RIP Ron Cobb

Ron Cobb, American/Australian illustrator designer and concept artist died on the September 21, in his 80s.

Ron was know most for his work on the ships and logos and iconography in Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien. He also worked on Back the the Future, Total Recall, The Abyss, Dark Star, Star Wars…

More information on his life and history here at We Are The Mutants.

The Semiotic Standard

Alien is one of the best lived-in-future worlds in all of cinema. It is dingy and rough, old and broken down. Tactile and utilitarian. In addition to the objects and interiors, there is also a very plausible graphic system for the ship indicating various safety warning. These types of symbols exist in a lot of hazardous workplaces and this version looks clean and futuristic, but also looks like it could have been in use at any point from the 40’s onward. They are completely usable and believable.

Political Comics

Cobb served in the Vietnam war and when he returned he got back to work as an artist, creating many gorgeous and brutal political cartoons for the Los Angeles Free Press. They are critical of the government handling poverty, race, the draft, nukes, environmentalism and police brutality. These comics are an amazing time capsule of the anti-war and politically conscious era and are incredibly relevant today. Sadly we haven’t solved really any of these problems.

Walk Like You – Yuri Schwedoff

Yuri Schwedoff is a Russian artist and painter. These works seem to mostly be digital, but they are rendered with a high degree of realism. They are dark and atmospheric. Fantastical stuff. Very fun.

I don’t know where or if photography plays into his workflow, but it seems like it must, at least as reference for faces, poses etc. Or maybe he is just that skilled at knowing how light plays on things. I know for me personally, if I’m drawing from a live model or a photograph, there are always details and features that show up that I would totally miss if I am drawing purely from my mind. Things from my head look cartoony and odd. Its not the same. But certainly with practice you can develop a knowledge of anatomy and color and light that gets you to realistically imagine most anything.

Walk Like You - Simon Stålenhag

Simon Stalenhag is a painter from Sweden who’s work describes a very vivid and compellingly decaying future.

I’ve been really fascinated recently of the idea of a large scene, rather than an intimate one, like a classical painting where there is a full story playing out before you. Stalenhags paintings imply the existence of a complicated and deep world. There’s so much in atmosphere and scale, as well as inference in these images. And it’s that inference, that suggestion without explanation, that is so fascination.

And this world is so intriguing that it’s actually getting its own series on Amazon. The pilot will be directed by none other than Mark Romanek. It will be very interesting. Theres a lot possible in Simon’s imaginary world to be explored.

I’ll be watching.