Conan, the 30th anniversarry

May the 14th, 1982, 30 years ago today the unmatched movie summer of 1982 begins….

The first big movie to kick off the season was Universal Pictures’ Conan the Barbarian.  I had been waiting for this one for well over three years, when it was announced somewhere in 1979 that Super Body Builder Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast to play the starring role.  Like most of my friends at the gym, Arnold was a huge role model, and everyone aspired to work out hard and to be like him!!!  It was a huge day when the news came out that the king was going to be Conan; Arnold was born to play this part and, although his acting is not his sharpest talent, looking invincible and destroying everything with a sword was!!!

I was going to college in Arizona at the time, and my movie going buddies Rod Andrewson, Steve Boltz, Mark Zainer, and my cousin Jeff Goff were all ready for this one.  Opening night at the Mann’s Christown Theater was packed, and once the movie started, the cheers and howls never stopped. The film was 2 hour + roller coaster ride of incredible carnage and violence that was pretty hard to take at the time.  This was the begining of the bloody epic films, and the Summer of 82 had several more in store before the season was through.

Conan was an incredible film.  It is epic in it’s scope and visual scenery, and it stays fairly faithful to the novels by Robert E. Howard.  The film was written for the screen by Oliver Stone and John Milius (who was also the director).  Ron Cobb was the production Designer,  William Stout and Pier Luigi Basile made up the rest of the art department.  Cobb’s work has always been the cornerstone of my inspiration and art career and, for me, Conan was a visual feast of Ron’s talent.  From Swords to Temples his imagination was free to run wild, as well as the fine works of Stout and Basile. The incredible costumes were designed by John Bloomfield, and there are so many styles and tribes of people he had to design for, not to mention a huge cast of actors and hundreds and hundreds of extras that had to be suited.

One of my favorite parts of the film is the musical score composed by Basil Poledouris.  Basil is legendary and his work for Conan is definitely one of his many shining stars!!!  A robust and Romantic score filled with memorable themes, and his use of the choir only added to the majesty of the underlying voice he created to carry us to another place and time.  There are many versions of this soundtrack out but there are only one or two complete scores available.  These would be the best to seek out.  The original soundtrack was on vinyl  and accompanied the release of the film.  Because of the time restrictions of an LP there was only about 45 minutes of music to listen to from a 70 to 80 minute complete score.  Not until I did find the complete soundtrack some 20 years later did I realize how much beautiful, subtle music there was carrying the easier moments in the movie.

The filming locations for the most part were all in Spain except for a few in Canada.  Duke Callaghan’s cinematography is breathtaking to say the least, and his use of natural light and surroundings added yet another beautiful layer to the films exotic look.  The casting was perfect from the big parts to the minor roles, and there were some big names in this one.  James Earl Jones as the evil Thulsa Doom, Max von Sydow as King Osric, and Mako as the wizard.  Arnold’s costars were excellently cast, and their parts made for the right character balance for supporting roles.  Gerry Lopez played Subotai the archer, and Sandahl Bergman played Conan’s love and protector Valeria.  This was a big role or Sadahl who was previously a professional dancer.  Her work can be seen in “All that Jazz” and also as one of Olivia Newton John’s sister muse’s in (one of my guilty pleasure films) “Xanadu”.

I’m sure most of you reading this have seen “Conan,” but for those of you who haven’t, it is worth your time.  The movie is dated but stands the test of time pretty well.  Lots of long establishing shots and fixed camera dialog scenes let you know your in the 80’s, and I find it a fresh reminder that the camera does not have to be moving at all times to tell a story.

Milius succeeded in turning a fairly simple story into a much larger than life motion Picture.  “Conan” cost 20 million dollars to make, and at the time that was a fairly expensive price tag.  Box office grosses were high and the film made it’s money back inside of it’s first two weeks in theaters.  Overall the film was loved by moviegoers and received mostly positive ratings from the critics…I saw this one at least 6 times over the Summer, and it was a must VHS purchase when it came out the following Summer.

There is a lot out on the web about this movie so below are some of my fav links to go to if you’re in the mood for more about “CONAN THE BARBARIAN.”  If you’re an old reader to this blog, You know a lot about production designer Ron Cobb.  If you’re a new reader, here is a link to a post from several years ago showing Ron’s art from Conan…  https://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/conan-and-cobb/     The art of Bill stout can be seen at, http://conancompletist.com/EN/william_stout.html      This is a fabulous website telling you everything about everything Conan,  http://conancompletist.com/EN/home.htm

OK fellow fans have fun, and hope you enjoy the grabs below.

Aliens, the 25th anniversary

Howdy all, sorry for the lack of, and poor post subjects,,, We are moving to Wyoming and all has been crazy at the Eaves house since March!!! Regardless I’ll try n keep the posts coming and get more art and Trek stuff up soon… But today is a special day and as many of you know that it is the 25th Anniversary of James Cameron’s Aliens. July the 18th, 1986 was the day and next to ‘the Empire Strikes Back” This was my favorite part two to any sequel ever made. Aliens is as good if not better in many ways to the fabulous original directed by Ridley Scott in 1979. Cameron wrote the story for Aliens and what he did was magic, not settling for an ordinary sequel he went in a whole new direction with the emphasis on high octane action, thrills and and creating the strongest female characters to ever grace the silver screen. It’s a perfect film in it’s style,  pacing, music, directing, creature design by the late master Stan Winston, the cast, and the brilliant production design. Ron Cobb was back at it again after his incredible work on Alien his strengths were unmatched with his fabulous designs for the drop ship, the armored transport and the entire terraforming complex. As always Ron’s work shines more to me than the actors. Joining the design crew for this installment is another favorite of mine, Syd Mead, Syd’s work has been a staple of science fiction in films since his trademark design style was first seen in Bladerunner. A master and high tec designs made him the perfect artist to design the military transport ship Sulaco. The team of Cobb and Mead for Aliens is in my opinion one of the best designed films to date. As Alfred Hitchcock & Bernard Herrman were a team so are James Cameron and James Honer. Honer’s score for Aliens is nothing less than brilliant. An expanded CD of the complete score came out a few years ago and it is one to have. Aliens is one great ride and leaves you wasted by the time the end credits role. Happy Anniversary Aliens and thank Jim for the awesome adventure.

poster

the queen

the incredible Sigourney Weaver

Lance Henriksen

Mead's Sulaco

in color

Mead's hibernation chamber

Cobb's original design for the armored transport

cobb's drop ship

top of the drop

RON COBB”S SITE IS ACTIVE

OOOOOW-WAAAAAH!!!! after this mornings post I browsed for a second before work to see if any progress had been done on the stagnate Ron Cobb website,, still didn’t open, then over on wikipedia there was a link to his official site and one click later I was at the new roncobb.net!!!! COBB IS ALIVE!!!!!,, Go check it out fellow Cobb fans!!!

http://roncobb.net

ron cobb makes an LP,

Cobb's album cover for Jefferson Airplane

Hi All it has been a while since we have had a Ron Cobb update, and I finally got the art for this one to share with you today. Way back in 1967 Jefferson Airplane released an album called “bathing at Baxter’s and featured an awesome piece of art by no other than Mr. Ron Cobb. The painting has such classic 60’s look and feel and could easily pass for concept work for films such as “The Great Race”, or “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines”. Who would have thought that a young Dan OBannon would be jamming to this album and then one day in the future tracking down Ron to work on his first film “Dark Star”, from their on Cobb’s would become the SCI -FI , and Fantasy legend he is today and it all started with MUSIC. Another interesting fact about Cobb and Music happened almost 20 years later in 1985. ZZ TOPP’s album “AfterBurner” had just been released and featured a song called “Rough Boy” For the Music video Ron was contacted to art direct the video and the theme was an orbital car wash and featured some ground breaking motion control VFX work that debuted in this 3 and a half minute video. I remember  watching the MTV music awards one night and amongst all the long haired wild rockers on stage there was a man who looked very much like he was at the wrong place… It wound up being Ron Cobb winning the MTV award for best art direction on a music video, HAAAA what an awesome moment in TV history,,,,, Below is the link to the video. great song, with a very 80’s feel and of coarse some brilliant design work by Cobb, and spectacular miniatures by the  world famous Mark Stetson. Stetson started in the movie bizz as a model maker on ‘Star Trek” the Motion Picture, and Blade Runner, then moving on to having his own shop called,  Stetson Visual Services, to becoming a Visual Effects Supervisor with some brilliant work on “Superman Returns”  So with that enjoy “Rough Boy” What a great flash back to a magical time. Last I checked the Cobb site is still not up and working, Hopefully one day!!!!! as we all wait with baited breath!!!!

nostromo part 3, The work continues at Grant McCune design

the nozzles were created out of yogurt cups and miniature farmers pails

underside of bridge section

the detail builds

primered and ready for molding, next comes the base

a section of the Lunar module makes for the base

detailed and sized on sentra, this piece molded will line the back of the belly module

sentra {an air injected lightweight styrene} 3/8 inch thick make for the building material of the module...the surface is then scribed and paneled

micro detail patches are placed in areas to match the same as seen in the photos of the original.

levels of depth and cavities are created and piping fills the insets

yes there is a nod to The Empire Strikes Back here!!! the ATAT head now has been transformed into the main antenna array mount

Spaceballs pieces added to the deep detail hidden in the dark recesses here.

attaching the elements make for one heavy piece!!

micro detailing of the cones comes next using more tie fighter pieces along with WWII German RR cannon pieces

the piping was molded off of the original

all assembled and primer grayed

seen here without the belly module, the ship indeed looks too light in mass in comparison to the rest of the ship

the side view shows the belly module adding a good amount of visual weight to the bridge area!

inserted and matching the paint

setting up at PSOL and finally getting the cockpit piece put on

the detail across this ship is so mesmerizing!

this thing has so many cool angles to get lost in!!!

the bridge needs some detailing then she'll be all done

Hi all and so glad to have read all the great comments about the Nostromo!!! Seems that we all love Ron Cobb and those UK modelers’ massive space tug and are all equally glad that it lives again!!!!!!  Today’s entry shows more of the detail construction and some of the set up at the LA Branch of the “Prop Store of London”.  You’ll see all kinds of cool stuff in the background, so there will be more to drag your attention around while looking at the Nostromo.  Todays photos start with the construction of the bridge’s belly module… this piece by looks of the paint and detail where it once was, indicates that it was added on much later in the model’s construction.  Somebody on stage probably said, “Hey, the nose section is a bit thin!!!  Beef it up a bit !!!”  And I am sure that is what caused this piece to be built and screwed in on top of tons of lovely surface detail.  Anyway, this whole piece was missing, so it had to be built from scratch using the photos at hand!!!  It is basically a fat box with loads of details in the recesses and three nozzles attached to it’s rear.  It also houses the massive three foot antenna array which was a bear to mount and keep straight…so with no delays, enjoy today’s Nostromo pics!!!  There are also 8 hidden Mickey’s on the ship now!!! but not in today’s pics!! R2 will be the last pic in the last entry for this one.

Ron Cobb week comes to an end

this piece is pre Star Wars,,, looks familiar

lander details

the final Nostromo bridge design

the Lifeboat

engine view of the lander

two seat mini craft

This little drawing was my favorite from all of his concepts from Alien!!!

from Space Truckers

wow what a beauty

Well it has been a great week sharing all the brilliant work from this very talented artist. To finish up here are some of Ron Cobb’s spacecraft designs from Alien and  a painting of the Space Shuttle atop the 747.  I saw this piece hanging in the art gallery at Cape Canaveral in 1990, and was amazed at his Cobb’s skills as a photo realist artist as well as a great concept illustrator. Thanks again for a great week and I’ll conclude the Jerry Goldsmith tribute next Monday. have a great weekend.

Conan and Cobb

the title card

Conan himself

the Wheel of pain

concept on top actual set on bottom!

some village key frame art

King Osric's palace

the temple of serpents

what a brilliant imagination!

Serpent tower and surrounding village

village and castle architecture

and my fav those awesome sword designs!

Cobb's cameo in Conan, He is a drug dealer selling black Lotus

Wow this week is flying by!!! I might have to add more entries on these two as time goes on because I don’t think a week will do them any justice. So lets Start the Day with Mr. Ron Cobb and his good friend Conan!!! I am Racing the clock at work this morning so short text and a lot of pics!!! Conan came out the Summer of 1982 (the greatest Summer of movie releases ever) It was actually the first of the big films to open the season and I had been waiting for this one for many years.  The film starts out with a young Conan being taught the Riddle of Steel by his father followed by a gorgeous opening title sequence of the creation of Conan’s Fathers’s Sword with an incredible score by Basil Poledouris, (this Soundtrack is a must have in it’s complete 2 disc form). The film takes you through the journey of Conan’s young life as he witnesses his family and village destroyed by the evil Thulsa Doom, sent to be a slave Conan is strapped to the wheel of pain which is a giant grain press that Conan pushes in a circle for probably 10 years,, Ron designed the ultimate all in one exersise machine with this one!! anyways Conan is sold and trained to be a fighting champion for his owner, retiring undefeated his wealthy master set’s Conan free and his quest for revenge against Doom completes his adventure in what was to be a multi sequel film. As far as I am concerned Conan 2 doesn’t exist!!! It was a horrible film,, except it costarred the lovely Olivia D’abo, so scratching #2 the series ended with this one adventure! It was a beautifully designed film but my fancy for the look passed with all the big beautiful sci-fi movies that followed in the upcoming week’s. It wasn’t until I got a copy of Ron’s book “Colorvision” that I was made aware of Ron’s involvement with Conan!!! A whole new interest came and I went out and bought the VHS and as a guilty pleasure I have to update my collection every-time a new release comes out,,(Laserdisc, Regular DVD, DVD with Extra’s, DVD anniversary Collection, ETC) The film gets more broad in design the more I see it. Ron created not only the sets and environments for the film but he created the culture and the history. The look is rich with layers of storytelling in the illustrations, For those that did not know of Ron’s work on Conan, your in for a real treat. ENJOY

All pictures courtesy of Ron Cobb, and his book Colorvision

After looking at these pictures again I see how Ron still has an influence thru Osmosis in what and how I envision things thru an illustrated eye,,, Just dug these drawings up so you can see the Cobb inspiration. thank’s Ron You have been one heck of a teacher.

http://www.roncobbdesigns.com/

here is Ron’s page,, it’s under construction but boy will it be a goodie when it’s up and running!!!

T'pol's home town

extinction #55

Kronos from DS9

vulcan

desert settlement from episode #24

Jerry Goldsmith and Ron Cobb

Ron Cobb with John Whitney Jr. and Kevin Rafferty, working together on The Last Star Fighter

One of Ron's Beautiful Bridge concepts for the Nostromos landing vehicle.

digital model of Ron's Gunship from Last Starfighter

Cantina aliens from Star War, the one on the bottom was always my favorite!

One of Cobb's political cartoons

what a dry, evil, and very funny sense of humor he has!!!

Ron on Back to the Future, Andy Probert was also a big part of the Delorian design team

what a smoke-n cool drawing!

Alien

leviathan

and total Recall, these are the Goldsmith and Cobb films

cachet art for the 25th of Goldsmith's STMP score

cachet art for Dark Star's 30th

cachet art for Starfighter's 20th

Today is Day three of Goldsmith and Cobb week and the two artists worked together on three films, I don’t know if they ever met but I am sure Ron has some of those magical moments watching his concepts come to life on the big screen with an awesome Jerry score laying a musical theme to Cobb’s imagery. The three movies are Alien, Leviathan, and Total Recall.  Jerry’s score for Alien was landmark in it’s use of obscure sounds and bizzare instruments. Jerry had a way of creating frighting music with the higher end of the note scale… when you see a horror movie usually the bad guy or monster is addressed using low notes and heavy instrumentation. Goldsmith on the other hand went the other direction.  if you have the complete Alien soundtrack tracks 4, the Terrain, 5, the Craft, 6,the Passage, 7, the Skeleton, 8, a new face, demonstrate that shrill and high range notes have an even more terrifying effect. On a side note Ridley Scott was using Jerry’s score to freud as a temp track while editing the movie, Some of the themes from freud actually were used in the final cut of Alien. In Jerry’s score for “Magic” a few notes drug across a Harmonica is the lead into evil.  The Omen which was Jerry’s only Oscar winning score (which is in my eyes a grave injustice) he  went the route of for everything good there is something evil. taking a church Choir as the main body of his theme, Jerry took the latin verses of Christian praise and changed them to Satanical lyrics. Mixed with heavy strings and an unsettling arrangement of obscure note patterns and tones, Mixed with Richard Donner’s incredible visuals this proved to be one of the most terrifying scores ever written for the screen. today in the gallery are some of Jerry’s Soundtrack covers, Illustrations from Ron Cobb’s,  Alien, Back to the Future, and some aliens from Star Wars, followed by some cachets drawn to celebrate anniversaries from some of

these films.  Enjoy!!   Almost forgot!!! There is also a credit list of all of Jerry’s movie scores courtesy of  Jerry Goldsmith on line. Go have a visit at Jason Needs awesome tribute page.

http://www.jerrygoldsmithonline.com/soundtracks.htm

images courtesy of  Cinefex, Ron Cobb’s Colorvision, The Art of Star Wars, the book of Alien, and my own collection.

Soundtracks A to B Ace Eli And Rodger Of The Skies/Room 222(1973/1969) Alien (1979) Alien Nation (1988) Along Came A Spider (2001) Amazing Stories Volume 2 – Boo! (1985) Angie (1994) Air Force One (1997) Baby Secret Of The Lost Legend (1984) Bad Girls (1994) Ballad Of Cable Hogue (The) (1971) Bandolero! (1968) Basic Instinct (1992) Blue Max (The) (1966) Boys From Brazil (The) (1978) Breakout (1975) Breakheart Pass (1976) ‘Burbs (The) (1988) Soundtracks C to D Cabo Blanco (1980) Capricorn One (1978) Cassandra Crossing (The) (1977) Chain Reaction (1996) Challenge (The) (1982) Chairman (The) (1969) Chinatown (1973) Christus Apollo (concert work) (1974) City Hall (1996) City Of Fear And General With The Cockeyed ID (1961) Coma (1978) Congo (1995) Criminal Law (1988) Dennis The Menace (1993) Dr. Kildare (1961) Contract On Cherry Street (1977) Damien Omen II (original & re-recording)(1978) Deep Rising (1998) Disney’s California Adventure -Soarin (2001) Soundtracks E to F Edge (The) (1997) Escape From The Planet Of The Apes And The Mephisto Waltz (1971) Executive Decision (1996) Explorers (1985) Extreme Prejudice (1987) Fierce Creatures (1995) Film Music Of Jerry Goldsmith (The) (SACD/DSD compilation) (2001) Final Conflict (The) (1981) First Blood (1982) First Knight (1997) Flim Flam Man (The)/A Girl Named Sooner (1967/1975) Forever Young (1992) Freud (1962) Frontiers (compilation) (1997) Soundtracks G to H Ghost And The Darkness (The) (1996) Great Train Robbery (The) (1979) Gremlins (1984) Gremlins 2 The New Batch (1990) Goldsmith Conducts Goldsmith (compilation) (2002) Haunting (The) (1999) Hawkins On Murder/Winter Kill/Babe (1973/74/75) High Velocity (1974) Hollow Man (2000) Hoosiers (aka Best Shot) (1986) Hour Of The Gun (1967) Soundtracks I to J Illustrated Man (The) (1969) Inchon (1982) In Harm’s Way (1965) Innerspace (1987) Islands In The Stream (re-recording) (1977) Jericho etc (1966) Jerry’s Recall (compilation) (1993) Jerry Goldsmith The Early Years Volume One (1960s) Jerry Goldsmith At 20th Century Fox (compilation) (2004) Jerry Goldsmith 40 Years Of Film Music (compilation) (2005) Justine (original & re-recording) (1969) Soundtracks K to L King Solomon’s Mines (1985) L.A. Confidential (1997) Last Castle (The) (2001) Last Run (The)/Crosscurrent (aka Cable Car Murders (The) (1971) Legend (1985) Leviathan (1989) Lilies Of The Field (1963) Link (1986) Lionheart The Epic Symphonic Score (1987) List Of Adrian Messenger/Challenge (The) (1963/1982) Logan’s Run (1976) Lonely Are The Brave (1962) Lonely Guy (1984) Looney Tunes Back In Action (2003) Love Field (1991) Soundtracks M to N MacArthur (1977) Magic (1978) Malice (1993) Man From U.N.C.L.E. (The) Volumes 1 to 3 (1964) Masada (re-recording) (1980) Matinee (1994) Medicine Man (1992) Mephisto Waltz And The Other (1972) Mom And Dad Save The World (1991) Morituri (1967) Mr Baseball (1992) Mulan (Oscar Promo) (1998) Mulan (1998) Mummy (The) (1999) Music Of Jerry Goldsmith (The) (compilation) (2001) Night Crossing (1981) Not Without My Daughter (1991) Soundtracks O to P Omen (The) (1976) One Little Indian (1973) 100 Rifles (1969) Our Man Flint And In Like Flint (1966/67) Outland (1981) Outland And Capricorn One (re-recording) (1981/1978) Papillon (1974) Patch Of Blue (A) (1965) Patton (1970) Patton And Tora! Tora! Tora! (re-recording) (1970) Prize (The) (1962) Planet Of The Apes (Expanded) /Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (suite) (1968/71) Police Story/Medical Story (1973) Poltergeist (1982) Poltergeist II The Other Side (1986) Powder (1995) Psycho II (1983) Soundtracks Q to R QBVII (1974) Red Pony (The) (1973) Raggedy Man (1981) Rambo First Blood Part II (1985) Rambo III (1988) Ransom (1975) Reincarnation Of Peter Proud (The) (1975) Rent-A-Cop (1988) Rio Conchos (1965) Rio Conchos And The Agony And The Ecstasy Prologue (re-recording) (1989) Rio Lobo (1973) River Wild (The) (1994) Rudy (1993) Runaway (1985) Russia House (The) (1990) Soundtracks S to T Sand Pebbles (The) (1965) Satan Bug (The) 1965 Sebastian (1968) Secret Of Nimh (The) (1982) Shadow (The) (1994) Six Degrees Of Separation (1993) Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) Small Soldiers (1998) Spiral Road (The) (1962) Stagecoach And The Loner (1966) Star Trek The Motion Picture (1979) Star Trek V The Final Frontier (1989) Star Trek First Contact (1996) Star Trek Insurrection (1998) Star Trek Nemesis (2002) Star Trek Voyager (1995) Stripper (The)/Nick Quarry (1963/1968) Suites And Themes (compilation) (1987) Sum Of All Fears (The) (2002) Supergirl (1984) Studs Lonigan (1962) Swarm (The) (1978) Take A Hard Ride (1975) 13th Warrior (1999) Timeline (2003) Tribute To Jerry Goldsmith (A) (compilation) (SPFM) (1993) Tora, Tora, Tora (1970) Total Recall (1990) Travelling Executioner (The) (1970) Trouble With Angels (The) And Stagecoach (re-recording) (1966) Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977) Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) Twilight Zone TV Series (box set) (1963) Two Days In The Valley (1996) Soundtracks U to Z Under Fire (1983) U.S. Marshals (1997) Vanishing (The) (1993) Von Ryan’s Express And Our Man Flint/In Like Flint (re-recordings) (1964) Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea – Jonah And The Whale (1965) Warlock (1989) Wild Rovers (1971) Wind And The Lion (The) (1975)

ron cobb my hero

Ron Cobb himself!!

Ron's awesome drawing of the DS.

from Dark Star

the Nostromo Bridge

medical lab aboard the Nostromo

interiors from the escape craft

This is one that was heavily influenced By Ron Cobb

This too was Cobb Inspired

Ron always outlined his designs in heavy black ink and I picked that detail up from using his work as a guide.

Today starts the first of many entries regarding the artist Ron Cobb. Why back in the seventies, before Star Wars had come out there was a magazine called Starlog (this is where I was first intruduced to my Hero Ron Cobb) that was all about Science fiction films, monsters & Alien motion pictures, Space oriented Television series, space artists, behind the scenes VFX guys, and everything else related. I read this mag as soon as it came out on the stands and back then the topics were far and few between, mostly because Sci fi back then was old stuff from the 50’s and sixties mixed with a scattering of now and then 70’s films. One issue came out that talked about a student film by a new director named John Carpenter. The movie was called Dark Star and was written by John C. and Dan O’Bannon. Along with John, Dan had his hands full of on this film being co-writer, the FX guy, one of the stars and many other duties including finding the talent. Dan had seen Ron Cobb’s album cover for Jefferson Starships album, Deep Space/ Virgin Sky featuring a beautiful spacecraft flying towards an unknown planet. Dan tracked Ron Down and Ron drew a rough on a napkin at a restaurant in Westood CA. The sketch later turned into some more precise drawings, that later became the model project of the Legendary Greg Jein. The Dark Star drawing and model showed up in Starlog and it was the first spaceship that I next to the Trek ships that really caught my fancy. I read all about Cobb, that was only a sentence or two, and when Alien came out a few years later the book of Alien came out with so many unbelievable drawings by Ron. I looked at those illustrations by the hours, examining every detail and angle. I would try and draw my space craft pictures using Ron’s work as my guide. His books were my art school, followed by the styles of Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie after Star Wars came out But I owe it all to Ron. There were many fine and talented people that inspired my paths to Hollywood but Ron Cobb was the one that was the most inspirational to me. With that, here’s some of Ron’s early works and also Greg Jein’s model of the Dark Star. More to come Tomorrow!

All illustrations are from Ron’s book Colorvision

for more on Cobb go to Darens blog at

http://blog.darendoc.com/

If you have never been to this page your missing a world of fun!!! We ironically both did posts about Ron today … How fun!