This painting is inspired by a mix of scenes: Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall" story, the classic science fiction artwork of the book "Cycles of Fire" from the late 1980's, and my experience watching the sun set and the Milky Way fade into view at Death Valley. The stars were painted using an old toothbrush and a watery mix of paint; I held the brush close to the painting and gave the bristles a slow flick to produce the scattered light of countless stars bit by bit.
Here, in a dry region of an Earth-like world, we see the sun set and a single constellation with millions of stars fade into view. The blazing light of a huge globular star cluster dominates the night sky with its warm glow. What legends of the stars would form on a world like this?
Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"
