Covering The Fantastic, The Unrealisable, The Lurid and The Amazing!

There’s a really good indoor market in Bath.  Under the roof of this market you can find hardware stalls, a greasy spoon, an Italian run 50’s style American diner, sweets, delis, needle and thread and a great secondhand paperback bookstall.

This bookstall buys and sells paperbacks of all genres, but it is the SF section which attracts me most days.  You see, not only do I enjoy SF literature, but I adore the covers of the books which I read as a child.  I remember reading books with lurid cover illustrations, painterly effects, designs beyond the logical and flying in the face of understanding.  The SF cover illustrations of the 70’s and 80’s which adorned my bedtime reading, were amongst some of the most evocative and inspirational images I came into contact with on a daily basis.

I have in my heart a passion for the styling of SF book covers from this period.  Some call it ‘pulp’ some call them (and the entire genre sometimes) dross.  However, I find that Publishers will generally publish new covers to a) give a range a new look b) get you to re-buy your books (because you’re halfway through a series and you like to keep everything looking uniform) and c) to give a uniform look when certain titles have been grouped together under an umbrella range (a ‘Masterworks Collection’ for instance).  I do like to read a book with a cover I like.  It seems a shame sometimes to read, or in some cases reread a book

The Robots Of Dawn – Cover Illustration by Chris Foss, 1985 Reprinting

Thing is, and it’s an old adage, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.  In respect of certain pulp SF covers, not at all.  Even if you think the cover looks awesome and fits with the style of book you like to read, having seen Chris Foss’s cover illustration for  Issac Asimov’s “Robots of Dawn”, a towering colosal robot with a city in it’s head and strangling an equally gargantuan tree, you might find yourself a little perplexed at the robot detective story, with robots which look identical to humans, contained with.

Chris Foss is, in my opinion, one of the best cover illustrators there is.  His artwork has been a missive influence on me.  Whilst I couldn’t claim to attempt his subject matter and his use of colours is something I’ve never been able to achieve, his ideas and scope and visions have left me needing to explore and develop my own visions in a similar way.

One of my favorite pastimes is to visit secondhand bookshops, such as the one in the market, in search of those old covers.  To surround myself with images which inspire and enthrall your mind.

Here are a few I’ve purchased just recently – the list is not intended in any way to be exhaustive in delivering excellent SF illustrations.

Dune – 1970 Reprint

Dune is one of those SF novels which has just simply had a massive influence on me and my development.  The numerous adaptations stand testament to it’s popularity.  This cover is from the late 60’s and describe still-suits in a way I never imagined them.  The painterly effects conjure up feelings of Arabian myths mixed with distant planets and far off places.

Gaean Trillogy – Illustrated by ‘Freff’, 1986 Reprint

Enigmatic ‘Freff’ (in an Internet presence at any rate) lent his skill to realising the Gaean trilogy, playing with the symbology  and creating a cover which really draws you in and lets you know in a much more direct way, what’s contained within.

The Dying Earth – 1981 Printing

Jack Vance’s “The Dying Earth”.  What on earth is going on here?  Best spend the 75p and find out.

The Stone God Awakens – 1979 Reprint

“The Stone God Awakens”  The title forces imagery upon you, the cover does likewise, with all this imagery going on, could the story stand up to it?

Unfortunately, it is not always the case that publishers note who illustrated the cover, so I’ve noted the illustrator where I can.  Please feel free to add names if you know them.

Creativity Is At The Heart Of Humanity

Creativity Is At The Heart Of Humanity.

I find myself at a point in life where I can start to question myself and do something to either improve or repair things.

Too often I find that I have become immersed in the modern world, in such a way that I have forgotten that I have a life to live within it.  I find that it is all too easy to find myself working all day, only to return home and waste time watching TV or cruising the internet, waiting for the day to end and the next day of work to begin.

This is not to say that TV or the Internet are necessarily bad things, there is a lot of genuinely interesting or entertaining things on both media.  Indeed I wouldn’t be writing here if I found nothing of worth in the internet.  But it can be very seductive and easily draw you in so that you spend more time trying to find diversions rather than finding what it was you were needing.

It is to this point I have decided to redress my life and start breath new life into a flagging mind.

I studied Ceramic Art at university, stopping off at Photography, Illustration, Painting and other various visual art forms along the way.  Additionally, I have been a musician for around 15 years now.  Until recently I have found that I have not been either properly exploring my creativity in these areas, or been doing anything at all in some instances.

I therefore have recently made a decision to curtail the amount of time I’m spending on the internet and ceasing to watch TV.  When I ‘decide’ to turn on the computer and go on the internet, I will think about what it is I want to do, rather than turning it on in the hope of finding something to do.  Whilst I enjoy numerous TV programs, I do not feel that I will be missing much by cutting it out.

This, I hope, will help me in two ways. Firstly it will afford me the time to pursue other activities.  Secondly, it will force me to ‘think’ about how I’m to spend my free time.

Directly I have set myself two major projects which should aid me in this also.  I have two bands on the go, one of which has just started gigging and the other is close to gigging.  I need to write new material for both and practice the material we already have.  I also need to build a new artistic portfolio!

This last has brought me no small amount of excitement and pain.  I am arrogant enough to believe I am not only good at what I have learnt to do over the years, but actually, I am talented, interesting and marketable in my area.  Ceramics is currently not achievable due to equipment and space issues, but my illustration is certainly a rich area into which I can pour a great deal of my creativity, without having to pour in a great deal of my pay-slip.

So I come to the crux of this blog.  What am I to blog about?  What do I have to say that is worth saying and how should I use this facility to my personal befit and to hopefully carry a few others along with me? Well, I believe that the general, overarching, but in no ways dictatory, mandate for my posts should be CREATIVITY.

Creativity, or the enhancement of such, is my personal goal.  To shake off the shackles of the modern world which I have placed upon my own life.  To start off by finding time and inspiration for creativity and to, in the long term, start to make money from who I am, rather than what my employer would like me to be.

The journey has already begun, but now that I’ve stopped of to top up the tank, I’m hitting the road and setting my sights on the horizon.  I hope to see you there!