Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art

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The Temporal Void. Acrylics on primed gessoed fiberboard. Powerful machinery balanced by delicate handling of details and vivid color are hallmarks

of the “Burns Look.”

There are no hard angles to a painting by

Jim Burns. Everything—and everyone—looks

sleek, sexy, slippery, and built for speed.

One of the best-known science ction artists

in the United Kingdom, Burns is also a star

in the United States. His book covers for

major publishers and magazines have garnered

many awards, including two Hugos, and

inspired a generation of artists.

A paradox of Burns’s work is his ability

to handle delicate detail that is balanced

against massive mechanical power.

“I have a certain passion for depicting

machinery,” says the acclaimed artist,

“and projecting it forward. The look of the

machine changes with time. It’s a curious

evolution and one I find fascinating. I’m

drawn toward curves rather than angularity,

but I must admit that I prefer the word

organic to sexy.”

Strafer. Photoshop. Taking a photograph of the soil in his garden for back-

ground, Burns then uses Motion Blur in Photoshop to provide a sense of speed,

scans in a pencil sketch of a spacecraft, and clones it for the second craft in

the image. He paints in the wrecked enemy craft and sets it ablaze with cloned

images of an oil rig fire.

JIM BURNS

“I like to think that one medium feeds the other. Although

I’m a big fan of Photoshop, I don’t think I’ll ever completely

abandon traditional painting for a purely digital easel.”

Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Martian Romance. Photoshop.

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page 12 MASTERS of SCIENCE FICTION and FANTASY ART

COMBINED TRADITIONAL and DIGITAL TOOLS page 13

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The Temporal Void. Acrylics on primed gessoed fiberboard. Powerful machinery balanced by delicate handling of details and vivid color are hallmarks

of the “Burns Look.”

Burns learned traditional painting skills at Newport College

of Art in South Wales and St. Martin’s School of Art in

London, and spent the early years of his career alternating

between brushwork and airbrush. When Photoshop made

its debut in the 1990s, he embraced it.

EMBRACING THE NEW AND OLD

“I don’t think traditional painting will ever disappear.

Certainly it won’t in my studio,” Burns says. “But I think one

must regard the computer as a marvelous tool. Photoshop

has distinct parallels to the painting process. It’s so exible.

At times I nd it easier to conjure up what I see in my mind’s

eye on the computer than in paint. It’s brilliant, amazingly

editable, and I enjoy using it to build up an image. That said,

one of the perils of working in Photoshop are the pre-set

effects—in particular, lters—which are very seductive, but

whose overuse ultimately results in the boring predictability

of computer art. In the past I’ve worked to distress what I see

as the over-perfect computer rendering. What Photoshop

really needs are some grime lters!”

Burns’s deep involvement with the work begins with the

manuscript. “As I read I tend to check and double-check

items as I go along, noting scenes and descriptions that have

obvious potential. At the end I have a lmic, very visual

image of the book. I try to freeze-frame elements and then

work up a sketch from appropriate incidents.

Strafer. Photoshop. Taking a photograph of the soil in his garden for back-

ground, Burns then uses Motion Blur in Photoshop to provide a sense of speed,

scans in a pencil sketch of a spacecraft, and clones it for the second craft in

the image. He paints in the wrecked enemy craft and sets it ablaze with cloned

images of an oil rig fire.

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