Images from the (nonexistent) ‘Illustrated Guide to Characters from Paul. B. Spence’s Sci-Fi Novels.’

 

original art by Paul B. Spence

Tired of posts about grammar?

Yeah, I thought so. I am, too.

Would you like a post about art instead? That could be fun…

I kinda want to say something about discussing art while we wait for the next book in The Awakening series (and for the next Endless Realms novel, of which Paul has written about 12K words so far), but… *shrug* Most people don’t get my jokes anyway, do they?

The first picture is a sketch of Geoffrey Meeks in powered armor. (The sketch — and the character — predates the video game Halo by a few years, so none of your lip, idjit, ’cause the sci-fi concept of powered armor is older than you are… If you don’t believe me, do an internet search for E. E. Doc Smith and Lensmen.) The artist told me that this sketch is slightly “inaccurate” because Geoffrey seldom, if ever, carries a quantum-anhilation rifle. (He prefers a pistol instead: “Cricket,” he calls that weapon for some reason. I mean, I know — I’m the one who thought of it — but it’s not explained in the novels.) Of course, you have only my word for it that this is Geoffrey, since you can’t see his face; a clear faceplate is a Very Bad Idea for anyone who may ever be shot at with a laser weapon. (If you don’t understand that… Just think about it for a minute, kids. If light can get in, intense coherent light can get in.)

The second picture is the first drawing/sketch Paul ever did of a Mo’Ceri, shared here in case you want a better idea of what these people look like in their true forms. (I don’t know who this is. Probably Em.)

I wish I had more art to share with you… I wish I had at least a good sketch of the mission patch for the Roald Amundsen, for example. I wish I had a good picture of Jon Livingston’s ship. (I have a couple of pictures of it, but they’re… not good. We have a name for that ship now, anyway. Maybe. All details subject to change if necessary, etc.) I wish I had a 3D-printed model of the Betula. I wish I had houseplans for the place where Geoffrey was renting a room as a university student, the summer when the “interdimensional ninjas” attacked. I wish I had portraits of some of the minor characters in our stories. I wish I had a detailed map of Haefenspoint. I wish I had a reasonable facsimile of the seascape lithograph Lynnie gave Alex to hang on his office wall when he took that government job.

Some of these things, I’ll have eventually: I’ve been looking at old houseplans a lot lately, in case I recognize one; I can have the Amundsen mission patch made as soon as I/we come up with a design; Grace has arranged to have a small model of the Betula made in exchange for some fancy embroidery work (she knows a Creative Anachronist who owns a 3D printer and wants to own better Italian Renaissance-style clothes); I know someone who’s quite good at making maps, and I can draw/paint character portraits myself… although I don’t want to. (When it comes to realistic two-dimensional art, I’m better with landscapes and architecture than I am with people and animals. To draw people, I need models of some sort. This means I’d have to find photographs of people who look at least somewhat like the characters in my/our stories, and… well, I’ve never been inclined to think that such-and-such figment of my imagination looks like such-and-such actor. That’s not how it works.)

 

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