The Haunted Reef

Richard Powers had a very broad brush.  He could illustrate and paint in so many styles (important for illustration work), yet never lost his unique identity -- one could always tell his work.

Here are some early interior illustrations he did for Richard Crisp's "The Haunted Reef", 1952.
You will notice the "woodcut" style of some of the illustrations that are similar to his later work on the Tarzan covers.  Also, the undersea mountains and peaks look very similar to his depictions mountains and spires from "alien worlds" in his early SF work.

MENSCHIFESTO!

Powers not only had a knack for painting, but he also had a way with words.  Boy, did he have a WAY with words!  I recently received a copy of his Menschifesto: The Laz/Org Gestalt written in 1970.  Powers has a lot of fun poking fun at the art world (specifically Warhol and his FACTORY which he loathed) as well as himself. 

Also contained are some abstracts from his time in Jamaica (where this manifesto was printed).  I love Miss Red Stripe!

Tomorrow's Gift

This 1958 Ballantine cover by Powers is one of my favorites in our collection.  It is also a favorite of Scott Robinson who paid a visit to our home recently.  Scott is a huge Powers addict (like myself) and we had a great afternoon talking art and music.

When Scott saw Tomorrow's Gift he had a self-proclaimed "religious experience", having imprinted on this book cover as a kid.  It was his favorite.  He pointed out Powers had altered the abstract seated nude in the foreground after the cover was printed.  I had never noticed before!

Another example of Powers constantly returning to pieces and "improving" things : )

 

That's a Wrap!

Prelude to Space by Arthur C Clarke
Ballantine, 1954

Powers was occasionally called upon to provide wraparound cover illustrations for specific titles.  I thought it would be interesting to "unfold" some of those covers to better appreciate what the original full painting looked like.  It is not only interesting to see the original full artwork, but also how Powers handled the layout and planning of text.  In fact, Powers essentially acted as Art Director for those early Ballantine covers, coming up with some really cool layouts and title treatments.

These images are all taken from my paperback collection and do not represent all of his wraparound covers.  Also, the crops were often different for the hardback versions (usually a larger cropping).  I photographed the front, back, and spine separately and then stitched them together.  I did some minor "clean up" on these covers to provide a more pleasing view.

I should also mention that many of these wraparound paintings do not exist anymore in their original state.  Powers himself cut many of these in half -- saving/selling a crop of the front cover, while discarding and/or cutting up the back cover elements for his collages.

Follow this link to see the Wraparound Gallery!

Two Wonders

Here is an interesting thing I noticed... Powers created TWO versions of the same painting for two separate editions of Wonder Stories.  I never realized there were actually two different versions until I saw these issues side by side.

There is a 1957 edition (black text on gold banner at top), and a 1963 version (pink on purple text/banner).  Although the same composition, these are obviously two different paintings.  Why?  Perhaps Powers could not locate the original art for the reprint 6 years later OR (most likely) he decided he could do a "better" job and decided to repaint it with improvements.  In any case, these are both excellent in my opinion!

Richard Powers Art Exhibition

A fantastic exhibition celebrating the art of Richard Powers was held during the 2015 World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY on November 5-8.  The exhibition displayed around 90 original pieces in Powers SF/F style -- the largest public display ever.  

Rick Lieder organized the event, which included a panel discussion led by Vincent di Fate and David Hartwell.  It was a rare and wonderful opportunity to see the works of Richard Powers in person.

Photos from the event can be seen here...
Richard Powers 2015 WFC Exhibition

Deathstar Immortal

Here is another example I came across where Powers went back to a previous painting and did a "paint over", changing the contrast and adding elements (abstract figures and flying gizmos), etc.

The original painting was done for the novel "Deathstar Voyage" by Ian Wallace (Book Club 1969).  Powers later altered this painting to create the cover for "This Immortal" by Roger Zelazny (Ace 1988).

Personally, I love the redo!  I have noticed a trend to his "paint-overs" whereby he routinely reduces the contrast of graphic elements, adding depth cues, and pushing the piece away from graphic illustration towards a more "fine art" approach.