Art Imitates Life

I was leafing through my old sci-fi book encyclopaedia at the weekend, trying to get some artistic inspiration from some of my all time sci-fi illustrators such as Chris Foss, Rodney Matthews, Ron Cobb and Syd Mead. In amongst the classic pulp covers and designs for more recent movies, I was reminded of the supremely atmospheric work of John Schoenherr. He has produced many full colour paintings for book jackets over the years and was a regular contributor to Analog magazine illustrating the cover stories and occasional interior art. He also illustrated Frank Herberts epic 'Dune' sequence, providing eight large colour paintings and numerous pen and ink sketches. His depiction of Arrakis and the vast Sandworms are amongst the most evocative paintings of a scifi novel that ive ever seen.

However, the main reason, apart from Johns beautiful artwork, that he appears here is the cover to Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact june 1963 and his gorgeous illustration to the story 'The Trouble With Telstar' by John Berryman. Having been a long time fan of the artist, and quite familiar with his work, it came a shock to spot the distinctive outline of a Dyna-Soar Glider floating in the background of this painting! Obviously referenced from NASA sources and photographs of the actual craft, as is the Telstar satellite, apart from the garish yellow casing!