Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Neutron Starlight




Here we are in the realm of warped space! I have finished my Neutron Star astronomical fantasy and here it is. (Click on the image for a slightly larger view.) This is not an "accurate" astronomical depiction but rather a fantasy about what it is like to orbit the core of a supernova. The title of the piece is "Frame Dragging," which is how a rapidly rotating super-gravity object like a neutron star warps and pulls space around it. This is symbolized by the twisted grids I included in the picture. A jet of charged particles emerges from the center of the disk.

Much of this was painted with an airbrush, a lowly paint sprayer still holding its own in a world of digital slickness. In fact, I did the sketch for this painting in Photoshop, but did the final piece in acrylic. Perhaps it's a backwards sort of process, but the client has something made out of "real stuff" as it were, to display on his wall and possibly at a gallery. "Frame Dragging" was commissioned by a composer friend of mine, who plans to write a piece inspired by the art, along with other artists he has similarly tasked. I'll be interested to see what he produces.

"Frame Dragging" is acrylic on masonite board, 16" x 20", February-March 2010.

2 comments:

Mike (Altus) said...

Excellent work. I like how busy it is.

Tristan Alexander said...

First, YEAH "real" art! lol
Second, this remeinds me of your "realistic" space art and your abstract mathmatical art blended! It has a ton of activity and could be busy, but has a nice overall wholeness!