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Keithspangle β Arthur C Clark
Published: 2012-02-02 23:24:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 3551; Favourites: 55; Downloads: 28
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Not sure what to do with this: I was cleaning out my studio and came across this photo of Arthur C. Clark (who wrote 2001 among many other things). I DID NOT TAKE THIS PICTURE!The reason I am showing it is because the painting behind him is one of mine: it shows my idea of what a terraformed Mars would look like. This was an illustration that I did for the book The Millennial Project by Marshall T. Savage. Mr Clark wrote a glowing endorsement of the book and admired the painting so.....we sent it to him in Sri Lanka.
Later he had this photo taken and sent it to us.
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Comments: 73
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I believe that was the highlight of my artistic career.
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And what a highlight! He was a terrific writer and I read and loved a lot of his books.
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Songs of Distant Earth is still one of my favorites, along with, of course, Childhood's End.
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Yes indeed. Rendezvous with Rama was another that really fired my imagination.
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That was a good one....I need to re-read it!
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So proud to learh he liked your drawing that much. Hope to meet your latests very soon again
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Thank you!Β And thank you for the faves!Β Health issues have slowed things down a bit, but I hope to have some new work to share soon.
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Sorry to hear problems about your health, hΔ±opΔe you are doing fine in these days. Δ± just visit your page and saw 2 new submissions. thanks for sharing :d
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Thank you for visiting!
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So Awesome!! As a young reader his Sci Fi was
my first and fave Author in early 70s...ππ
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We just about had kittens when we found out he was endorsing the book...and I still consider this photo to be the high point of my artsie career!
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Nice... If me i agree... Legend Before His Time..
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That's awesome , something to be very proud of , both the painting and where it's at .
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Thank you!Β I still think it was the high point of my career as a painter.Β Β
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Perhaps , One never knows , but would certainly make the list of "close ones" . Your work is brilliant , both painting and photography, most enjoyable viewing . Best of luck in all your endeavors .Β
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When I was growing up, the ABC's of Science Fiction were Asimov, Bradbury and Clarke
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I have that book, it's a very fun and wild ride of imagination. I don't know how feasible it is, but it's a beautiful vision. My favorite part it's the one about Aquarius.
Which other illustrations of that book you painted, sir?
I think you did most of them (If not all), they have more or less the same "flavor" of other pieces from your gallery, but I'd rather ask.
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I did most of the color plates and a few black and white. Β There was some talk of doing an updated edition, but it never got off the ground. Β I think the thing that I liked most about what Marshall was imagining was that 90% of the projects could have been done with off-the-shelf technology.
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I love the illustrations of the book and it's nice to be able to congratulate the artist. You did an amazing work. I like each one of them but if I have to choose a favorite, I think it's the one of the asteroids encased in bubbles so they can be terraformed. They are very inspiring and I hope to be able to paint like that someday. Well not exactly like that, since everyone has their own style, but with that quality and expertise.
I didn't knew how much of his ideas were feasible, but it makes kind of sad to know. It could have been done then, but it wasn't. It was such a beautiful future.
Thank you for replying!Β Β
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Thank you! 
As far as being able to paint like that: no secret. Β Just do a lot of paintings. Β You'll get there and surpass what I have done. Β
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Lovely painting; and a good portrait of Mr. Clark.
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It was a bit of adventure getting the painting to Sri Lanka...apparently it got to Colombo just fine (via KLM) but then no one called Mr. Clarke to tell him that his painting had arrived. Β Eventually he got it.
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If I recall correctly; he mentioned something about difficulties and adventures in getting larger parcels in the mail during something of an interview, possibly at one of the big SF Cons.
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When we didn't hear back, I spent a nervous week thinking he hated the painting. Β Marshall finally got tired of waiting for a reply and called KLM to see what happened. Β I would still like to see Sri Lanka and see why he loved it so much.
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Good thing you did. It could have vanished if you hadn't.
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True...at least it got to Colombo without detours.
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It was nice to come across the picture again!
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Yes, and so shortly after we talked about this
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He was one of the ABC's of Science Fiction ( Asimov, Clarke and Bradbury).
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Personally I'd rather terraform venus it's as big as the earth.
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I'd like to turn it into the dinosaur swamp planet from the old sci-fi stories.
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Actually it would become rather swampy because its surface is rather flat due to the lack of plate tectonics.
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I've heard theories on how to best deal with Venus...CO2 eating bacteria to arranging an asteroid strike. Mars we could almost start on now with our present technology...but isn't Venus a little beyond us at the moment?
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True. But Mars has one big problem. It's size! Obviously it is smaller than Earth but one of the consequences of this is that is rather difficult to maintain an atmosphere over time that remains livable. Both in sense of breathability as in protection of harmful radiation.
The one big problem on Venus is the lack of cooling. I'm quite certain that when water is introduced to a point of it creating enough vapor to provide enough heat reflection by cloud forming to cause it to cool. Where to find all that water? The Kuiper belt!
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I don't recall...does Mars have a rotating iron core? Marshall's idea was to bombard Mars with huge ice blocks mined from the Jovian moons...I think we'd be better off just colonizing the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn, then moving on the the Kuiper belt to make use of the water.
One big problem(also) is humanity's inability to plan centuries long projects. I just can't see our political elite planning projects that only their great grandchildren will see come to fruition.
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Big problem with Jupiter is that it emits tons of radiation. So its moons are pretty dangerous because of it. As to Mars's core well it is still under investigation but it is not like Earth's. General view is between syrupy to solid.
And yeah political vision is rather limited to their election time and big electoral payoff's. An immortal Star Trek loving tyrant with a green tumb would be a good idea on that front.
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Plus Europa might harbor life under all that ice which we probably shouldn't screw around with.Kuiper belt sounds really far off, but if the ships were outfitted correctly as worlds of their own, it wouldn't matter how long the outbound trip took...once the ice chunks started coming in regularly the distance to their origin becomes irrelevant...so long as they go where they're supposed to.
Where are the Vulcans when you need 'em?
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Yeah Europa is a big possibility of harboring life. I rather giddy with the prospect of it being examined up close.
As to getting there and back again, keep in mind that the basic technology used today is getting close to a century of age! I admit they refined it a bit but still the principle remains the same! The stuff Charels Bronson is dabbling with is something I imagined when I was 12'ish years old, I'm 31 now. I'm quite certain that with some time and experimentation I can work out some of my notions and idea's and build a one man spacecraft in my free time.
As to where the Vulcan's are well can you blame 'em from staying a lightyear away from us!
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Yeah...I remember talking to an engineer who told me we could be on the way to Alpha Centauri by 2000 if we really wanted to do it.
I was thinking building ships that would be big enough and comfortable enough that they would be perfectly adequate as permanent homes to the crew...fuel them with water: either by burning the hydrogen or maybe figuring out how to make anti-matter out of the stuff. The crew would be working from home, so to speak, and wouldn't care how far from Earth they were: the ships are home. Kind of space-bedouins.
When Marshall was writing his book I wanted him to examine the possibility of using ice as the material to build ships...use it as fuel too, so the further it flew, the lighter it got...then when it arrived at Wherever it had only to find a water source to replenish itself.
Well, we have a real live Spaceport here in New Mexico...so I suppose some of the future is trickling in.
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I send you a note to continue this discussion or we'll troll you submission a bit to much!
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