Let The Countdown Begin! 2011 SOTL – Sneak Peek 01- Andrew Probert

“Long Range Confirmation” – Andrew Probert

2011 Ships of The Line Calendar from Pocket Books – On Sale August!

Get ready, ’cause the amazing Andy Probert has turned the 2011 Ships of the Line calendar on it’s end!  That’s right! Andy is the first artist to take advantage of the calendar as a vertical format! No surprise there… Andy has been shaking the Star Trek Universe up pretty regularly, and he has done it again. Man, when this baby arrived my jaw hit the deck. Positively stunning! We used to think the standard Romulan Warbird was huge. This Romulan super ship redefines things a little. You’ll have to wait awhile longer for a full rez look, but it the meantime this ought to get your juices going! Look for the SOTL 2011 Calendar a little earlier this year, it’s slated to arrive in in stores this August.

SOTL Flashback – 09

Apollo Commands – John Teska – 2006

In honor of Mike Forest and his B-17 Flight!

SOTL 2011 – Coming this Fall– From Simon & Schuster.

Eyecandy – 30

“Making for for Deep Water” – Doug Drexler

SOTL Flashback – 08

Girlfriends – Doug Drexler

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster.

SOTL Flashback

“Shoreleave” – SOTL – 2008

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster

SOTL Flashback – 03

“Enterprise”  – Fred Pienkos – SOTL – 2008

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster

SOTL Flashback – 02

“Uneasy Truce”  – Rob Bonchune – SOTL – 2009

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster

SOTL Flashback

“Top Secret”  – Pierre Drolet – SOTL – 2009

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster

Eyecandy 27 – deg – TOS.5.2

Did you know that it was just deg’s birthday? (Thanks Dea, for the heads up!) Usually you give someone a present on their birthday. In deg’s case he gave us a present. New images of his TOS refit. Sexy time!

Eye Candy 27

The Enterprise

There was a time when we thought we might be doing the new VFX for the remastered TOS episodes. This was our ship.

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Vanguard: Precipice

(Above) My new cover for David Mack’s novel “Vanguard: Precipice”. Should be out there now. Pick it up from Simon & Schuster\Pocket Books. Thanks for everything, Margaret!

(Below) I usually give Margaret a few roughs to choose from. Here are some of the runner ups. Lookit how the juxtaposition of the hangar door and the Enterprise conspire to suggest the Starfleet delta (far left).

Eye Candy 26

First of the Line

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Eyecandy 25

Xindi Marauder

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Eyecandy 24

“Botany Bay”

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Eyecandy 19

“Reliant… Our Sector!” – Max Rem\Alain Rivard

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Countdown to 2010 SOTL! 05

“Secret of Farpoint Station” – John Teska

  Coming soon: The 2010 Ships of the Line Calendar! Let the countdown begin!

From Pocket Books, where all eras of Star Trek live!

Click for a better look.

Countdown to 2010 SOTL! 04

SOTL 2008 – Ambush! –  by  Koji Kuramura

  Coming soon: The 2010 Ships of the Line Calendar! Let the countdown begin!

From Pocket Books, where all eras of Star Trek live!

Click for a better look.

2010 SOTL Closeup – Robert Wilde– “We Come In Peace For All Mankind”

 

I remember leafing through  Scifi-Meshes and coming across Mr. Wilde. I think it was a piece called “Vertical Combat”. I put a check next to that name… this guys got something…

  

Almost a year ago, when Doug contacted me by leaving a private message at Scifi-Meshes.com, my very first thought was “You gotta be kidding me.” I have been doing a lot of Star Trek images just for fun for several years now, and the Ships of the Lines Calendar has always been one of the many sources of inspiration. There was always this little spark of hope that some day, somehow, one of my images would get printed in that calendar. But I would have never expected that to happen. But as it turned out, sometimes, somehow, dreams DO come true.

I had a look at the previous calendars to get a feel of what had been done before, what had been hinted at and what had never been done. I had already been working on a model of the giant mushroom shaped Spacedock from Star Trek III, one of my favorite structures in Star Trek. It gives the Star Trek universe such a grand scale and it shows what mankind is capable of in the 23rd century. So I wondered how I could take something that famous and majestic and combine it with something that had never been done before and that went beyond a simple beauty shot.

(Above and below) The two rough sketches I submitted to Doug for this piece. 

With the addition of the Enterprise it became clear what timeframe this image was set in. We didn’t see the Spacedock in The Motion Picture or The Wrath of Khan, yet it was suddenly there in The Search for Spock. So I figured it would be cool to see the construction taking place roughly at the same time as the Enterprise’s refit in drydock. Thanks go to Alain Rivard for giving me permission to use his vast collection of models, from the Enterprise and Drydock to the Reliant and various shuttles.

After Doug gave me the green light, I immediately started working on the “damaged” Spacedock model.

2010 SOTL Closeup – Greg Stewart – “Operation Return”

Meet Greg Stewart! You’ve seen him around the drex files. He’s one of us! I mean one of the hopelessly afflicted! I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s genetic. But anything about getting “out there thataway”  just fires all our circuits and sizzles our synapse!

So Greg! Hip us, daddy!

 

I was contacted by Doug, out of the blue, to submit an image for the calendar.  He had seen a couple of my Star Trek images online and wondered if I would be interested.  At first I was skeptical, but after I researched a little, I realized the opportunity was legit!  This guy was the real Doug “freaking” Drexler!

The Ships of the Line calendar has had a place on my wall since I was a teenager.  Every year I would look forward to a new and dazzling array of eye-candy that would light the fuse of my imagination.  And to get a chance to create an image for that very calendar!  Boy, what an honor and a thrill!

 I cracked open the beautiful SOTL book for inspiration, and immediately knew my subject vessel.  My all-time favorite Star Trek ship is the USS Defiant, and she’d been under-represented in the recent SOTL calendars.  So I envisioned the Defiant doing what she does best…kickin’ some butt! 

Working with 3d models by some awesome artists (Skye Dodds, Flat Eric, Rick Snider, Ebolii), I set out to depict a skirmish on the front lines of the Dominion War.  And with Doug’s words of encouragement – “knock ‘em dead” – I was off and running.

I started with a rough layout to get a feel for the composition, then a quick render with rough effects and lighting for approval of the image.  Doug had some suggestions, which I gladly took to heart!

Then the fun part began; lighting, effects, and lots of refining!  The image was created with a mix of Lightwave 3d and Photoshop.

 

A big thanks to Doug for making this fan-boy’s dream come true!  And kudos to my fellow SOTL artists…it’s an honor to be represented with such an amazingly talented group!

 

I’m thanking YOU, Greg!

Eyecandy 18

Conduit!

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Eyecandy 17

Vaadwaur Hangar – CG Matte Painting

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Eyecandy 16

“Lightyears To Go, Before We Sleep”

Countdown to 2010 SOTL! 03

SOTL 2006 – Cover –  by Mike Stetson & Koji Kuramura

  Coming soon: The 2010 Ships of the Line Calendar! Let the countdown begin!

From Pocket Books, where all eras of Star Trek live!

Click for a better look.

Eyecandy 015

Enterprise episode: Minefield

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Countdown to 2010 SOTL! 02

SOTL 2007 – “Flight of the Columbia” –  by Pierre Drollet

Coming soon: The 2010 Ships of the Line Calendar! Let the countdown begin!

From Pocket Books, where all eras of Star Trek live!

Click for a better look.