Computer Animation Arts

... and suddenly Chris Foss's 'tropical fish meets sci-fi' aesthetic doesn't seem quite so startling! Introducing the wonderful illustrations and cover art of Frank R. Paul. "Frank R. Paul was born in Vienna, Austria on April 18, 1884. He died on June 29, 1963 in Teaneck, New Jersey. Known as the "Dean of Science Fiction" he illustrated hundreds of pulp magazine covers & interior illustrations. Born in Austria he studied art in Vienna, Paris & then New York City. He began working for Gernsback Publications doing covers & technical drawings for Gernsback's Electrical Experimenter (later Science & Invention), Radio News & others. He was the natural choice for the covers of Amazing Stories in 1926 & became known as the pre-imminent sf artist of the time, igniting the imagination of many including Al Feldstein who would go on to write, illustrate & edit Weird Science & Weird Fantasy in the 1950's. Paul p...

You may recall DNEG's Robin Konieczny citing sci-fi artist Chris Foss as an early inspiration. Foss's strikingly colourful and idiosyncratic spaceship designs dominated the 'big books of fantasy art' of my adolescence. What I didn't know before putting this edition of The Supplement together is that Foss was also responsible for the illustrations in The Joy Of Sex! "It’s hard to overstate the influence Chris Foss has had on our collective vision of the future... Until he arrived on the scene, the future was a needle sharp, sleek-looking place that got less and less human. Chris introduced us to a human future, where space ships were “rumbling bumbling bangy things with bits of metal hanging off.” “My first break was with erotic artwork,” he says. “Because that’s what they wanted at Bob Guccione’s new magazine, Penthouse.” And strangely, once you know of this ‘other side’ you can see that it somehow suffuses the SF images too. An intimate familiarit...