Broken Moon

The last of a recent patch of sci-fi paintings, here we see a watery, temperate world from the perspective of its ring system. The rings were formed many thousands of years ago when the planet's moon, once in a long decaying orbit, finally crossed the Roche Limit and was broken apart. The end result is a beautiful ring around the world and many small meteors that light up the sky as the debris slowly rains down.

Digital painting created in Photoshop Elements 10

Life on a Gas Giant's Moon...

So what would life be like on a world similar to Earth, but which is merely a large moon around a huge gas giant? This digital painting explores that possibility. Here, we see a cold world, not unlike Earth during an ice age, orbiting its parent gas giant. Such worlds would have massive tides, impressive auroras, and regularly solar eclipses. The concept of day, night, and seasons would be different with an additional element introduced since not only does the moon rotate and go around the sun, but the moon goes around the parent gas giant as well. Worlds like this one almost surely exist - we have found gas giants large enough to theoretically have moons as massive as Earth - all that is needed is for them to have enough water and exist in the star's habitable zone.

Digital painting create in Photoshop Elements 10

An Earth-like World...

Another of my space art creations, here we approach an Earth-like world, though with one interesting distinction from our own planet - most of this planet's land is fused together in a large super continent that dominates part of the southern hemisphere. Verdant temperate and tropical zones exist along the edges of this realm, though the interior is a scorching desert. Vast storms rage across the planet's single, huge ocean, causing havoc if they do make landfall.

Digital Painting in Photoshop Elements 10

Approaching a Swampy World

Just to change things up a bit, here's one of my more recent science-fiction space paintings.

View on approach to a warm, soggy world covered with shallow oceans and vast tidal estuaries. The world has little geological activity, and slow erosion has reduced the planet's land masses to swamps and low-lying hills. Vegetation covers the landscape beneath the perpetual fog banks and slow rolling, drizzly cloud formations. While rather hot and soggy, this planet is full of life and worthy of exploration.

Created in Photoshop Elements 10:

Solar Echoes: Science-Fiction RPG

Over the past few years, a friend and I worked on designing and publishing our own tabletop science fiction RPG. We wanted to create a fast, fun game system that encouraged players to plan out their tactics and work as a team, and I believe we've achieved those goals. The game universe is inspired by all the classics of science fiction, but it clearly has its own identity and works well for any campaign setting, ranging from gritty, street-level special forces operations, to "high science fiction" with exploration across vast reaches of space and epic combat between deadly starships.

My own role in this game ranged from helping design the rules and creating missions to supplying the digital space art that fills a 2-page, full color spread at the beginning of each chapter in the core rulebooks. It was a fun experience, and the game is now available for purchase in both physical and digital forms.

Check out the website at: http://www.solarechoes.com/solarechoes/

Enjoy a grand mix of great artwork and fun gaming!