In this series of paintings I am paying homage to some of my favorite writers from the 19th century. The first in the series was Edgar Allen Poe whose chilling words continue to thrill me today as much as they did when I first read them years ago. (The story behind his portrait can be read here). The second in the series just had to be Jules Verne. His stories filled my childhood with adventures to far off lands and beyond, firing my imagination and always leaving me wanting more. In this illustration I wanted to touch upon as many elements from his most famous stories as I could reasonably fit into one portrait including From Earth to the Moon, Around the World in 80 Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Five Weeks in a Balloon all of which are still in print. His fantastic vision of imagined space travel, undersea exploration and science in general are so incredible when seen from the viewpoint of the mid 19th century. He truly was the Father of Science Fiction.
Outer Space Bingo
For Bingo's annual Halloween portrait this year I combined my love of Jules Verne and of 1950's sci fi movies in an homage to vintage space travel. I have always loved reading Verne's imaginative descriptions of victorian science, particularly in From Earth to the Moon. I have also spent many Saturday afternoons as a child entranced by 1950's sci fi movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Destination Moon and It Came From Outer Space to mention just a few of the many. I also thought a lunar landscape would be the perfect counterpart to Bingo's deep sea adventure of 2013. I had so much fun combining the deep black of space with the atomic green of the cheesy moon foreground.
Let me also make it clear that Bingo was never in any actual danger during the painting of this portrait.
