Space Artists

The Patch Guy

2010-07-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hidden among the sand dunes of the Space Coast there resides an artist with a unique resume. Many of his works make the journey into Space as part of the equipment located on a Shuttle crew member's spacesuit. Tim Gagnon, who goes by the Internet name of "kscartist," has created several crew member patches for various shuttle crews throughout the years.

I like to call him "The Patch Guy," because Tim also designs many other different patches that range from commemorative patches for anniversaries of famous spaceflights to patches that encompass an entire program of flights like his Mercury, Gemini and Apollo series of patches.

Tim is a member of a group of children that grew up during the 1960's and were inspired by the race to the Moon. As such, his love of spaceflight and art came about almost at the same time and has continued to this day. Since 1986, Tim has used his own inspiration to inspire young kids through his work in the Young Astronaut Program. Tim has been a local ambassador for space flight in his community.

Personally, I have known Tim for many years through my visits to Florida and the Kennedy Space Center where our paths have crossed during various space related events down on the Cape as well as our enjoyment of art.

In response to my inquiries about what inspired Tim to create patches, he said, "People and events inspire me. Whether it is a meaningful shuttle mission like "Return to Flight" or Eileen Collins and her daughter," people and the events that they are involved in frequently provide the inspiration for art."

I have been trying to get Tim to paint some original patch art work for me for quite some time, but owing to his busy schedule, it took awhile to procure a couple of his works. Recently, Tim produced original pieces of two patches for me. The works of art are representative of his capabilities in creating space mission patches as well as commemorative patches.

One patch celebrates the 50th Anniversary of NASA and our country's history of space exploration. The second patch is an original patch design by Tim and his friend, Jorge Cartes for the STS-126 space shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

The painting shown in the photo below is from his commemorative series of works.

Tim originally created this patch digitally and I first saw this work as a embroidered patch in 2008. This patch is officially titled as, "Celebrating 50 Years of America in Space." The patch is such a wonderful representation of NASA's unique history as well as honoring the men and women who participated in those past events.

I must admit that I fell in love with this patch design. The shape, the colors and objects shown in the patch are a wonderful mix of design and symbolism. The red, white and blue colors of our country's flag coupled with the golden colors that represent a traditional 50th anniversary really caught my eye. The addition of the brilliant colors of a rocket launch against a background that feature the Earth, Moon and Mars just make for a composition that is pleasing to the eye. With the addition of the stars, as symbolic gestures to both the Moonwalkers and astronauts who gave their lives in duty to their country, the work becomes majestic and a fitting representation of NASA's achievements.

There is more symbolism in the work, but I will let Tim explain it in the following scan that proves his explanation of "Celebrating 50 Years of America in Space."

The second patch in the Space Art collection is that of an actual shuttle mission. Although Tim has co-designed many patches with the flight crews and Jorge Cartes, the patch displayed below is very personal to my family.

While a more complete explanation of the patch design process can be found at the Space Patches website by following this link, http://www.spacepatches.nl/sts_mis_frame.html , the patch is of personal interest to our family, because of our friendship with some of the members of the crew.

Tim actually digitally designed the patch, as shown below, for embroidered patch manufacture, but I would later have him paint an original artwork for the collection.

When the STS-126 mission launched on November 14, 2008, it carried a little piece of our family into space. Unknown to me, my wife had conspired with Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper to place a family photograph on orbit in the Space Shuttle, "Endeavor," as a Christmas gift for me. I should have known something was up when Patti suggested that we go to the launch, but I didn't have a clue.

At Christmas, I was told that a surprise present would be arriving soon. Little did I know that the surprise would entail a visit from Heide in April of 2009 and a "Christmas gift" of a family portrait flown into space on STS-126.

It was a wonderful idea and gift from both Patti and Heide. We would later frame the photograph, certification and patch together and it now hangs in our living room.

Heide would also present us with a flown patch presentation that current hangs in my office.

As one can see this was a very special flight to our family, so when Tim suggested painting the STS-126 patch that he co-designed, I enthusiastically said, "Yes!"

When I asked Tim how he was able to work so successfully with the astronauts, his response was, "If I had to explain the "secret to my success" it's that I never forget that the art I am creating is not mine, but belongs to the crew. It's not my patch, but theirs. Accordingly, I will make suggestions based upon my experience, but the crew makes all the decisions. I am just the lucky guy to be able to work with the people I respect and admire."

In the photo shown above Tim shakes hands with Steve Bowen as Eric Boe, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, Chris Ferguson and the rest of the STS-126 crew looks on.

Through the years, Tim has worked continually to perfect his skill as an an artist and designer of crew patches as well as commemorative space patches. At the same time, he has worked to give back to the community by his avocation of space exploration. Tim's donation of his artistic talent, time and treasure to NASA as well as his community has rewarded him in being one of the few people on Earth to have something as personal as his art travel to outer space.

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You can see a gallery of his work at " www.kscartist.com "

Stepping on the Moon with Paul & Chris Calle

2009-07-31T05:07:00.000-07:00

Paul Calle 1928-2010

It is with regret that I note that Paul Calle has passed away at age 82 in Connecticut on December 30, 2010. This site is dedicated to his memory.
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In 1963, James Webb, instructed NASA to record America's drive to the Moon through the eyes of artists. Of the eight artists first chosen by NASA to document manned spaceflight, one of the artists was a 35 year old illustrator named Paul Calle. In hindsight it seems almost nature now that Paul was among the first to document Man's first journey to another world, since he had illustrated the covers for such science fiction magazines as Amazing Stories in the 1950's.

Although Paul is extraordinarily talented in the use of oils as a painter, it is his use of the pencil that truly makes him a master in the artistic world. This phenomenally gifted skill with one of the simplest implements in an artist's toolbox has allowed Calle virtually unrestricted access to his subjects during America's race to the Moon. Calle was the only NASA selected artist to attend the "suit up" of the Apollo 11 astronauts as they prepared for Man's lunar landing. His pen & ink sketches of those final moments prior to the crew's launch have been widely exhibited around the nation and currently reside in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Among his many talents as an artist, Calle is a creator of postal stamp art. As such, he designed many US postage stamps for the United States Postal Service including several that are related to spaceflight.

Calle was the creator of one of the most popular USPS stamps ever issued. The "First Man on the Moon" stamp artistically recreates the moment that Neil Armstrong placed his foot onto the surface of the Moon for the first time.

Since the stamp's release in 1969, as shown in the above photograph featuring the Apollo 11 crew and the Postmaster General during the official stamp presentation on September 9th, 1969, it has remained a favorite as a stamp and a collectible. On September 9th, 2009, the 40th anniversary of the stamp's issuance, Collectspace's Robert Pearlman interviewed Paul Calle about the famous piece of postage art. The interview can be found at the link listed below.

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-090909b.html

Recently, I was able to acquire this preliminary pencil drawing of the "First Man on the Moon" stamp directly from Paul Calle. This sketch represents the final version of the stamp.

Here is a photo of Paul with a final stamp version of the original sketch.

Forty years ago, my parents purchased an original United States Postal Service "First Day Cover" of Paul's "First Man on the Moon" stamp. These cache envelopes or "covers" were issued and canceled on the official first date of a stamp's issue. The above cover was issued and canceled on September 9th, 1969. There is also another cancel imprint for July 20th, 1969, the date of Man's 1st landing on the Moon. A second cancellation imprint is unusual and reflects the importance of that date in the history of human endeavor.

I was also the recipient of a most generous gift to the space art collection by Leslie Cantwell. As a gift, Leslie gave me an original Paul Calle pencil drawing of Calle's initial idea for the "First on the Moon" stamp. The gift was greatly appreciated and came as a complete surprise from a wonderful friend.

As the above scan of the pencil drawing attempts to show, Calle masterfully uses his talent to portray Armstrong's first step onto the Moon's surface. Calle uses an artistic method that ranges from broad course strokes, reminiscent of Van Gogh's work, to finely detailed pencil marks. He pulls this vast range of technique together to provide us with a wonderful sketch that is alive with the potential energy of one of history's most famous moments.

Paul has passed his artistic genes on to his son, Chris, who has also become a well known artist and stamp designer in his own right. They even work in the same art studio together. There must be an impressive exchange of ideas on composition and technique in the workspace that they share in rural New England.

Paul and Chris have collaborated on various projects involving both stamp and coin design. The above photograph shows a completed design drawing for a commemorative coin series for the Marshall Islands.

Paul Calle has been in the unique position, as one of the few artists, to document the transition from science fiction to science fact in the span of his lifetime. He has intimately chronicled manned spaceflight and will be forever linked to Mankind's first footprint on the Moon.

Recently, I have been in contact with Chris Calle. Chris has designed a website, located at www.callespaceart.com , showcasing both his and his father's art work. Through that site, I was able to contact Chris and procure three first day covers provide a representative example of the Calle style.

This first cover pencil drawing of the first man on the moon is the grand daddy of them all. Paul recreated his famous design for the 1969 version of First Man on the Moon stamp on this original first day cover. The cover was cancelled on day the stamp was first displayed publicly by the US Post Office.

Chris Calle shows his talent with a pencil on this first day cover. Chris used the 20th anniversary of Man's first lunar landing to portray Armstrong and Aldrin planting the first American flag on the Moon.

This stamp is up of election as the most iconic stamp to represent the United States in the upcoming International Exhibit at the National Postal Museum. Cast you vote before January 20th, 2010 at museum's website:

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/vote/

Finally, Paul and Chris collaborated on the stamp design representing the 25th anniversary of man's landing on the Moon.

These three covers illustrate the style and technique of two generations of space artists.

While there is sad news in Paul Calle's passing, He leaves his son, Chris Calle, who is an extremely talented artist, to carry on their artistic tradition as Chris demonstrates in this pencil drawing of his father as a Mountain Man in the Old West.*

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*UPDATE December 2010:Paul and Chris were prolific painters in the Western Art genre. Both participated in the Prix de West art competition held annually at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK. Their art is shown here at their website.

http://www.calleart.com/ARTIST~_PAULCALLE.html

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UPDATE: August 1st, 2009. I had lunch with Chris Calle today. Chris brought along his new book, "Celebrating Apollo 11: The Artwork of Paul Calle." Chris's book lovingly traces his father Paul and his artistic journey through America's race to the Moon. The book represents one of the best retrospectives of Paul Calle's space art, since Abrams published the now famous "Eyewitness to Space" catalog in 1973.

Chris has enlisted many of the people involved in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo program to describe their feelings about Paul Calle's artwork. Astronauts like Bill Anders talk about a painting like "Power to Go!" (reproduced on the book's cover) provided such a vivid recollection of the his own Saturn V launch on Apollo 8 that he choose the painting for his residence which he was Ambassador of Norway as an example of American art.

Andy Chaikin wrote the forward for the book and really nailed the description of Paul's drawing technique by saying, "...to vibrate with some kind of fantastic energy, like iron filings tracing the contours of a magnetic field." Any of us who had ever played with a game called "Wooly Wily" on a long road trip in the family automobile in the early 1960's ( http://www.childofthe1980s.com/2007/10/05/wooly-willy ) will understand what Andy was describing when he wrote of Paul's pen and ink drawing technique.

The book's publisher used high quality paper and high resolution photographs to capture the detail in Paul's exquisite pencil work.

The book is short and sweet and full of Paul's magical pen and ink drawings. It is a book not to be missed by any space art fan.

I would urge any one reading this blog to contact Chris Calle at www.callespaceart.com to buy a signed copy of the book.

Robert McCall Space Art

2009-01-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

It is with great sadness that I note that Mr. McCall past away in Scottsdale, AZ. on February 26, 2010 at the age of 90. This site is dedicated to his memory. _______________________________________________
In 2009, I was able to make one final purchase directly from Robert McCall, just prior to the donation of his entire collection to the University of Arizona for permanent display.

The above original work titled "First Men on the Moon" was painted as a smaller study for an eight by twelve foot mural.

The work that I was able to procure is a two by three foot original painting that was the study for the mural. McCall used a grid scale to determine the location and dimension of the subjects used in the mural. The scale grid marks show on the canvas of the study. While the study is very true to the mural, there are some differences. The study shows the lunar module (LM) is facing the artist, while it is turned sideways in the mural. Aldrin appears further away from Armstrong in the study. Finally, in the study, McCall used more of his technique of placing the Earth in the background of the composition while immersed in a cross pattern of stars and galactic dust.

In tracing the history of the painting, I found a San Antonio
College News Release that provided some information on the mural itself. The article states, "On July 20, 1969, Colonel Charles E. Cheever and bank employees gathered around a TV in the bank lobby to watch and celebrate the momentous touchdown with champagne. He commissioned the painting from Robert McCall, who in 1970 completed the life-sized painting that has hung in the Broadway Bank lobby ever since."

Recently in 2008, the Cheevers family donated the mural to
the San Antonio College, where it now hangs in the Francis Scobee Planetarium.

Mr. McCall granted my request to pose with this original work of art.

This is a major addition to the space art collection. It is, in all likelihood, the last acquisition that I will make directly from Robert McCall.

The Original McCall Article

If Chesley Bonestell is the Dean of Space Art, then Robert McCall is the superstar of the genre. McCall's work on very large murals at the National Air and Space Museum, it's annex, the Udvar-Hazy Center and the Johnson Space Center are seen by hundreds of thousands each year and his movie poster art work on Tora! Tora! Tora! and 2001 as well as other movies have been seen by millions.

Beginning in 1963 under the orders of James Webb, NASA commenced a program to have artists help document the work being done in the race to the Moon. McCall was one of the artists brought on board to record Man's journey into Outer Space. Since that time Robert McCall has documented some of the most famous images of a special time in history.

In March of 2001, I was lucky enough to have the chance to visit with Robert McCall at his studio. I photographed him as he was posing next to pieces of his art work that he had prepared for movies like 2001. During our time together as I interviewed him about his art and his time at NASA. Mr. McCall is a truly fascinating man as well as an excellent subject for an interview about the Apollo era.

I brought along some space related covers for McCall in the hope that he would do a small pen drawing on each of them. He did so much more.

My personal favorite of the works included here is this portrait of Robert Goddard. This is a first day cover issued in 1964 commemorating the professor and his work on liquid fueled rockets. As shown above McCall depicted the man between two famous eras of rocketry, the testing of a liquid fueled rocket in Roswell, NM in the 1930's and the Saturn V. Both rockets are launching in the daylight of one of McCall's trademark brilliant Suns.

The other reason that this piece is a personal favorite has to do with coincidence. Goddard moved to the southwestern desert near Roswell, NM to test rockets that had outgrown his farm in Massachusetts. At the same time, Edgar Mitchell, who would walk on the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission, grew up in Roswell and would walk past Goddard's home on his way to school. I showed the cover to Edgar and he inscribed the line "I lived down the road" and signed it. Coincidence that the inventor of the liquid fueled rocket and a moonwalker lived near each other? I think not!

McCall is also a prolific designer of stamps for the USPS.

Recently, I was able to add the above preliminary sketch of one of McCall's more famous stamp designs, "A Decade of Achievement." This stamp was issued by the US Post Office in August of 1971 to represent the 10th year since Kennedy issued his proclamation of sending a man to the Moon.

McCall sent this sketch along with another design for a twin stamp to be printed in time for the anniversary of NASA's 1961 directive to send a man to the Moon. One might call this rendering the birth certificate of a stamp. McCall also wrote several lines of instruction for use of the designs for the stamp. Bob also used the sketch paper as a artist pallet for the colors used in the painting.

The initial "twin" stamp design shown in the sketch above differed from the final design. McCall included the other programs that lead to the Apollo Moon landings in the above design sketch.

Project Mercury and the Gemini Program are represented by their spacecraft orbiting Earth on one side of the twin stamp. The Apollo Project was reflected on the second side of the stamp by the lunar module and lunar rover on the Moon's surface and the command service module orbiting overhead. McCall points out in his notes on the sketch that he had the latest NASA information on the rover's design.

As the above "twin" stamp block printed by USPS shows, the final design omitted the other projects for the inclusion of the Earth and the McCall trademark sun with four point sunbeams. The question in my mind is "Why did McCall leave out the two very important programs that lead to the final accomplishment of landing a man on the Moon?"

In my opinion, I find the initial sketch more representative of the achievements that NASA accomplished in that marvelous decade.

The above painting is a recent gem acquired for the collection. The painting titled "Only the Beginning" was completed in the early 1970's.

In talking with Robert McCall about the painting, McCall "was inspired by the wanting to make a simple statement of our remarkable achievement of landing on the Moon, recognizing that this is Only the Beginning."

When asked if the painting was for publication, Robert McCall said, "The painting was purely for fun. There was no client, no reason other than I simply wished to express the feeling that I had. It was so remarkable to me that we had accomplished this great achievement."

"Only the Beginning" is one of those works that define my knowledge of the artist's technique. It is a prime example of his unique use of composition with the Moon in the foreground and the Earth centered in the background. The addition of the lunar module landing on the lunar surface, while the command/service module streaks overhead completes the Apollo theme in this painting.

Although not painted for publication, the painting did appear as a two page spread in a book of McCall art titled, "Vision of the Future" written by the famous science fiction author, Ben Bova.

McCall was kind enough to remarque, inscribe and sign the reverse of painting for me also.

I was extremely lucky to purchase a McCall painting from Gene Cernan's collection via Novaspace. The painting has special significance. The painting, which is 26 inches in diameter of acrylic on Masonite, a representation of the Apollo 17 mission patch that was designed by Robert McCall and used during the mission. McCall gave this painting to Cernan at the time of the mission and it remained in Gene's collection until it's sale.

The work represents a painting of a mission patch by the insignia's designer for a lunar landing mission and given to the commander of the mission.

The painting had suffered some damage over the years. The painting had been hung by screws and incurred some scaring to the paint as seen in the above photograph taken upon it's arrival. By looking closely at the photo, drill holes can be seen across the middle of painting and linear black marks can be seen on the edges of the piece.

I brought the work to a museum art restorer to assess the damage and to determine a plan of conservation for the painting.

The first step was to attempt clean the painting to remove the various discoloring marks on the surface of the "canvas" (difficult task due to the use of acrylics). The initial work would be followed by filling the holes. Then the restorer worked to match the paint used in the original work. The restoration was finished by touching up the damaged areas. A conscious decision was made to leave the damage on the edges untouched due to the difficulties in repairing them and the fact that the frame would cover that area.

The above photograph shows the finished work prior to framing.

After the restoration was complete, McCall's signature on the work became much clearer as it emerged from under the contamination on the surface of the painting due to it's years of exposure to the elements. The painting now hangs proudly on display.

Recently through the help of Catherine McCall, Robert's daughter, and her gallery McCall Studios (http://www.mccallstudios.com/) I was able to purchase the painting shown above that is titled, "Launch of a Saturn V." The original painting is 23" x 30" and was completed in 1973. McCall worked with acrylic on paper to create the massive effects of the liftoff of world's largest launch vehicle. To me, personally, this painting sums up the race to the Moon.

The painting depicts the night launch of Apollo 17. Since he designed the mission patch for the flight, McCall and his wife, Louise attended the launch as guests of the crew. He recalled that "it was a night launch and a spectacle to behold."

Slightly off topic concerning the Apollo era, but still germane to Robert McCall's body of work, are his designs for floating cities. After watching flat bottomed clouds float across the sky, McCall came upon his designs for floating cities. Although not within today's technology, McCall hopes that one day cities will float above the Earth and thus protect the precious open land left on the planet. The above work is a minor pen and ink sketch of just such a city.

The pastel original pictured above is a more finished study of a floating city much like the one depicted in the finished painting entitled "Desert Nocturne."

Back in 2001, as we wrapped up our visit, I asked Mr. McCall about his book and he produced one and drew the above felt tip pen sketch on the inside of the cover. At that, my visit ended and I was on my way home.

To the Moon with Snoopy

2008-12-20T12:57:00.001-08:00

I purchased this painting from Gene Cernan. Captain Cernan was the Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) aboard the Apollo 10 mission to the Moon. The crew of Apollo 10 named their two spacecraft with code names, so ground control could determine which craft was communicating at any one time. Charles Schultz had given NASA the license to use the characters from the cartoon strip, "Peanuts" at the time. The crew named the Command/Service Module "Charlie Brown" and the Lunar Module "Snoopy" after two of the main characters in the cartoon. The crew had paintings of Charlie Brown and Snoopy done and took them onboard for the mission.

The above picture shows the back of the painting. Gene Cernan wrote "Flown on A-10. Seen on inflt TV" and signed it. John Young would later sign it in Tucson, AZ during a Novaspace signing.

The reason for the paintings was that they were to be used as a test of the color television camera that was being used for the first time on a trip to the Moon. The paintings were done on brightly colored backgrounds, so they would show up during the broadcasts from the spacecraft during it's voyage to the Moon. The picture included here is a still photograph taken from one of the television broadcasts and shows Tom Stafford, Commander of the Apollo 10 mission, holding the Snoopy painting.

Here is another still photograph from the color television broadcast on the Apollo 10 misson. John Young is holding the Snoopy painting.

In 2004, I traveled to Burbank to meet with Gene Cernan to discuss the painting. I was able to photograph Cernan with the painting.

In 2008, I met with General Stafford in Florida prior to helping his curator move some artifacts to the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma. We met for dinner in a restaurant in Cocoa Beach. The photograph above show the General signing back of the Snoopy painting. We were sitting at a bar and I was silently praying that nothing would fall near the piece. While my prayers were answered, sometimes you do what you have to do to complete a task.

The artwork now has the signatures and inscriptions from crew of Apollo 10. The photograph was taken of the painting that is now encapsulated in an archival UV protected frame and shows the signatures of the crew.

This photograph shows the painting in it's plexiglass frame. I wanted to have the ability to show both the front and back of the artwork. The unique frame does just that.

The painting has been sent to Santa Rosa, California, where it is currently on loan to the Charles Schulz Museum for it's new exhibition, "To The Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA."

Credit: Susie Martinez courtesy of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center.

The Snoopy exhibit opened at the Charles Schulz Museum and will run from January 31st to July 20th, 2009. The above photograph shows part of the exhibit currently on display. The Snoopy painting, sporting a new museum frame, is visible in the far left corner of the center kiosk. As an aside, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan were in attendance for the exhibit opening.

A friend, who attended the opening with Stafford and Cernan snapped this picture of the Snoopy painting on display.

The caption shown in above photograph is from the Snoopy painting display. It states that Charles Schulz wrote about the painting and it's meaning to him in his biography.

The exhibit provides a guided tour about a small, but unique, story in the larger history of the human exploration of Space.

Alexei Leonov: A Soul in Space

2008-09-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Is it the Russian soul that leads that country's people to produce romantic poets, writers and artists? Whatever the reason, Alexei Leonov is one who has been captured by his motherland's emotional embrace.

As a cosmonaut, Leonov has directly participated in many of Russia's (formerly the Soviet Union's) space flight firsts. As pictured above, Leonov was the first human to walk in space on Voskhod 2. General Leonov also trained for the first Russian lunar landing prior to the program's cancellation in the 1970's.

In what was maybe his finest moment, Alexei was the commander of the Russian half of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission in 1975. This mission represented the first international cooperative flight between the two former rivals (USSR and USA) in the race to the Moon.

Already an accomplished artist on both Earth and in space, Alexei brought colored pencils with him on the ASTP flight. He drew a series of sketches of the crew of both spacecraft (Soyuz and Apollo) as well as a self portrait during the mission.

For his work in space, Alexei Leonov was awarded the "Hero of the Soviet Union" twice as well as the "Order of Lenin." He is a true hero in the history of spaceflight.

As an artist, Alexei has risen to become one of the best known space artists in the world. His works have been published in many books such as "In the Stream of Stars," "Wait for Us, Stars" and his own book, "Earth and Space Painting." Leonov is a member of the Cosmic Group of the USSR Artist Union and International Association of Astronomical Artists. He has participated in several space art workshops throughout the world. His works have been exhibited in such institutions as the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

For his work as an artist, Alexei Leonov has been awarded the prestigious IAAA Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award and has been inducted into the International Association of Astronomical Artists' Hall of Fame.

In Russia, Leonov is a sought after designer of stamps. I was lucky to procure the above painting which was produced for a 15th anniversary commemorative stamp display at auction in 1999. The work displays Alexei's famous spacewalk. The painting shows him over Italy during his time outside his spacecraft. The work includes his trademark sun with its bright red corona.

In 1980, Fleetwood published the first spacewalk stamp commemorative in a two page limited edition binder.

I had the honor of meeting Alexei Leonov in September of 2004 in Los Angeles. I brought the spacewalk painting with me on the trip. I showed Alexei the painting and he smiled and said "Da" ("Yes" in Russian) . He re-signed the painting and then posed with it for a photograph. Francis French recalled that Leonov then took the painting back and remarqued the painting with a floating cosmonaut in the bottom margin next to his signature.

I remember that LA show in 2004, because of Alexei. During the annual banquet, Alexei rose to the podium and gave a wonderful speech. During that speech, where he said that his English was really, "sixteen words that I just rearrange," he proceeded to give a heartfelt tribute to the early spacefarers as he looked to Gordon Cooper. Alexei ended the tribute with a step down from the podium and gave an ill Gordon Cooper a great big bear hug. There was not a dry eye in the house. Gordo passed away the next month. That was my introduction to Alexei Leonov, the romantic.

Just recently I was able to procure some early watercolors from a series of paintings that Alexei did of life in early Baikonur. These three watercolors were later published in a book written by Leonov and Andrei Sokolov titled, "Life Among Stars."

Francis French and Colin Burgess refer to these watercolors in their book, "Into That Silent Sea." I recently asked Francis about the history of these works. Francis advised me that Leonov's book, "Life Among Stars," published each painting with an explanation. The above painting titled "Voskhod 2 on Start" has a caption that reads "Alexei Leonov perfectly remembers his first space flight and surely the parting words of the Chief Designer." The person that Voskhod Commander, Belyayev, and Pilot, Leonov, are talking to is Sergei Korolev, the mastermind behind the Soviet Union's space program. Korolev was deemed so important to the Soviet space program that he was considered a top secret by the government and could only be referred to as the "Chief Designer" in any publications.

On the reverse of the painting, Leonov has written what appears to be the painting's title. "Bocxog-2" translates to "Voskhod 2" in English. The information that Francis supplied about these works surprised me and I am extremely appreciative to him for his help in researching these works.

The next two paintings from Leonov show the Baikonur cosmodrome while under construction.

This first work is titled "Construction of the Central Square." It shows work being done on buildings that would soon be part of the Soviet Union's, and later Russia's, manned space port.

This final watercolor depicts the completion of the Central Square and is, appropriately titled "The Construction is Completed."

The style of these watercolors are intriguing. The sepia tone used in these paintings is unusual for any of the works that I have seen from Leonov's collection or publications.

The page shown above is from the book "Life Among Stars" by Andrei Sokolov and Alexei Leonov. The page, from the chapter entitled "Tulips of Baikonur," presents all three watercolors on one page with captions. Unfortunately, the publisher did not do justice to color and tonal qualities of Leonov's work in these reprints of the paintings for the book.

Alexei also produced paintings in collaboration with Andrei Sokolov. Sokolov is considered "The Dean of Russian space artists." Andrei was the chairman of the Cosmos Group of the USSR Artist Union. Alexei and Andrei also co-authored several books on space art.

The above painting, that I acquired on the web (a first for me), co-signed by both Leonov and Sokolov, shows a Soyuz spacecraft in the process of docking with a manned "Salyut" space station.

Leonov, as an artist and as a cosmonaut, through his personality, inspiration and his work has captured some of the soul of space travel.

As a final personal story, I would again meet General Leonov in San Antonio in 2006. There he taught me a very valuable lesson. When it comes to vodka, never try to out drink a Russian. It was a lesson well learned.

Chesley Bonestell: Coast to Coast in 40 Minutes

2008-02-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

If Robert McCall is the star of the space artists, then Chesley Bonestell is the Dean of all Space Artists. In fact, many of the current crop of space artists will tell you that Bonestell was a major influence on their career and their work in the genre.

While Bonestell was well known for his work imagining the landscape of our Moon and planets within our Solar System, he was also noted for his work during the early years of space flight research.

"CONQUEST OF SPACE" by Willy Ley was illustrated by Bonestell and proved to be a seminal work that provided the layman of the 1950s with a serious understanding of the possible future of space travel.

Published in 1949, CONQUEST OF SPACE was one of the first books to contemplate manned space flight in Earth orbit and to the Moon. While Willy Ley discussed the facts of space travel, Chesley Bonestell conveyed the visual aspect of flight into outer space.

Bonestell was involved in painting space flight subjects throughout the 1940s and in 1947 sent a series of painted studies to PIC magazine for a proposed article on space flight in the future. The article told the story through paintings of a ballistic transcontinental rocket trip from New York to San Francisco in less than an hour.

The story was titled "Coast to Coast in 40 Minutes" and was published in October, 1947, just ten years to the month before Sputnik was launched into orbit.

In 2007, I was able to procure the entire series of finished studies that Bonestell had sent to PIC magazine pitching his article on a passenger rocket flight from coast to coast. The report was based upon Tsien Hsue-Shen's (one of the founders of JPL and later became the Father of Chinese Rocketry) theory on space flight into the edge of space.

The paintings were painted on illustration art board. Bonestell completed the paintings even to the point of varnishing the surface to protect each work. Then he forwarded them to the publisher of PIC for their review.

Bonestell even wrote a basic description in his architecturally trained handwriting of what each work represented on the base of each painting. In the case of this first painting in the series of a passenger rocket lifting off in at 7:00PM in the evening from a launch site near New York City. Bonestell used his vast knowledge of architectural rendering and matte painting to meticulously show Manhattan Island, the surrounding boroughs of New York and New Jersey coast with the rocket in the foreground on the beginning of its westward journey.

The second painting in the series shows the passenger rocket ten minutes into its travels over Pennsylvania. The viewer is looking north towards the Great Lakes and Canada. Look closely at the lower right hand corner and Niagara Falls, the lights of Buffalo, NY and Toronto, OT in Canada come into view. At the far left, Detroit's lights are coming on as nighttime approaches.

Bonestell continues his narrative for the PIC magazine publishers in that architecturally tight printing .

In plate III, the viewer continues to follow the rocket as it rises towards its maximum height of 500 miles above the Midwestern United States. The viewer is again looking towards the north at the Great Lakes, Canada and beyond. Bonestell takes in the curvature of the Earth, the thin veil of our atmosphere (accurately for a time of no satellites) and we see the Aurora Borealis portrayed for the first time at eye level instead of viewed from the Earth's surface.

The rocket has reached it's maximum height of 500 miles above the Earth's surface. The passengers can now look to the south and see the Gulf of Mexico. The clusters of lights represent the cities of New Orleans and St Louis on the Mississippi River. The rocket is winning its race with the sun as it leaves the terminator behind over the Mississippi River and is returning to daylight.

Bonestell shows us in Plate V a westward view of the country from the Rockies to the Pacific in the far distance. With the Rockies in the foreground, the passenger ship will continue its travel across the country passing over the Salt Lake in Utah. The large river structure in the left of the painting is the Grand Canyon as seen from 500 miles in space.

One interesting note about these paintings is the lack of clouds. This was a time before weather satellites or any real photographs of the Earth taken from space. Bonestell based his knowledge of the Earth's atmospheric effects on his observations of cloudless days.

As the rocket descends, the viewer is given a view of the southwest to the Gulf of California and the Baja California peninsula. Directly below is the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. Bonestell uses his notes to go into detail about other landmarks to be seen in the painting.

Plate VII shows the passenger rocket as it descends through 250 miles on the final leg of its remarkable journey. The rocket is over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Lake Tahoe is on the right and Yosemite Valley cuts its way through the mountains on the extreme left. San Francisco Bay is now in sight.

The eighth and final painting, Bonestell shows the rocket on final approach to San Francisco. Forty minutes have elapsed since the passengers left New York. The time is 4:40PM and the Golden Gate Bridge is now in view. The sun that had already set in New York is now beginning to set in the west in shades of purple and red.

Now what was the reason used in the PIC Magazine story for this remarkable journey? A cocktail appointment! One of our passengers had dinner with with someone in New York at 6:00PM and planned to meet with someone else for cocktails at 5:00PM. Was it business? Was it a second date? Unfortunately, the article never tells us. We can only let our imaginations guide us as to the real reason for a trip from coast to coast in 40 minutes.
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There is another bit of information about this series of paintings. Chesley Bonestell used many of his paintings in more than one article or book. Four of the paintings for this series were used in the book "CONQUEST OF SPACE."

Bonestell noted on the back of these paintings which works were used in that initial treaty on Man's journey into space. The above scan shows the back of the first painting in the series. There Bonestell writes, in script, the name of article, the magazine and the edition date and states that this painting was "also reused as Plate I, CONQUEST OF SPACE."

Chesley would go on to note that paintings 2,3 and 6 would be reused as Plates III, IVa and IVb in "CONQUEST OF SPACE."

This series of works by Bonestell were used in one of the first published articles by the artist as well as included in one of the most important early books on space travel for the general public ever written.

Later in life Chesley would sign the eighth and final painting of this series as shown in the above scan.
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I would like to acknowledge Melvin Schuetz and Ron Miller for alerting me to this rare series of Bonestell paintings and for providing me with much information about Chesley Bonestell and his art.

William Hartmann: Scientist, Author and Artist

2008-01-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

As you walk through your local book store (now more likely to be Barnes and Noble) and wander down to the isle that has the astronomy and space flight books in it, you will probably find a book written by Dr. William K. Hartmann, PhD.

Bill is the author of "The Grand Tour," "Out of the Cradle," "In the Stream of Stars," "The History of Earth" and several planetary science textbooks. Bill has also published two novels, "Mars Underground" about a Martian colony in the 2030s, and "Cities of Gold" about the Coronado expedition in the American southwest in the 1540s. He is currently working on a sequel to "Mars Underground."

With a doctorate in planetary sciences, Dr. Hartmann is also the author of many scientific publications on the geology of other worlds in our solar system. His first major work was a mapping project with his doctoral advisor, noted planetary scientist, Gerald Kuiper. Drs Hartmann and Kuiper wrote the first scientific paper on lunar impact basins in 1962.

Dr. Hartmann performed a "systematic study of lunar photographs projected on a large white globe, with the resulting "rectification" of geometrical relationships." In layman's terms, Bill used the white globe to bend the photos to reveal the actual shapes of craters and mountains on the Moon's limb (edge). The photograph shown below is an example of rectification.

This photograph taken in 2006 by the Clay Observatory is a modern version of the system that Bill used in 1962. The Clay Observatory, located in Brookline, Massachusetts, used software in place of the "white globe" to rectify a photograph in order to accentuate the image of the geological feature to be studied. The geological feature along the top edge is the Mare Orientale lava plain, surrounded by the huge Orientale multi-ring impact basin.

Hartmann and Kuiper discovered the Orientale impact basin in 1962, ans it's bulls-eye like system of rings played a large part in their research in lunar impact basin. Hartmann discovered that the impact of a large body on the Moon created ripples in the lunar surface. Those "ripples" became the mountain ranges that we see on the lunar surface today. Mare Orientale is a recent (by geological time standards) impact basin as shown by the fact that the mountains and the center basin were still very much intact. Hartmann went further by applying his theory to other mountains and mare on the near side of the Moon. Similar multiple rings were discovered around the Imbrium impact basin, making it the largest impact basin on the near side of the Moon and is used as the basis of dating the Moon's geological timeline.

While Bill is a prolific author and noted scientist, he is also a talented artist using his art to illustrate his theories as well as his books. Bill uses his paintings as illustrations for his astronomy books. The above painting "Lunar Base: Eclipse of the Sun by the Earth" is one such work. Bill did the work as part of the illustrations for the book, "Out of the Cradle." The Earth is eclipsing the Sun over a lunar base located in the Mare Orientale in this futuristic painting. Bill explained to me in a letter that he used some of his own research on impact basins in this painting.

This painting was involved in the "glasnost" period of Soviet-American relations when a group of American and Soviet space artists put on a show in Moscow which then traveled to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC in 1990 and 1991. The painting hung in the entryway to the main exhibit.

In 1974, after years of research, Bill revealed to a conference at Cornell a theory that he co-authored with fellow scientist, Don Davis. The theory was a departure from the currently accepted theories that had been disproved once the geologic samples were returned from the Moon. Bill termed it the "giant impact theory." Bill theorized that a planetesimal approximately the size of Mars struck Earth in a giant glancing impact that created a debris ring that would later accumulate to form the Moon.

The painting shown above is an illustration of that impact. It show the collision approximately twenty-five minutes after the initial impact. The painting can be seen in the latest edition of "The Grand Tour."

In 2005, I had the chance to visit Bill at his art studio in Tucson, AZ. The studio is filled with art from space artists and includes books, models and paintings that range from an original Chesley Bonestell painting to several Russian artists that participated with Bill in the Soviet-American art show in the early 1990s.

The painting on the easel above depicts the Earth and the planetesimal about an hour after the initial impact. He completed it just before I arrived in Arizona.

This painting, which also appears in the recent edition of "The Grand Tour," shows the Earth-Moon system in it's final stage of development during the Great Bombardment Era. The painting shows an Imbrium Basin sized impact occurring on the Moon. The painting shows the Earth in primordial stage of rapid rotation and a Moon with fresh impact sized basins on it's surface. These basins would be pummeled by more and more meteorites and gradually be covered over leaving little trace of these major impacts.

Bill has a keen sense of humor. I asked him for a paintbrush to go with the painting. Instead, Bill gave me his artist's palette. You will note that he also signed it. The palette is art itself and is framed with this series of paintings on the origin of the Moon.

The premise of the book"Out of the Cradle,"a book co-authored by Bill, Ron Miller and Pamela Lee, was what the future of space exploration beyond Earth could become. For the chapter on Mars, Bill painted a future explorer walking in the red sandy soil of Mars. The painting titled, "First into the dunes of Mars," shows an astronaut as he scouts a trail for his party of explorers. Bill was depicting one person's attempt to blaze a trail through some of the largest dune fields in the Solar System.

This painting and the earlier painting of "Lunar Base: The Eclipse of the Sun by the Earth" were also featured in the National Air and Space Museum's exhibit, "Blueprint for Space" in 1992. They were also featured in an chapter authored by Bill in the exhibit's catalog of the same title.

During my trip to Tucson, I also had the chance to visit Bill's office at the Institute of Planetary Sciences. Bill not only is a talented space artist, but a wonderful landscape painter. Titled "Morning in Agua Caliente Wash, Tucson," Bill depicts an early morning view looking northwest of the city towards Santa Catalina Mountains. Bill told me that this painting was from his "Pissarro" period (after Camille Pissarro, the French Impressionist and Post Impressionist painter of the late 1800s).

Bill and I have known each for about six or seven years now and in that time I was able to procure several of his books, like the inscribed edition of "The Grand Tour" and his professional papers. Those works along with his paintings provide a glimpse of a guy that Don Wilhelms, the author of "To a Rocky Moon" and a leading United State Geological Survey (USGS) planetary geologist, called, "just plain smart!"

As a scientist, teacher, painter and author, Bill Hartmann is a true Renaissance man.

Cece Bibby: The Mercury Artist

2006-12-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

If you search hard enough every once in a while you will find a true gem of a person and with them, a story. Cece Bibby is one of those gems. As a graphic artist performing contract work for NASA in the early 1960's, Cece had a ringside seat to the beginnings of manned spaceflight.

I had the pleasure of accompanying Cece to the Astronaut Hall of Fame inductions at the Kennedy Space Center in April of 2005. I took this photograph of Cece while relaxing prior to our flight out of Orlando.

Cece was an employee for Chrysler Corporation, which was a sub contractor for NASA. Cece worked as the only woman artist in the graphics department while at Cape Canaveral. Cece worked on everything from instruction manuals to artistically interpreting scientists' and engineers' ideas for presentations.

The above drawing of an optical tracking system is from Cece's portfolio. This particular piece shows the quality of Cece's work as a draftsman. Cece told me that she worked on instruction manuals that included a drawing, such the above work, for equipment that was used in tracking missiles launched from the Cape.

In addition to her duties of providing artwork for NASA publications, Cece was also assigned to design and paint the mission insignia for the space flight of John Glenn. As Cece would tell it, she was assigned the job because her boss figured that, as a woman, Cece had the best handwriting in the art department. There is more to this story which can be found at the following links at Collectspace or Space.com

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-080705a.html

http://www.space.com/news/cs_050909_bibby_bio.html

John Glenn wanted a different mission insignia rather then the stenciled and spray painted logo that was done for both the Shepard and Grissom flights. Cece was assigned to assist Glenn with his request for a different insignia. Once Glenn approved her design, then he requested that she paint the design on the capsule and thus Cece became the first woman to work on a rocket gantry.

The famous "Naked Lady" pictured about came about as the result of a dare and almost resulted in Cece's being fired. Gus Grissom was watching Cece design and paint the mission insignia for John Glenn's capsule. One day as Cece saw Gus at the astronaut office in Hangar S, Gus told Cece that she should really "paint a naked lady on the Boy Scout's capsule." Cece said that she could get fired for such a prank. Gus called her chicken. As an orphan, Cece learned that a dare was a serious matter and not to be taken lightly. From that beginning came the "Naked Lady" drawing. After Cece drew the picture, Sam Beddingfield helped install it in Glenn's spacecraft. Although Glenn saw the drawing and enjoyed the joke, Cece's superiors didn't find it humorous at all and attempted to fire her. The Mercury 7 astronauts stood up for her. Cece told me that Gus Grissom told Rocco Petrone that he put her up to the practical joke. In the end, Cece stayed on the job.

The first drawing was done for the initial launch attempt in January. After the controversy caused by the first drawing, Cece drew another lady shown above. The drawing was placed in Glenn's capsule for the next launch attempt which was successful and launched Glenn into Earth orbit on February 20, 1962. John's launch was the same day as Cece's birthday.

Scott Carpenter asked Cece to design the mission insignia for America's second manned orbital flight. Scott had picked the name Aurora for his flight. Cece used a design of multi colored rings to depict the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. She designed the rings with jagged edges to imitate the movement and electric feeling of the Aurora Borealis.

The insignia was also an experiment. It was decided to try various different brands of paint when Cece was applying the word "Aurora" to the capsule's shingled shell. The objective was to see which paints would survive the heat generated by reentry of the Mercury spacecraft. Cece told me that only the two "A's" and the symbolic ring design survived the mission.

After the sensation caused by Glenn's "Naked Lady," Scott Carpenter kept asking Cece if she was going to draw a naked lady for him. As Cece tells the story, Scott had a way of pronouncing naked as sounding like "nekkid." Cece decided to draw a "Nekkid Lady" for Scott too.

The story behind the above drawing is that Scott was a guitar player and one of his favorite songs of the time was "Yellow Bird." The song, with a tropical flair, was very popular in the early 1960's. It was Scott's signature song, which he played frequently to the point where Wally Schirra complained that was all he sang. Cece gave Scott his "Nekkid Lady," but included a guitar along with a jab about always playing the song.

Scott would later express his appreciation of Cece's work on his mission logo.

The third and last mission logo that Cece designed and painted on a Mercury spacecraft was Wally Schirra's Sigma 7 insignia. Wally had come to Cece with the name "Sigma" which is a mathematical term meaning the "sum of." Wally felt that these flights were the sum of all the engineering, designing, testing and contruction that encompassed the entire Mercury Project. Wally wanted to honor all the people that helped him make his flight.

Cece made up a couple of designs for Wally's review. One of those designs was the famous design that included the Greek symbol for Sigma. Wally really liked the fact that Cece came up with the Greek symbol, which is used frequently in the engineering world, instead of the actual spelling of the word. He felt that Cece's design best represented his mission goals to make his flight a most precise flight.

There was no "Naked Lady" on Wally's flight. It turns out that just before Wally's mission, NASA contracted out a job to write and produce a manual on gantry safety. The manual was completed and several hundred copies were produced and distributed to members of the gantry crews. Unbeknowst to NASA, an artist from that art department had airbrushed a topless buxom blond beauty into the middle of a group of serious looking men standing in a gantry elevator demonstrating the proper techniques of riding an elevator. Naturally, the bosses initially suspected Cece as the culpit, but luckily for her, the contract had been given to another company and she was absolved of any wrongdoing. After that incident, Cece gave up the "Naked Lady" tradition.

Cece also volunteered to create the logo for NASA's employee magazine titled Spaceport News. The above cover is from Cece's art portfolio. The cover also shows the design she did for the Christmas edition.
Cece also did some of the artwork for individual articles in the Space News Roundup newspaper. If you were to look closely at the above artwork, then you will see Cece's name on each of the works.

There was an U.S. Air Force squadron of Lockheed U-2 spyplanes based at Patrick Air Force Base in the early 1960's during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cece even dated one of the pilots of the squadron at the time.

The story behind the above photograph is that the particular U-2 plane shown in the picture was a mechanical disaster. Evidently, the plane had a nasty habit of having a midair malfunction during flights over Cuba. The pilots hated the plane and nicknamed it, "The Olde Lemon." They got Cece to paint a lemon with the nickname on the plane. Every time the plane had a malfunction, it would be shipped back to the Lockheed plant for repair. Lockheed would repair the aircraft and return it, but each time they repaired it they would paint over Cece's artwork. The squadron would call Cece and back she would come to repaint the logo back on the plane.

Nobody knows what happened to that particular plane.

There is a little known story that Cece told me about the U-2 spyplanes out of Patrick AFB. Her boyfriend of the time flew spy photographic missions over Cuba. Upon his return from a mission, he would fly low over Cece's home to let her know that he was home safe after a long night mission over enemy territory. The U-2 jet engine had a very distinctive howling noise that would let Cece know that her boyfriend was returning safe and sound. There was a small problem in that the engine noice generated by the U-2 woke other people up including Alan Shepard. Cdr. Shepard complained to the squadron commander about the noise. The colonel, who knew about the homeward bound signal, advised Alan that this was a national security issue and that there was nothing he could do about it. Cece always enjoyed that little "Gotcha" over Alan and he never knew the real story about the early morning fly overs.

The above letter of recommendation is one of Cece's proudest possessions. The teletype letter is from Gordon Cooper to a prospective employer of Cece's. Just read the letter and you will understand why Cece was so proud of it.

I first learned about Cece from a fellow collector by the name of Bruce Moody, who had found her website that told the initial story of her work. The link for her site is listed below.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cecebibby/personal/index.htm

I had the privilege of meeting Cece at the Sims and Hankow show in Los Angeles in 2004. I had brought Cece my copy of her painting "Out of This World" to the show for her to certify as the artist. Cece had been commissioned by Steven Hankow of Farthest Reaches to paint a limited edition set of paintings showing the insignias she had designed for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd manned orbital missions flown by the United States. I was able to procure the 15th of a planned 15 editions of the painting. The last five copies of the edition being signed by Glenn, Carpenter and Schirra.

Cece wasn't able to have a copy of her painting at the show, so I loaned her my painting for her display. I was pleased to have gotten a photograph of Cece with the painting during the show. She was pleased to have the painting and that is where our friendship started.

At this time, Cece has completed 12 of the 15 limited edition paintings. It appears that the final number will remain at twelve completed "Out of this World" paintings.

Shortly after my return from Los Angeles, I received an email from Cece. Cece asked me if it would be alright to send my painting to her for reproduction as a limited edition signed print. I mailed the painting to Cece and she had it reproduced for print production. I believe the prints are still available through Steve Hankow.

During the 2004 Los Angeles show, Cece dragged Wally, Scott and Gordon Cooper together for a group photograph with her and the painting. Even though she had left Cape Canaveral by the time of Cooper's mission and did not design or paint his mission insignia, she wanted to get the entire group together. It was the last time Wally, Scott and Gordo were photographed as a group. Gordon Cooper passed away a month later.

In 2005, I drove down to New Jersey for the annual astronaut autograph show. Cece asked if I could bring the painting again. I did. At the end of the show on Sunday, she grabbed Wally, Scott and me for another group photograph.

As this initial sketch shows, Cece researched her work. There are several copies of this sketch with notes and ideas written all over them.

Cece turned her attention to animals. Bears, in particular, because she was living in a seasonal community in Northern Georgia. She sold her art and various crafts at a local artist guild in her town during tourist season.

The above painting is from a proposed calendar that showed bears in seasonal events. The scene depicts a teddy bear offering a carrot to an Easter bunny who is showing some age, since his head has sprung off his body after his stitching has worn out. Cece has an interesting sense of humor.

With the onset of Glaucoma, Cece's eyesight started to fail. She switched from the demanding effort required for painting to mosaic work. Mosaic work still required Cece's skill as an artist.

The above picture frame is one such example of her work. In this particular example, Cece used a wooden frame to serve as a base for the grout surface and space pins that she got from various sources. Unfortunately, this is one of only two space pin themed frames that Cece made before she became ill.

One day last year, I received a package containing the above frame and picture of Cece, Scott, Wally and me together with her "Out of this World" painting at the Sims and Hankow show in New Jersey in 2005.

Cece is pictured here at her signing table at the 2006 Sims and Hankow show in San Antonio, Texas. The two space pin picture frames are shown here along with some of her other work including one of her paintings.

As an aside, Cece is holding a small ketchup bottle that Erin and Francis French thought looked like a miniature Mercury spacecraft. Cece painted the word "Ketchup7" on the bottle. The stories, jokes and "gotchas" that occurred at these shows made it such fun for Cece. She had a great time seeing old friends, renewing old acquaintances and meeting new admirers.

We end as we began this tribute. This last picture is of Cece and me at the Atlanta airport in April of 2005. We were heading in separate directions after attending the Astronaut Hall of Fame induction at KSC. We grabbed some poor woman, so she could take a photograph of us together.

We had a wonderful time driving around the Cape and reliving old stories at places like Bernard's Surf, the Patrick AFB Officers Club and Sebastian Inlet. Cece was amazed at the changes that had taken place since the early days at the Cape. Her comment was that in her time, "it was all sand and Palmetto trees."

The times and places may have changed, but Cece still remains a treasured gem of the early days of America's epic journey into space.

Working Art: The Apollo 12 Checklists of Linda Gordon

2006-02-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes art takes the form of a historical recreation of an actual working object. The artist attempts to recreate copies of a one of a kind artifact of historical importance for the masses.

As an example, in 1823, Noted engraver, William J. Stone was commissioned by the US Government to make a limited number of copies of the Declaration of Independence. The reasons cited for copies to be made of this "one of a kind" historic document ranged from the deterioration of the original to the request by the original signers for a copy to place in their personal archives. Stone used a wet ink method to draw ink off the original vellum and onto a copper plate where the artist engraved the plate using the ink as his template. Stone used the original document's medium of vellum to make the copies, so that they would be as close as possible to the real document. They were so close to the original document that the US Government purchased the copper plate for safe keeping and for future reproduction of the artifact.

How does the aforementioned example relate to space history and artifact preservation?

The answer to that question came in 2005. Linda Gordon, artist and wife of Richard Gordon, Apollo 12 Command Module Pilot, became concerned that the current practice of breaking apart Gemini and Apollo Era flown checklists or Flight Data Files (FDF)* for individual sale would result in the loss of historical evidence for future generations.

Linda commenced a project to duplicate the checklists that Dick maintained in his collection after his return from the Moon. The results are virtually exact replicas of the original checklists. The full color Apollo 12 mission patch on the cover in the above photograph is one of the few clues the differentiate the replicas from the original Flight Data File.

Linda told me that the initial attempt at the preservation was to photocopy each checklist. The purpose of copying the FDFs was to provide a complete record for future historical study in the event that the checklists were broken up by succeeding generations. It was during that work that she had the idea of using her skills as an artist to replicate the Flight Data Files in a limited set of 50 editions.

After studying the project, Linda contacted a printer with the specifications necessary to produce each edition. Working together, Linda and the printer copied and printed on the proper paper stock. I had the chance to see the replicas in person at San Antonio this year and the results were striking.

To illustrate the similarities between each checklist, I have placed example pages from both the replica and the original Flight Data Files from my own collection. The replica will be the first photograph of each type of example.

The first three photographs, starting with the replica shown above, show an representative page titled "P37 Block Data." The card was used to provide the burn times necessary for course corrections during a lunar mission.

As mentioned previously, the initial photo is of the replica. The above picture shows an actual blank "P37 Block Data" page from the original Apollo 17 CSM Updates checklist used on the mission. Visually they are very similar, but the feel of the card stock really completes the whole artistic process required to make each replica.

The final example of the "P37 Block Data" card is one of the actual pages used by Harrison Schmitt during the Apollo 17 mission. This example shows how the pages were used during the actual lunar missions.

These next two pages show graphic images both the replica and an original Flight Data File. The star charts were used during the mission to locate stars that were necessary to determine the spacecraft's position in space. The above photograph is from the replica.

The above photograph is of an actual star chart used on the Apollo 11 mission. Do a visual comparison of both star charts, because the card stock is virtually identical.

There was one thing I learned as I collected Flight Data Files. There were pink color pages in many of the checklists. The pink color represented emergency procedures for various parts of the flight.

In comparing the pink pages, Linda captured the proper pink color that NASA used originally on the checklists. The only difference between Linda's checklist and an actual pink page from one of Gene Cernan's LM checklists is the slight fading on the original FDF page's color due to aging.

The back cover provides the only real acknowledgement that the checklist is a replica. Linda has signed the back cover, labeled the edition number and stamped a copyright notification on each back cover of the Flight Data Files. Linda has followed a similar tradition that William J. Stone took when he identified the 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence. Stone engraved his name into the copper plate used to create the replicas, thus identifying the replicas from the original artifact.

The artist has, from this collector's standpoint, very successfully replicated the original Apollo Era checklists to the point of requiring the application of her name and the edition number on the back cover.

In 2006, Dick and his fellow Apollo 12 cremate, Alan Bean pose with my copy of the Apollo 12 Operations Checklist that Linda Gordon created.

The beauty of the faithful replication of the Flight Data Files is two fold. Linda has created an artifact that can be used for research or display by historical researchers. It also can be handled by the space artifact collectors without the worry of destroying an original. Also, although the price is high due to the need to hand make each replica in order to maintain such high fidelity, the price allows more collectors the ability to acquire a relic of the Space Age.
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*The accurate term of the checklists is Flight Data File. The initials "FDF" were used in communications during the missions. I have used the terms interchangeably through out this article, but they all refer to the same artifact.

The Space Art of Ed Hengeveld

2006-02-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

Europe has spawned several new members of the space art genre. Ed Hengeveld is one such artist. A resident of the Netherlands, Ed works for a Dutch television station as such he has had the chance to watch the NASA feeds for space launches. As a collector of NASA photographs, Ed publishes a weekly post with a rare photo from the NASA Archives. He is also a major contributor to the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Ed uses those photographs as his inspiration for his paintings.

One of the first paintings of Ed's that I purchased is his X-15 painting titled "Drop." Here Ed depicts the moment of launch for the research rocket plane. The painting contains all the major components used in the air at the time of the drop of the X-15 including the B-52 "Mothership" and the chase planes.

During our discussion Ed told me this about his inspiration for this painting, "The X-15 and Lifting Body programs have always been a special area of interest for me. They represent the transition from aeronautics to astronautics...I have always had great admiration for the test pilots who flew these hybrid machines."

The composition focuses the eye to the forefront of the painting. The use of the "vanishing point" and color draw the eye along the B-52's contrail to the painting's background of desert and distant hills. It is that diagonal composition that gives the painting great depth. The colors give the painting a stark contrast between the sands of the desert and the sky. Add the excitement of the moment of launch and I know why this is one of my favorite paintings from Ed.

Ed has been published in European space and art publications like Spaceflight. The article shown above provides a brief comment about where Ed first saw space paintings done by artists in contract with NASA. The article does contain two of the works that I commissioned from him.

Over the past few years I have commissioned Ed to create paintings based upon ideas that I have had concerning events that occurred in the exploration of space. The above painting shows the CSM/LM stack during TransLunar Coast (TLC). Ed choose to put the Moon in the background to highlight the fact the spacecraft was traveling to the Moon.

One fact about Ed's work is the detail he puts into the paintings he creates. The work is almost photographic in detail. It is just that no camera was in a position to capture the spacecraft configuration that is shown in the TLC painting.

For the most part, I have placed Ed's paintings within my collection in chronological order in this blog. After the "Drop" piece, I have placed the paintings in sequence for a lunar exploration mission. Ed has painted various scenes during a lunar exploration mission.

In the piece shown above, Ed has used the famous Earthrise photograph from Apollo 8 as an inspiration for the above painting that is titled "We Came In Peace." The painting is stark in its contrast between the barren lunar surface and the bright blue jewel that floats above it. The sight of the Earthrise usually marked the astronaut's arrival in orbit.

"Apollo 8 really started my interest in spaceflight when I was 12 years old. Until that time my 'artwork' was influenced by the comics that I read as a child. ...I think that for a while I wanted to become a real comic artist.."

Ed started a comic book based on Apollo 11's mission to the Moon. As Ed tells it, "Because the 'comic virus' had not completely died, I embarked on a monster-project in 1991: to create a comic books about the Apollo 11 mission."

This is the title page of that comic book project. Although Ed did not complete the project it was still major step in his development as an artist. "I came as far as page 9 of a planned 50 pages, at which time I gave it up. When looking back I realize that these comic pages represent the transition from color pencils...to paint." Ed would go on to say the comic book project was "an essential step in my development as an artist."

Ed's original media of choice was driven by his work on comic books. "Initially I worked only with colored pencils and specialized in portraits. Because of my interest in spaceflight it was inevitable that astronauts became the subject of my artwork. ...I slowly developed my abilities and my works became increasingly ambitious. Some effects, such as the black of space, are hard to create with colored pencils, so I started exploring other media such as watercolors paint. I settled on gouache as a medium that suited me best and since the mid 1990's I have used that (media) almost exclusively for all my works."

Ed's work maybe almost photographic, but there was no camera in place to record the moment of touchdown by the lunar module (LM). Ed was so detailed in this work that when asked which mission this painting represented, he replied that it was Apollo 16's landing. Why? The LM had a rover mounted on it and the terrain showed Stone Mountain in it.

The "Two Flags" shown here is a commissioned piece. I asked Ed to do a "Flag on the Moon" painting. This painting is shown on this site in an earlier post about paintings that show the American flag on the lunar surface. Ed was creative in showing the flag on the astronaut's suit, who had just planted the flag on the Moon.

Ed highlights the spacesuit flag patch by showing only the shoulder of the moonwalker as he walks away from the lunar surface flag.

"Rolling Rock" is also a commissioned painting. In listening to Edgar Mitchell, he said that he had hoped to roll a rock down the wall of Cone Crater. That is if he had made the rim. Edgar and Al Shepard did come very close (good enough for the scientists), but Edgar never got his chance to roll that rock down Cone Crater. I thought it would be an interesting "what if" to see what Edgar Mitchell might have done if he made it to the rim.

In 2004, Edgar Mitchell stayed with us while attending a local museum event. I showed Edgar the painting. Although I normally don't have another party sign a painting. I obtained approval from Ed (the artist) to have Edgar Mitchell sign the painting. In this photograph, Edgar is sitting at our kitchen table holding the painting.

Sunita Williams, a future member of the ISS 14 crew, was also over at the house. She asked Edgar about the painting. Edgar proceeded to tell her that if we were looking towards that area on Cone Crater at the time of Al Shepard's and his moonwalk, then you would have seen the top of their helmets as they walked parallel to the crater rim.

The first painting I bought from Ed Hengeveld was "Heading West." It an extremely detailed view of the lunar rover and the painting had been signed by Harrison Schmitt. The two voyagers are heading out on the beginning of their second EVA. Cernan and Schmitt are driving toward the South Massif on what would be their farthest venture from the LM. You can see the LM and the North Massif and Sculptured Hills in the background.

Also, in 2004, I met Gene Cernan at the UACC show in Burbank, California. I had him sign the work too. Here is Gene posing with the piece. You can also see these photos of Edgar Mitchell and Gene Cernan on Ed's website located below.

http://apollomissionphotos.com/index_art_ed.html

Ed also has done work in the panoramic field. In "Descartes" Ed has used the panorama that John Young photographed of Charlie Duke at Plum Crater. If you were to compare the photograph to the painting, you would be able to see the individual craters that also appear in Young's panorama. There is one difference. Young did not appear the actual photograph. Ed painted John Young into the work.

I discussed this painting with another local artist. He commented that the shadows of the astronauts were too black. I showed him the actual photograph that this piece was based upon and, indeed, the shadows were completely black in the photograph too. The artist was thinking with his critique based upon how things function on Earth and the Moon is a very different place.

In "Sampling Shorty," Ed has painted another panoramic view of the Apollo 17 mission, here is Cernan and Schmitt working to obtain a sample near the crater "Shorty." These sweeping vistas of the Moon by Ed are some of my favorites. If you go back 50 years, you will find the same type of vistas set up by Chesley Bonestell. The difference is that Bonestell envisioned jagged peaks like the Alps and not the smoothed, rounded hills that exist in real life.

Currently, Ed and I are working on a long term project to put a new light on the old NASA graphical works that depicted the various stages of a lunar mission. The above painting, "Reentry," shows the Apollo command module (CM) reentering the atmosphere as it returns home to Earth.

Ed chose to avoid the traditional view of reentry of showing the blazing hot heatshield. Instead, Ed focused on the top of the spacecraft as it plunges into the atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour.

Another in the Apollo lunar mission paintings to be included in the project is "Back from the Moon." Ed uses another unusual perspective. The artist is positioned behind a recovery helicopter pilot to see his view of the CM as it descends under parachute to the Pacific Ocean and home.

In doing this series of paintings, Ed said, "In a sense the series of Apollo timeline paintings that (you) have asked me to paint is also sort of (like a) comic: a moment by moment depiction of all the steps in a lunar mission."

In Ed's most recent painting titled "Exploring" I really enjoy the solitude of the lone astronaut working in the glow of the Earth. Ed's use of a vertical canvas accentuates isolation of the moonwalker on the lunar surface. "Exploring" also represents a change in the type of media Ed is currently using to create his artwork.

In a new twist to Ed's work, he has created a variation on a very old theme. His use of the Triptych, a form of art that dates back to the Byzantine and Renaissance Eras, creates and unifies a lunar surface scene that began as the single narrow painting titled Exploring and is shown above.

While each scene stands alone as a painting, together they tell a story. When combined that three paintings equal a 20 x21 inch painting and show four of the main components of the Apollo lunar surface exploration, Two moonwalkers. the lunar module, the lunar rover and, high in orbit, the command module.

Ed has been requested to expand the size of his paintings. In order to create a larger canvas, Ed has started experimenting with different paint surfaces. As Ed explained to me, "This 2006 painting 'Exploring' is the latest step in my artistic development: it was painted on thick cardboard instead of the heavy paper I always use. Once in a while I want to expand my horizon and try new media, so one day I may make the transition to oil and canvas."

Ed is pictured here with one of the larger works in his collection. Ed has made a nice transition from paper to art board. One wonders what the future has in store for Ed Hengeveld and his artwork? I, for one, see more great works from a talented artist.

The Space Art of Detlev van Ravenswaay

2006-02-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

During my travels to find and add various artists to the collection, I have quite literally stumbled on another artist painting in the space art field. Detlev van Ravenswaay is just such as example.

There are several talented painters of the Space art genre in Europe. Detlev, who hails from Germany, came to my attention during an auction at Superior in 2001. I saw the original work of "One Earth and Fifty Stars" as a lot during that auction. The piece really captured my attention as the composition was one of my favorites. Although I did not post the high bid on the original artwork, I was able to procure this study directly from Detlev two years ago.

I have described "One Earth and Fifty Stars" in a previous section of this site entitled "Flag on the Moon." A more detailed description of the work and the artist's feelings have been written in that chapter. I encourage you to scroll down and read it.

The other factor in my enjoyment of Detlev's work is his eclectic choice of subject matter such as the work shown below.

In "Ancient Observatory," Detlev has depicted early man's rudimentary attempt at understanding the Universe. His choice of technique in this piece was working "wet in wet" which mingles colors together to form a smoky atmosphere that mimics the shadowy existence of early man. As the tribe huddles under the rock close to the fire, a lone observer draws a circle in the sand as a representation of the full Moon rising in the sky.

You can see the difference in technique between this fast sketch versus the more formal work shown above in "One Earth and Fifty Stars."

Detlev has documented past historic events in Space and his views are world oriented. In "April 12th, 1961 - I Feel Good," he paints Yuri Gagarin in Vostok One on Man's first voyage into outer space. Detlev once told me that he was trying to capture the loneliness of space by showing the small capsule against the vast background of Earth and sky.

With an eye toward the future, the artist paints what Mars may look like as Man sees it from the surface of it's moon, Phobos.

In a more formal portrait, Detlev explores the possible views that Mars might produce for future. His idea was to show a dramatic view in the Valles Marineris. The composition draws one's eye from the bright sunlight and then follows the explorer's line of sight to the other members of the expedition far down into the darkness of the valley below. The lights on the ends of their staffs the only thing visible to us.

As we end this part of the retrospective, I wanted to include one of my favorite pieces of van Ravenswaay's work and it is titled, "Marsonaut in Orbit - EVA." Detlev has chosen a close up view of an astronaut during an EVA while in Martian orbit. Although just a study, it shows the weathered face of a veteran astronaut with the planet Mars reflected in his visor. It is truly one of the most personal pieces I have seen in the genre.

In Part Two, the retrospective will discuss some further works that demonstrates Detlev's versatility and in what new directions he is heading.

The Space Art of Detlev van Ravenswaay (cont.)

2006-02-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

To continue on, let's look at other works that demonstrate Detlev's versatility.

"In the Rings of Saturn" in one of my favorite subjects. I agree with Detlev when he says, " It must be a stunning view with the rocks and dust... The contrast between the (rock's) rough surface and the soft cloudy planet Saturn in the background." What a beautiful scene.

I have also included a pen and ink sketch of an asteroid encounter with Earth. In "Toutatis Encounters Earth," Detlev shows his ability with the pen sketch.

As a Space art collector, I feel that Detlev is one of the more creative Space artists in the craft today. He has the ability to paint in the traditional mode or the abstract mode as well as utilize methods from another artist's style and adapt them into his own work.

Detlev's training as an illustrator show in his ability to mimic other methods and techniques as in a work entitled "In the Glare of the Sun." A work that copies the style of Robert McCall as an experiment in color and technique. Personally, I enjoy the work because of it's vibrant colors.

One of his more unique works also shows his ability to mimic other artists, but also to be creative and abstract in a genre that is more adapted to traditional subjects such as planet landscapes and scenes of the future. Detlev's use of Worhal's pop art style for the piece "Buzz on the Moon" shows that unlike many Space artists, he has been willing to experiment with Modernism.

This painting that imagines what ice might look like at the South Pole of the Moon, while a wonderful work is not an original painting in my collection. The painting is printed on a postcard. While the postcard is ordinary, the place it has been is not. The postcard and Detlev's painting journeyed to the International Space Station.

This postcard was imprinted with the official ISS stamp on the station by Sergey Zalyotin. The blue octagonal stamp located at the center of the postcard is the ISS stamp. Zalyotin signed and dated along the bottom of the card making Detlev one of the few artists to have his work flown in Space.

Detlev is also now the first space artist to have his work flown by all three manned spaceflight nations as a special cover was flown on Shenzhou-6 recently. Now Detlev has taken new direction with his work. Through the use of computer technology as a new canvas and palette, he is producing artwork like the above view called "Shadowgames on a ringed planet somewhere in space."

Detlev has been designing mission patches for some of the German cosmonauts including ESA Astronaut Thomas Reiter, who is training for a mission to the ISS.

Besides being a friend and a genuinely nice guy, Detlev is a very talented artist who's work is not that well known to the space collecting community here in the US. Anyone who is interested in his work should visit his website at www.vanravenswaay.com and view some of the many examples of his works.

A Flag on the Moon

2005-12-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

To most people the Moon is a mixture of light and dark shades of gray, but there, at six landing sites, is a colorful reminder of Man's presence on the lunar surface. One that has been included in many different artist's interpretation of our landings on the Moon and that is the American Flag.

The brilliant flash of red, white and blue against the extreme grays and blacks of the lunar surface is a wonderful contrast and has become a favorite subject of mine and in some cases a fairly poignant theme to different artists.

I have collected from various space artists their versions of a flag on the Moon. Most of the work was completed by the time I acquired it, but if the work was a commission all I asked of the artist was to be unique.

The first flag painting added to the collection is a work done by Dr. William Hartmann and is entitled "We Were There." Dr. Hartmann worked as a planetary geologist during the Apollo Era. Bill was instrumental in developing some of the theories on Basin Impact Formation and the Origin of the Moon.

I asked Bill what prompted him to paint this piece. Bill's response surprised me and very much added to emotion of the work.

"I always have a wistful feeling about the fact that we went to the moon...I was a graduate student working on lunar research (when) JFK announced the goal and worked through to my PhD in lunar work and craters during that decade. The simple shutdown of the whole effort leaves me with feelings of lost youth."

Bill goes on to discuss the fact that Alan Bean had influenced this particular painting, but he still returned back to the subliminal reason for the painting.

"I wanted to play with the colors of the flag against the blue Earth, and the idea of this symbol of our audacity left there in this lonely place all these years, after everyone packed up and went home to that blue orb in the sky."

While Dr. Hartmann's work may reflect the disappointment at the ending of a great moment in exploration, there are other artists that look at the flag as an inspiration of what Man can accomplish.

One painting that looks towards the inspiration of Man on the Moon is "One Earth and Fifty Stars" by Detlev van Ravenswaay. While one of the unique things about Deltev has been his ability to explore Space in the abstract with his work, he follows the norm in this painting.

This study of the final work recreates his vision of the flag after the successful landing of Apollo 11 as inspiration for future missions to the Solar System.

"Apollo 11 - first manned landing on the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin planted the US Flag in the Sea of tranquility - above the flag, the Earth, our home planet. This is my favorite painting (that) I ever did."

The painting uses two colorful objects (the flag and the Earth) as contrasting subjects against the gray of the lunar surface and the blackness of outer space. The flag as the main object reflects one nation's travels to another world, but the Earth reflects all Mankind's wonder at the journey.

Sometimes the inspiration comes from the need to create something different. Another wonderful artist from Europe is Ed Hengeveld of the Netherlands. Ed has produced some excellent work on the entire space program. Ed's work portrays through realism Man's flights in Space and landings on the Moon.

I commissioned Ed to paint a flag on the Moon for me. My only request was that it be different from the normal portrayal of the flag as it sits on the lunar surface. "Two Flags" was Ed's answer to my request.

The rare use of the flag patch on a moonwalker's A7L EVA suit is juxtapositioned against the lunar surface flag in the background in the composition. It is not the standard flag on the Moon portrait.

In a recent purchase, I was able to acquire another work by Chris Butler titled "Old Glories" The above piece shows the flag from a different perspective. As if lying flat on the ground we are looking up at the flag with an eye level view of the lunar bootprints. The setting sun and the eye level perspective create shadows that make the boulders loom large in the painting.

I will have to ask Chris if the setting sun on the scene was meant as an image of how America failed to continue exploration after placing the United States flag on the Moon.

Currently, the final original work in the lunar flag collection is from Gregory Rudd's "History of the American Flag" series for USPS postcards. On a personal note, I purchased this piece through an Internet gallery website. It is interesting how far the "net" has come in just a few years.

The key to this painting is it's composition. The painting takes three objects and puts each of them into 1/3rd of the painting both vertically and front to back. The astronaut occupies the foreground and bottom third. The Moon is directly in the middle and the American flag occupies the background and top third of the entire composition. Each object overlaps much like a stair step to the top of the painting.

I can only assume that Mr. Rudd took his inspiration for the monumental achievement of Man landing on the Moon, by the way he portrays the moonwalker saluting in the work.

One might ask why I include this work in a collection of flags painted on the lunar surface. The reason I have is due to the fact that if you look closely at the helmet of the moonwalker, you will see that he is saluting a lunar surface flag that is reflected in his visor. It is a final trick placed in the painting to portray a Flag on the Moon.

John Young in the Mountains of the Moon

2005-12-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

In 1972, John Young and Charlie Duke landed in the Descartes Highlands region of the Moon. During their EVA on the lunar surface, Charlie took this picture of John at Station One. The gnomon in the foreground is an instrument for providing scale for measurement, a color scale and tone of shade scale on the lunar surface. The lunar rover (LRV) is in the background. Plum Crater is beside the LRV. The large white plain in the background is actually South Ray Crater. Stone Mountain is in the far background.

Alan Bean immortalized the moment in that photograph in a painting entitled "John Young on the Mountains of the Moon." Alan changed the perspective slightly in order to place John directly in the center of the composition, but the elements included in the painting are the same as in the photograph. Alan also added color. He chose not to add colors typical of the lunar surface, but colors that represented his feelings of the types that a lunar landscape might have from an artist's standpoint or more importantly from the standpoint of an Impressionist.

Besides the Impressionistic influence, Alan has added a bit of modern and space technique. Looking closely at the painting, there are various imprints in the painting that add a third dimension to his work.

Alan uses his actual lunar geology hammer used on the lunar surface to place indents into the plaster he uses as a base for his paintings. As briefly explained above, Alan uses aviation grade plywood as the initial base for his work, then coats the plywood with a thin layer of plaster. As the plaster hardens, Alan puts imprints into the plaster using the lunar hammer, a core tube and a bronze copy of his lunar boot. It is very much of the same way the old Masters painted in fresco in ancient times.

Alan also includes a piece of his American flag patch from his spacesuit used on the Moon which includes a bit of lunar dust. Alan also adds a bit of Kapton foil and heatshield debris, so the painting's owner will have something not only from the Moon, but from the spacecraft too.

In 2003, I was able to add this painting to my collection of Space Art. I was advised that Alan had completed a painting that was just what I was looking for as an addition to the collection. I was also invited to visit Alan at his studio to meet with the artist and to pick up the painting. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to visit Alan at his studio.

It was at his studio, where Alan told me how he painted this work. He also told me that he really was pleased with this particular piece, because he felt that he had perfected the color scheme and the tonal qualities of the crater shadowing. I have called the photograph I took of Alan with the piece, "The Contented Artist," because of those comments and the look of an artist contented with the final product of his labors.

I chose to frame the work with one of Alan's brushes that he actually used on the painting by using a wide cherry wood frame and a floating mount to bring out the relief of the work. This little jewel now hangs in my study along with flown artifacts from the Space Race.

Alan and I posed with the painting at his studio. We had an very enjoyable day together. We even had lunch at one of his favorite Italian restaurants. The man truly loves his spaghetti.

While I was visiting at Alan's in October of this year, I was in the studio and noticed that Alan had kept the studies of the original work on an easel tucked in a corner of the studio. I commented that I liked the fact that he kepted the studies out. Alan told me that he enjoyed the work and kept the studies out for reference.

There are three studies that relate to the painting. Alan compared each study and what he was trying to accomplish with each one. He also discussed the coloring of each painting. He uses purple in his paintings as a contrasting color to yellow. Alan said that the Moon is very bright and that he was looking for a color to tone down the brightness of the shadowed areas. Purple has been the most appropriate color he has found so far.

Alan told me that he feels that this study accomplished what he was looking to do in the final painting. I was surprised, because I figured the most finished one was the final study before he worked on the painting.

I snapped several photographs of Alan at work in his study, but this one showed the best view of his studio. It also shows just a few of the more famous works that grace the walls of his studio. The originals of the Greenwich Studio prints are hanging on the wall like "Kissing the Earth" and "In Flight." Alan gave me a wonderful tour.

Alan also let me handle a few objects from his spaceflights on Apollo 12 and Skylab-2. I got the chance to hold his lunar geology hammer and wear his Skylab EVA A7L gloves.

It was a wonderful way to add a fantastic piece from a great artist into my space art collection.