Hey there! Me again! I was wondering about what you feel are some of the qualities that make the 70's style of sci-fi art so distinct and recognizable? I reached out to Stephen Youll, and he said that he used a lot of bold colors, colored lighting, and side lit figures, and I definitely see a lot of that. What do you think?
Thatβs tough to answer, because the era covers such a variety of styles... I definitely agree about the bold colors, thatβs probably the biggest defining trait. Hadnβt thought of side lit figures, thatβs interesting. There was also a big focus on spaceships and landscapes. And since Photoshop wasnβt around until the early 90s, thereβs a certain lack of photorealistic polish that helps set 70s/80s art apart. Aside from that, though, there are just a lot of smaller trends. I actually just put together a list for my art book editor covering the different main elements of 60s/70s/80s sci-fi cover art and which artist best exemplifies them. Here it is: Richard Powers (surrealism), Michael Whelan (the human figure), Chris Foss (realistic spaceships), John Berkey (abstracted, atmospheric spaceships), Wayne Barlowe (aliens), Syd Mead (design), and David A Hardy (non-fiction space art).Β Β
