Heavy Turbulence...

A 3D render that I modified a bit to work as a still image.
This is a frame from an animated scene...

Under the Rings

An illustration put together from 3D elements...

A fusion powered interplanetary craft has anchored itself to a tiny moon orbiting a massive gas giant.

The ship will use the ice from the surface as fuel to continue its voyage.

View of the Xeelee Ring

The "full view" on this is fairly large (or at least I hope it is). But few subjects beg for a high res image as much as the immense alien structure at the heart of Stephen Baxter's mind-stretching book "Ring".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_%28Stephen_Baxter_novel%29

And very few subjects are as challenging to visualize. A full appreciation is only possible from reading the novel, but you may notice there are entire galaxies that appear in front of the Ring. This is due to the immense scale of the artifact - it is as wide as a hundred galaxies.

The structure is composed of a single strand of "string" - a defect in space-time - that is being woven from the crushed debris of countless whole galaxies. The mysterious Xeelee have been working on this project for quite some time - for several billion years in fact.

What is the purpose of such a monstrous construction? The Xeelee intend to use the Ring to initiate a "Kerr Metric" - in effect a doorway that exits the Universe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerr_Metric

You may wonder at the reaons they undertake such a task, but I won't spoil the book!

So who are the Xeelee? They are the oldest sentient race in the Universe - and one of its greatest mysteries. But as one character states with regard to the Ring: "...that they have the audacity to even dream of such a device!"

Incidentally, those small points of light in the background aren't stars. The Ring occupies an immense empty void, and those lights back there are whole galaxies on the far side...

That's why I like science fiction...

Up the Ridge...

Rovers explore the frozen moon of a large gas giant similar to Jupiter, presumably in another solar system...

Across the Ice...

A 3D image - of something I'd like to see for real!

Some "Ancient" Traditional Artworks...

A couple of concept paintings from earlier in my career. Acrylic, roughly 10"x16"...

From the 1997 film "Contact". A large command ship is pulled through the ocean during the movie's climax...

The Drej Fortress - a large alien spacecraft designed for the animated film "Titan AE"...

3D environment WIPs...

Some recent 3D tests. I've been experimenting with some matte painting techniques lately...

Best seen in "full view" - there's a fair amount of detail.

A Few Paintings...

A quick comp done in Photoshop...

Recent Photoshop Sketches...

These are done fairly quickly, and are mainly an excuse to try out some new techniques...

 

3D Environment Work-In_Progress...

Looks nicer in full view...

Another view...

Search...

Photoshop painting...

Archeological Survey

Looks like this survey ship has found something...

Full view looks best on this one...

Landing Craft

This is a Photoshop painting that I've played around with for a little while...

I recommend looking at the image in full res... 

Digital Painting - "Convoy"

Recent Paintings...

A few quick speed paintings done not long ago...

Exo-Planets...

Some recent science fiction images. These are 3D based, with a lot of painting to achieve the final result.

There's a lot of detail, so they're best seen in the full view...

Meanwhile, Outside the Ship...

This is a cropped version of the image. The full version is posted here:http://steve-burg.deviantart.com/

I consider this kind of a "failed experiment" - but it's still interesting enough to post...

Steel Trees

A futuristic city catching the afternoon light...

The Traverse

It is like a glacier, but it's really not a glacier...
In fact it might not be a natural formation at all. But whatever it is, the explorers shown must cross over...
I was a bit inspired by the abstract backgrounds that Syd Mead often puts into his paintings.

This image and some of the others here are also posted in my gallery on Deviant Art: http://steve-burg.deviantart.com/

The Long Ascent

This is a 3D render with some painting done on top of the image. The tiny figures were painted at a much larger scale, then reduced and integrated into the terrain.

I haven't the slightest idea what this enormous structure is!

Chasing the Storm

This is a fanciful aircraft based loosely on the AH-60 Black Hawk helicopter fuselage.

It was fun to paint the clouds using the Photoshop Smudge tool in combination with some jittery custom brushes.

Some Recent Paintings...

Here are a few personal works from mid-summer of 2010:

I recommend zooming in, there are some small details in these!

A smuggler's landing zone seen by moonlight...

A surrealistic bit of tech environment design... 

A futuristic cityscape speed-paint...

A subterranean sci-fi ruin found by explorers...

Castaway

My lifelong fascination with wrecked spaceships shows no sign of letting up.

Abstract Space Sketch

I've always loved John Berkey's art and every once in a while I try and do something inspired by his work. This is my latest humble attempt - a very very quick speed painting (less than 1 hour)

Seven Months Later...

This is my first post in quite a long time. Work has been quite demanding on my schedule, so there hasn't been much time for personal work. But I thought I would post at least a few recent images, just to keep from getting rusty at this...

"The Red Obelisk"

"Night City"

"Strange Engines"

"Strange Engines" (detail)

"Abandoned City"