The Siege paperback cover 1994

John Conrad Berkey made this paperback cover with fluid brushstrokes and a fiery palette. Imagine him at his easel: the swoosh of the brush as he brings the scene into being, layering the reds and oranges of a cosmic conflict. There’s an urgency in the way the paint is applied, a real sense of motion as starships streak across an alien sky. I can almost feel the heat of battle and the weight of space on those determined faces. Berkey’s work always struck me as a kind of science fiction impressionism. His loose, expressive style captures not just the look but the feel of these epic interstellar dramas. The way he handles light, especially, it is like Turner in space. And like all great painters, Berkey creates a world that’s uniquely his own, even while contributing to the broader conversation of image-making. His painting is a conversation that continues through us.