|
"Retropolis"
is the name I've given to my Future That Never Was,
and now it's also the name of this wild, movie poster-style
montage of the places and people that fill that world.
It pulls together a lot of elements I've been working
with over the past year - in fact, I think I started
the city itself about three and a half years ago -
into one big joyful conglomeration of retro-futuristic
enthusiasm. I'm pretty crazy about it, as maybe you
can tell.
This
is a city so big it has weather. Like in weather patterns.
Don't mistake the fog and clouds for pollution, since
that's not a problem here; the City Of The Future
used to always be about transportation of a sleek,
modern and desirable kind. This is no exception, with
its thundering monorail and its high-flying, lighter-than-air
airships - but it's not all public transportation
either, since we were promised flying cars. Here we
finally have them in the form of open cockpit roadster
rockets that burst right out of the heart of the picture.
Arranged
around the central image of the city are several of
the folks you might meet there. For no reason I can
explain, I've named the male characters after British
band leaders of the 20's and 30's. We've got Nat Gonella,
Henry Hall, and Lew Stone, and in her own vein there's
their friend Aelectro Monica, along with Rusty, the
original Faithful Robot Companion.
For
those of us on my side of the water there's a nod
to the Gershwins, too, and there's at least one subtle
reference to someone who to the best of my knowledge
never was a musician. You'll have to find him for
yourselves.
As
always in these images I've combined elements of 3D
rendering with 2D painted work, done afterwards in
Photoshop. I sort of pulled out all the stops on this
one - due to the demands of my Day Job I don't get
nearly enough time during the year to do these, and
I think I had a lot of something or other bottled
up that just plain had to get out. It looks to me
like most of it managed to.
The
print is an on-demand reproduction of my digital painting.
Its resolution is 318 DPI at a full size of 20 by
30 inches. If you ask me, I think you probably ought
to have one.
|