WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS
- WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS - A black ink and color pencil drawing on an 11 x 16 size poster board. It appears in my art folio, "Fabian in Color," published by Ted Dikty. Although I have not seen it, I understand the drawing appears on the cover of a paperback, "Worlds Within Worlds".
In 1974 I received an assignment to do a cover painting for Ted Dikty of Starmont House. He did not send me a manuscript to read, I was just asked to do something "science fictiony," and to use the title, "Worlds Within Worlds" for inspiration. "Great" I thought, that should be easy!" But I soon found out that having complete freedom can be a mind-boggling obstacle.
I realize now why it is that so many good artists end up painting a flower, or a can opener, or a barn. It's the impossible challenge of selecting something unique to paint out of an infinite number of possibilities. It is so immense that they fold under the pressure and paint something requiring no thought at all; they end up painting that vase on the table.
So there I was, facing "infinite possibilities," wanting to paint an impressive cover, hoping to bolster my budding career. I spent hours with all kinds of ideas flying around in my head that, no doubt, reflected all the science fiction stories I read over the years. I was overwhelmed with possible scenes.
So I stopped and took a lunch break. And when I got back to work I reminded myself that the title of the book should be my inspiration! So I read the title again, and it occurred to me that some kind of "bridge" may connect the worlds, and then, maybe a man and woman were involved in some kind of chase drama between the worlds? And just like that, in only a few minutes I had a rough sketch of the scene worked out. As far as I know there is no formula for creating an idea for an illustration, the ideas come out of a mental process that is a mystery.
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