses: it is unclear who is advancing, who is retreating. The drawing hums with urgency and yearning, with the sense that at this fragile, transient moment the two created a self-enclosed universe. I also love the elongated, art-nouveau sinewy bodies, a combination of Klimt's liquid ribbons and El Greco's candleflames.

Like Repose, this drawing can effortlessly fit many possible narratives... but a part of me likes to think that the pair might be Mirésse and Adh'ísa, especially because the woman's pose is a bit similar to that of Kar'énis contemplating Ne'íri. If this is the preliminary sketch, the final version will be heartstopping.

Lovely! The sketch of the lovers is truly captivating, just as much for the arresting contrast between the relaxed poses and the subtle tension conveyed by the hint of emotional unrest in the facial expressions, as for the flowing, tastefully rendered beauty of the figures themselves. The wonderful contrast between touches of reticence in the woman's pose, the path of her gaze--strikingly, her face is partially turned away, even as she tracks her lover with her eyes--and the poignancy of the man's uncertain countenance perfectly provides the foundation for a calm, yet riveting atmosphere. I can also envision this image seamlessly fitting into a great many narrative scenes, and like Athena, can easily see the two depicted here as Mirésse and Adh’ísa.

The sketch of the cyborg is equally as arresting, with its gripping juxtaposition between sleek, dark elegance and lethal grace. The harshness and sharp angles of the figure combined with its fluid, deadly movements creates a brilliantly blended whole that is all at once formidable and otherworldly. Marvelous work!

Heather

Thank you ladies! Your coments are always so precise that it's a compliment in and of itself.

Both of those drawings, while not exactly meant to be specifically any certain characters, were informed, as Athena puts it, by the fiction and discussions we all have around here.

It makes me smile to think that the lovers could be Adh'isa and Miréssa. It would fit very well.