Star Trek; The Worlds of the Federation, book cover 1989

Here we have Don Ivan Punchatz’s cover art, made with oils on board, for the Star Trek publication, The Worlds of the Federation. Imagine the artist working, brush in hand, carefully building up the otherworldly skin tones of each alien character, one by one, against a backdrop of pink planet and tangerine suns. The impasto is thick and luscious, as each character emerges into being with a kind of hyper-realism. I love how the artist imagines the aliens; some are reptilian with shiny, jewel-encrusted collars, others are pale, spectral beings, and there’s even what looks like a walking strawberry plant. You can really see Punchatz’s history as an illustrator coming through here – a lineage that includes artists such as Norman Rockwell, but, of course, with a twist. I see this work as part of a longer conversation about the endless possibilities of imagination and the enduring human need to picture the unknown.