Celestial Cab 1981

Boris Vallejo’s 'Celestial Cab', well, what can I say, it's a trip! It’s painted with a hyper-real illustrative style. I can imagine Vallejo beginning with loose sketches, then meticulously building up layers of color to achieve that smooth, almost airbrushed finish. I see a futuristic vehicle, chrome glistening, cutting through a pastel sky above a cityscape, and I wonder, what was Vallejo thinking? This isn’t just science fiction; it’s a dream, a kind of escapist fantasy rendered with incredible precision. The paint is applied smoothly, almost seamlessly blending together, which gives the whole piece a kind of otherworldly glow. It has echoes of Frank Frazetta's heroic fantasy paintings, but with a distinctly sci-fi twist. Painters are always riffing off each other, creating an ongoing visual conversation that stretches across time. Ultimately, painting, like dreams, embraces ambiguity, inviting us to bring our own interpretations to the canvas.