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MarkJayBee — Marooned on Ganymede
Published: 2010-03-17 21:06:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 2487; Favourites: 41; Downloads: 0
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Description
Illustration based on a scene from an SF novel of the 1930's - 'The Spacehounds of IPC' by E.E.'Doc' Smith.In those days all kinds of environments could be imagined for the planets of our solar system: Venus as a steaming jungle, or in this case, Ganymede, (one of the moons of Jupiter) harbouring a variety of carnivorous lifeforms!
Media: Airbrushed and painted acrylic, gouache and aquarel pencil on artboard.
Original size: A2 (approx)
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Comments: 19
True outlandish, so 1970's styling but having its own distinctive look, now long lost by numerous Star Wars and Star Trek rip-offs.
Those weird plants are so Jim Burns in style - very very weird.
Love the ship - mad, overcoloured, and so Chris Foss inspired - I assume.
Excellent sir!
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This painting was created way back in the 1990's, and does indeed show the influence
of two of my favourite SF artists, so well spotted!! 
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It would be fun to see your illustration on a magazine cover like this: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?5…
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Indeed they are - well spotted!
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This is a really cool painting!! I love those old SF stories. 
Glancing through Spacehounds of the IPC, I have a feeling that E.E. "Doc" Smith knew that the idea that Ganymede could support alien and human life was directly contradictory to what was known by astronomers, but he was willing to forget that for the sake of his interplanetary adventure story. I always liked the idea that there might be alien life adapted to survive in strange environments like those found in Jupiter's atmosphere, under the icy crust of a moon orbiting Jupiter or Saturn, or on a scorchingly hot exoplanet. Whole new chemical patterns of life may exist, adapted to survive in eternal cold. Perhaps beings exist who would shatter and melt if they so much as attempted to stand near a human. On the other extreme, perhaps there are fiery silicate rock creatures who think that we come from a bitterly cold planet...
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Thanks for the comment Sag-A*. 
the only basis for life to develop on; it's a big old universe out there!
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I remember you painting this one at the Maritime Museum, Stunning bro!!
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That's right!
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Thanks lyc, yeah, love those old pulp SF stories!
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