How Can Sci-Fi Space Art Illuminate Science and Technology?

MasterOgon · Dec 6, 2023

Hi everyone! I love science, am constantly interested in news in various fields, and have even done my own amateur research in physics and psychology, but I am an artist. And that’s why I most like to popularize scientific and technological progress, as well as highlight related issues through my art, and I would like to share some of them here. This is oil and acrylic painting.

Painting of two chrome humanoid robots in the foreground, one raising an arm toward a glowing red-dotted star-shaped emblem against a starry nebula, with skulls at their feet and robed robot figures floating above.

Painting of a lunar colony with domed habitats, a conical tower, a rover, two astronauts, and a large blue Earth rising above; a winged spacecraft with rocket engines fires at left and a station with solar panels floats above.

Painting of a curved planetary limb seen from orbit, with a red-orange turbulent textured surface on the left fading to pale pink and a dark starry sky on the right.

Painting of three spacesuited astronauts on a rocky alien landscape under a huge glowing orange planet, with a red planet and a starfield in the sky and a tall spacecraft fin at right.

Painting of a sleek silver spacecraft with round cabin windows and a glowing thruster plume, flying over a turbulent red and orange plasma or nebula surface with a bright star in the upper right.

Painting of a dystopian futuristic city at night under a red crescent moon and lightning, with chrome-grey humanoid figures in the streets and a large central robot head with a glowing red-lit face, red signage reading "bodies" and "NEW ... EVERY DAY".

Painting of a stylized woman in a wide-brimmed hat with a flying saucer on top, surrounded by stars, a sun and a planet Earth, with a large orange dish-like structure behind her.

fresh_42 · Dec 7, 2023

MasterOgon said:

Hi everyone! I love science, am constantly interested in news in various fields, and have even done my own amateur research in physics and psychology, but I am an artist. And that’s why I most like to popularize scientific and technological progress, as well as highlight related issues through my art, and I would like to share some of them here. This is oil and acrylic painting.

That's interesting and beautiful.

Are there fields you favor? Most laymen and even undergraduate physics students mention quantum theory, relativity theory, or cosmology. Although our technological progress has sped up exponentially within the last sixty years or so, scientific progress is still measured in centuries. It is a good time to be interested in physics. The last revolutionary steps date back about a century, so a new era is on the horizon and the questions are on the table. The answers, however, take their time. Look at the Nobel prizes in physics. They often lag by an entire decade.

Popular science is not very popular at PF. We want to support students and follow mainstream science as it is taught at universities. Physics as it is displayed in popular magazines has to make too many simplifications to be understood by a wider audience and often uses comparisons that are not suited, but this is a discussion of its own. Anyway,

have fun and stay curious!

MasterOgon · Dec 7, 2023

Thank you!

Yes, I am interested in cosmology, and also what is connected with space flight. In particular, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics were the subject of my research. But I could add to this other areas such as astronomy, climatology, nuclear physics, the science of consciousness, ... I am especially interested in what is discovered at the intersections of different sciences. Sometimes they don't fit together very well, but reconciling them leads to interesting conclusions. I'm not an expert in any of them, but I'm familiar with a lot of them and I like that in art I can think about it more freely. I agree that popular science content is more introductory in nature, and if I am interested in a question, I try to find academic articles on this topic.

Bandersnatch · Dec 7, 2023

These are lovely. The art style reminds me of space race-era Russian postage stamps.

MasterOgon · Dec 7, 2023

Thank you, I remember these stamps, I had them as a child because i lived in USSR. I love this old sci fi art style because back then people were inspired and dreamed. I hope this will happen again soon with renewed vigor.

I'll add more here

Painting of a retro-futuristic lunar scene: a six-wheeled rover with a radar dish and robotic arm on an icy surface, a domed lander with a landing leg to the left, a large ring-shaped space station with a cluster of spherical fuel tanks above, blue crystal formations, and a starry Milky Way sky.

Painting of a retro-futuristic scene: a tall rocket with portholes stands at the center of a domed city of spires and glowing lights, with suited astronauts and robed figures gathered on a stone platform below, under a red-tinted sky full of stars.

Painting of a retro-futuristic spacecraft cockpit with a ring of round windows showing a starfield, glowing nebula, and a red-orange planet horizon, with two armored pilot arms gripping controls and glowing dials.

Painting of a retro-futuristic space scene: two large silver rocket ships with red-eyed faces stand on a launch pad with towers and dish antennas, while smaller spacecraft fly past a blue Earth under a red and orange sun.

Painting of a dark grey, cone-shaped spacecraft with three glowing orange thruster nozzles, flying past a green-rimmed planet with a red swirling surface against a starry background.

pinball1970 · Dec 7, 2023

MasterOgon said:

Thank you, I remember these stamps, I had them as a child because i lived in USSR. I love this old sci fi art style because back then people were inspired and dreamed. I hope this will happen again soon with renewed vigor.

I'll add more here
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Nice!

difalcojr · Dec 13, 2023

MasterOgon said:

Thank you, I remember these stamps, I had them as a child because i lived in USSR. I love this old sci fi art style because back then people were inspired and dreamed. I hope this will happen again soon with renewed vigor.

I think your art is fantastic! Not sure if you market it. It would make fine poster art too. Kids love posters to put on their walls. These are perfect. They would soon be thinking and dreaming of futuristic ideas and space.
I especially like the spaceship flying low over the surface of that molten planet. Wild. Thks for posting these. I'll buy a poster if ever available.