Quantumscapes – The Art of Stephan Martiniere

I was in the book store the other day and came across a copy of Stephan Martiniere's book Quantumscapes: The Art of Stephan Martiniere. I was surprised to see that it was published in 2006 – surprised that its publication escaped my notice. Either that or has escaped my memory. Surprising since in November of 2006 I had the privilege of moderating a panel – Designing a Spaceship – at the Windycon Science Fiction Convention and Stephan was one of the panelists. It was standing room only for the panel due entirely, I'm sure, to Stephan's presence. 2006 was the year Stephan won the Chesley Award (named for Chesley Bonestell) for best hardcover cover art – although the award wasn't given until 2007. He has also won a number of other awards as well. Check out Stephan's web site at www.martiniere.com.

If you're not familiar with Stephan Martiniere's art, his speciality is science fiction art. The cover art for Quantumscapes is a piece titled Variable Star which was used as the cover for the science fiction novel Variable Star by Robert Heinlein and Spider Robinson. Quantumscapes is divided into five chapters with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of Martiniere's art.

Chapter 1 – Books

This is the chapter that shines. It consists of finished book covers which are truly original in concept and execution. Splendid art. Far and away the best chapter in the book.

Chapter 2 – Film and Commercial Work

This chapter consists entirely of alien character sketches and studies.

Chapter 3 – Games

Sketches of aliens dominate this chapter with some landscapes as well.

Chapter 4 – Personal

Composed of a small collection of alien life studies.

Chapter 5 – Process

This chapter takes the reader through the creative process using as an example the cover art Variable Star starting with rough sketches and finishing with the final artwork.

While Stephan's aliens are original and very well done, it is his landscapes, cityscapes, and spacescapes that excite me and these are only really found in the book's first chapter. If you are a fan of science fiction art, then you should check out Quantumscapes: The Art of Stephan Martiniere.

Ad Astra, Jim

| Return to the Blog Index | This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Art and Artists, Art Books.