Quotes by Sci-Fi artists

"Attention is the function of the image, and communication is its purpose." [2]

"For me there's a huge difference between calling up images that come from within, and having a brief from which I'm supposed to describe something." [6]

"The effect that color has on us is largely a visceral one, bypassing the logical and analytical process, and appealing to our emotional center. This direct ‘hotline’ to our emotions, I would say, is more akin to music. Less easily ambushed by our conditioning, it’s a vibration, setting up an equivalent vibration within us, and therefore a highly effective means of communicating feeling." [36]

Paul Lehr:

"I think art that you can describe in an intellectual way, in a verbal way, loses an awful lot. It's not as strong an art as the art that leaves many questions." [10]

Melvyn Grant:

"But the sketch, to me, is the most important part of the process. This is where the heart of the work comes from and sometimes it takes longer than the final painting." [13]

"I think the fear of poverty and the pleasure of painting influences me most." [14]

Richard Hescox:

"I think there's a hierarchy in the quality of art, measured by the amount of skill and thought that went into a piece, the amount of communication that comes from it, and the effect it has on the viewer. Little of this is apparent in most 20th-century art." [24]

Vincent Di Fate:

"I don't pretend to be a great painter. What I am is a competent illustrator who is very seldom given the opportunity to do a competent job." [15]

"What I know about artists is that we feel the sky is always falling, that the past was always better (which it usually wasn't), and that the future always looks bleak." [6]

"To me, this subject [Sci-Fi art] has been so close that it is like the air I breathe. Without it, my life would be meaningless. And, perhaps, obsessed with it as I have been, my life might still be without meaning." [3]

"Artists who are used to the old methodology of applying paint with a brush dismiss computers on the absurd assumption that it's just another tool. It's not just another tool. It can take an incompetent draughtsman and suddenly make him a Rembrandt." [23]

John Schoenherr:

"I find I really have to identify with something and get very involved with it to make it come out really good. If I'm bored with something it'll come out boring. And this was a lot of the problem with commercial art." [15]

Chris Moore:

"The real pleasure for me comes from creating something satisfying with the limited materials and resources available." [2]

"If I didn't have to earn a living, I would do the science-fiction work all the time. [...] I would do bigger paintings, more elaborate paintings, more involved paintings." [21]

Fred Gambino:

"Sometimes the whole process just flows and works without a hitch, sometimes I can get stuck on an idea or design. My favourite solution to that is to get on the bike and cycle 40 or 50 miles; I do my best thinking on the bike." [16]

Michael Whelan:

"The essence of creating art is in selection and editing, in presenting a refined vision that communicates something of the soul of the artist and his or her subject." [19]

Bob Eggleton:

"I think gadget freaks are too overly optimistic, like some science fiction writers. They think all problems can be solved with the right machinery. Gadgets always claim to make life simpler but somehow it only seems to get more complex." [20]

Bruce Pennington:

"I believe sanctity exists in many forms and locations other than those recognized by orthodox and particularly state religion. Even the most profane music can sometimes contain an instrumental sequence that elevates the average pop song to a level of blissful transcendence. The richness of modern synthetic sounds has a kind of purity I like. Similarly, the most tasteless and gaudy colours used in cheap advertising can occasionally produce an icon of startling beauty. The sacred and symbolic are all around us - only conditioning and low expectations prevent the majority of people from noticing them." [22]

Chris Foss:

"The final painting never bears any relation to the rough art at all. Things just happen - I get a better idea or there's an accident on the board and I suddenly realize that something else will actually work much batter. All sorts of things can happen. I would say that ninety percent of the paintings are improvisation." [25]

Frank Kelly Freas:

"I think that science fiction art is as valid a part of our culture as is science fiction. I think it's one of the most important fields of literature that exists today. It may just save our silly necks. If it isn't the ideas which have been planted in the minds of young scientists, as a result of reading science fiction these last thirty years that save us, then we're not going to be saved. Science fiction, as a literature, teaches people to think beyond the obvious answers; that even when they think they have a good answer, they should turn it upside down and examine it from another perspective. As an art form, science fiction is a vital part of our culture, and science fiction art is an integral part of the package." [32]

Alan Gutierrez:

"If you are attempting to do this as a living, don't take the art too seriously, I did once, and the result was a severe depression and burnout, in my 3rd trimester of Art Center College. Since then, I "dropped out" of trying to outdo other artists in technical style, time spent on the art, and popularity of the subject, etc." [35]