When I was a lot younger I used to be annoyed that humanity seemed to get to the moon and then stopped. I used to lament that we were not living on the moon full-time and vacationing in giant wheel-like space stations.
Then reality set in and the understanding of political will and financial possibility emerged in my mind. Suddenly space seemed so terribly far away and unachievable in my lifetime. Granted, we have plans for a return to the moon and ideas about getting to Mars, perhaps in my lifetime. But nothing will thrill me as much as my imagination of where we could be by now.
I came to the conclusion that a universe of my own creation would be far more interesting. (And a few people I know would say I live in my own world anyhow!) But it is one that seems plausible to me if a few key events took place. First of all, we need a means for humans to travel to the stars. So far no one has devised a means of traversing the vast distances yet so I have found a way around that.
Also, I am truly in love with wreckage and ruins. Remains of past civilizations just make my imagination spin and couple that with a penchant to think of everything in terms of science fiction and there's suddenly a universe of possibilities. Worlds where nature has reclaimed civilization present fascinating imagery in my mind
In my universe there are few, if any, aliens zipping around because the cosmos is a hostile and dangerous place. Yes, "human spirit" not withstanding, it is hard to keep a civilization going with all the possible ways to destroy it. That is not to say that aliens don't exist in this universe. They're just really hard to find. Intelligent ones at any rate. Sure there are habitable planets in this universe but there are also creatures living on them too. But in most cases, where there were civilizations of any great scale, they were usually the architects of their own demise or perhaps unwilling passengers as their planet glided into an uninhabitable state or place in the universe.
Star Trek, this is not.
That said, I also have a fascination with starships and have developed a desire to see what they look like after millennia abandoned in space. Artistically it is almost impossible to separate the creation of an image from a story that evolves as the image emerges. To that end, I have created this blog to spur me to create more space imagery and fantastic worlds. Each will have some place in the universe I described above and, in most cases, emerged as I worked on the image.
I know that sometimes viewers have very different ideas on what an image is about and readers are always welcome to add their "two cents". I welcome the input and look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. I am not going for esoteric. I want the imagery to be understandable and thought-provoking. I also hope that it will spur the imaginations of others.
In the end, I really want this universe to live in a way that is not only in my head.
Welcome to Chris Jouan Illustration's Abandoned Worlds.
The scientists and their blazing example in the daytime sky were more than enough to loosen the political gridlock in the United States Capital. Facing an over-budget and behind-schedule space program, most space-friendly initiatives were quietly dealt with. However, in short order the American Congress passed legislation authorizing generous funding for an expanded space watch program to great fanfare. Finding and dealing with space rocks that could end human life as we knew it was good for business.
